COULBECK, William John
(Service number 68516)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 30 May 1886 | Place of Birth | Waimate |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 12 September 1917 | Age | 31 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Rhodes Street, Waimate | ||
| Occupation | Labourer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Charlotte COULBECK (mother), Rhodes Street, Waimate | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 35th Reinforcements, D Company | ||
| Date | 2 March 1918 | ||
| Transport | tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Southampton, Hampshire, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZRB | ||
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 | 5 September 1963 | Age | 77 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Ruru Lawn Cemetery, Christchurch | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
William John Coulbeck, whose birth was registered as John William Coulbeck, was born on 30 March 1886 at Waimate, the eldest son of John and Charlotte (née Glover) Coulbeck. A painter and single he was living at home with his widowed mother when he enlisted on 12 September 1917 at Timaru. He stated that two people were dependent on him – his mother and a sister. His father had died in June 1904 and was buried at Waimate.
Private W. J. Coulbeck embarked with the 35th Reinforcements for Southampton, England, on 2 March 1918 by the “Tofua”. W. J. Coulbeck, of Waimate, was one of more than 800 men who returned to New Zealand by the “Port Hacking” in August 1919.
William John Coulbeck married Bessie Eustace Croshaw in 1923. He died on 5 September 1963 at Christchurch and was interred in the Ruru Lawn Cemetery. His brother Wesley Coulbeck also served with the New Zealand Forces, and another brother, Albert Avery Coulbeck, enlisted.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [24 May 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [24 May 2021]; Ruru Cemetery headstone transcription [24 May 2021]; Timaru Herald, 11 August 1919 (Papers Past) [06 September 2014]
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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