FORREST, John Samson Gibb
(Service number 62868)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 11 June 1897 | Place of Birth | Glasgow, Scotland |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 19 July 1917 | Age | 20 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | |||
| Occupation | Motor mechanic | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Agnes FORREST (mother), 62 Theodocia 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 | 34th Reinforcements, Specialist Company | ||
| Date | 8 February 1918 | ||
| Transport | Ulimaroa | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Liverpool, Merseyside, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ MG Battalion | ||
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 | 12 December 1967 | Age | 70 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Timaru | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Timaru Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
John Samson Gibb Forrest, who was known as Jock, was born on 11 June 1897 at Glasgow, Scotland, the younger son of James and Agnes (née Gibb) Forrest. John, his brother Thomas and sisters Elizabeth and Margaret came to Timaru South School from Addington School late in 1906. The family had come to New Zealand only a few months before. John left school at the age of 16 to go out to work.
John was a twenty-year old mtor mechanic apprentice when he was called up and enlisted on 19 July 1917 at Timaru. Private J. H. G. Forrest embarked for Liverpool, England, on 8 February 1918, with the Specialist Company of the 34th Reinforcements per the “Ulimaroa”.
Private J. S. Forrest returned to New Zealand by the “Port Hacking” which was due at Lyttelton about 14 August 1919. In 1922 he married Ethel Panckhurst. John Samson Gibb Forrest died on 12 December 1967 at Timaru, aged 70 years, and was buried in the local cemetery with Ethel who had died in 1965. His brother Thomas also served in World War One with the New Zealand Forces.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [20 May 2021]; Timaru Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [20 May 2021]; Timaru Herald, 30 July 1919, 11 August 1919 (Papers Past) [26 & 27 April 2021]
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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