PREECE, Charles William
(Service number 316805)
| First Rank | Cadet | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 9 June 1898 | Place of Birth | Mangatoki |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Waihao Downs, South Cnterbury | ||
| Occupation | Chauffeur | ||
| Previous Military Experience | 2nd South Canterbury Regiment Territorials - left district | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | |||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | |||
| Date | 2 October 1918 | ||
| Transport | Matatua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | England | |
| Other Units Served With | Royal Air Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 19 December 1960 | Age | 62 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | |||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Cremated Whanganui; ashes interred Aramoho Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Charles William Preece was born on 9 une 898 at Mangataki, the son of James and Maria (née Eagle) Preece, it appears. The family moved to Waihao Downs about 1907. Charles attended Waihao Downs School, where he was placed first in Standard III in 1908, first in Standard IV the following year, second in Standard V in 1910, and again second in Standard VI in 1911. In August 1918 at the Canterbury Aviation School at Sockburn, C. W. Preece of Waihao Downs qualified for his pilot’s ticket. The Waihao Downs folk honoured him, presenting him with a wristlet watch. And in mid September, just before his departure for Wellington, the combined Presbyteian and Methodist Bible classes honoured him as the “first South Canterbury aviator”.
He joined the New Zealand Expeditonary Force, and proceeded to England on 2 October 1918. There, he enlisted voluntarily, j for aviation and on 15 February 1919 he was granted a commission on the Royal Air Force.
After his service in England, Charles Preece returned to New Zealand by the “Remuera”, disembarking at Auckland on 5 May 1919, on which date he was discharged. For a time he lived at Waimate. In 1921 he married Josephine Boyce, also from Waimate. Charles died on 19 December 1960, aged 62. He was cremated at Wanganui and his ashes were intered in Aramoho Cemetery.
Douglas James Preece and Stanley Frank Preece, who both served in World War One, are thought to have been brothers of Charles.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [27 November 2020]; Waimate Daily Advertiser, 28 December 1908, 24 Decmber 1909, 23 December 1910, 27 December 1911, 30 August 1918, 13 September 1918, Press, 3 July 1919 (Papers Past) [22 June 2021]; Aramoho Cemetery record [22 June 2021]
External Links
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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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