BEACH, Henry Edward
(Service number 72202)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 16/02/1898 | Place of Birth | Willowby, Canterbury |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Timaru G.P.O., Timaru | ||
| Occupation | Letter carrier | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | |||
| Next of Kin | Charles BEACH (father), 33 North Street, Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 37th Reinforcements, B Company | ||
| Date | 9 May 1918 | ||
| Transport | Maunganui | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Liverpool, Merseyside, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 |
Death
| Date | 15 September 1926 | Age | 28 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | |||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Waimate Old Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Henry Edward Beach was the first born of Charles and Alice Bertha (née Emerson) Beach. Henry was educated at Timaru Main School, having time off school for illness. Embarking at Tilbury on 12 March 1919 for the return home, he reached Lyttelton, New Zealand by the “Corinthic” in April 1919, one of 1142 soldiers aboard.
The book "Dear Dot, I must teel you" by Keith Scott (Auckland, 2011) includes a chapter 'Postman Henry' (pp.513-532) that is about Timaru teenager Henry Beach, whose family ran a coal yard on North Street. Henry was a letter carrier and enthusiastic correpsondent who organised events in Timaru. Henry also tried unsuccessfully to enlist for World War One several times before he was finally old enough to do so. It also includes several photographs.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [14 November 2019]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [14 November 2019]; Waimate Cemetery burial record [15 November 2019]; Timaru Herald, 12 April 1919 (Papers Past) [26 November 2013]; Keith Scott, "Dear Dot, I must tell you : a personal history of young New Zealanders", (Auckland, 2011) - copy held by Timaru District Libraries (as of 2025)
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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