ACTON, Arthur
(Service number 9/1008)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank | Sergeant |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 8 February 1896 | Place of Birth | Cave, Canterbury |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | 19 years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | C/o J. Landreth, Katea | ||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Harry ACTON (father), Grassmead, Invercargill | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | 5th Reinforcements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Otago Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | |||
| Transport | Maunganui or Tahiti or Aparima | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| 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 | 1 August 1946 | Age | 50 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Arthur Acton was born on 8 February 1896 at Cave near Timaru, the oldest son of Harry and Nina Amelia (née Smith) Acton, and was baptised at St Albans, Pleasant Point. He was educated at Opihi and Pleasant Point schools in South Canterbury until the family moved to Invercargill. Arthur played football for Waikiwi Club, and it was on the Waikiwi roll of Honour that his name was to be later inscribed. He was also a cadet for the Territorials at Waikiwi, winning several prizes in their matches. He was a farmer at Katea in Southland when he enlisted, at the age of just nineteen. Trooper A. Acton embarked with the Otago Mounted Rifles of the 5th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Suez, Egypt.
On 2 March 1917 he wrote home – “We are at present camped near a Y.M.C.A. and a tip-top canteen. We can get a cup of hot tea and biscuits at the Y.M. whenever we feel like having one. At the canteen, we can got almost anything at very small cost, so you see we are not in a bad place. The Y.M.C.A. is one of the best institutions here, in fact, it is the best at the present time. It does not matter where you go you will always find one of their huts nearby. I have come across them two or three hundred yards behind the firing-line. We received some gift parcels about four days ago, and the one which I drew contained a real good cake and some sweets. Didn’t we haves tangi that night! It is a shame how full we were when we went to bed. We have a good cook in our section now; and he turns out some meals fit for s king. He makes us a duff twice a week and with it some real good sauce. I don’t know how we would get on if we were to lose him.” Mrs Acton was active in preparing those gift parcels.
Mr H. Acton received word that his son had been wounded on 12 October 1917. Although Arthur was studying electrical engineering when he enlisted, he took up carpentry after the war. Arthur married Myrtle Alexandrina Neas in 1925. He died on 1 August 1946 at Christchurch and was buried at the Eastern Cemetery in Invercargill. Myrtle died 31 years later. The name A. Acton is the first of many inscribed on the Gallipoli plaque attached to the Waikiwi Memorial Hall.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [08 June 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [31 May 2021]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [08 June 2021]; Southland Times, 23 August 1913, 9 February 1914, 3 May 1917, 31 October 1917 (Papers Past) [08 June 2021]; Eastern Cemetery headstone image & burial record (Invercargill City Council) [08 June 2021]; NZ History [08 June 2021]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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