Profile

BITCHENER, John Alfred
(Service number 27206)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank

Birth

Date 31 July 1889 Place of Birth Waimate

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment Box 60, Waimate
Occupation Farmer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status
Next of Kin Mrs Mary BITCHENER (mother), P.O. Box 60, Waimate
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 17th Reinforcements, J Company
Date 25 September 1916
Transport Devon
Embarked From Destination
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Farmer

Death

Date 2 August 1983 Age 94 years
Place of Death Of Kowhainui Home, Whanganui
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Cremated, ashes interred at Aramoho Cemetery, Whanganui
Memorial Reference Services Section, Row 2, Plot 84
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

John Alfred Bitchener was the oldest in the family and probably the only son of John and Mary (née Laughton or Langton). This was the only family by the name of Bitchener in New Zealand at the time. At noon on 31 May 1916, South Canterbury’s quota of the 17th Reinforcements was entertained at dinner in Stafford Tea Rooms by the lady members of the South Canterbury War Relief Society. The soldiers assembled at the Drill Hall at 3.30 pm to be farewelled by the Mayor before leaving on the north-going express. In this quota was J. A. Bitchener. John married Gladys Sarah Henderson in 1923.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [12 September 2019]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [12 September 2019]; Whanganui Cremation records [12 September 2019], Aramoho Cemetery burial records (Whanganui District Council) [17 September 2019]; Timaru Herald, 31 May 1916 (Papers Past) [17 October 2015]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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