Format: Person

Linked To

Collection

Place

Killinchy

Recollections

Add

no stories yet

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License

This licence lets you remix, tweak, and build upon our work noncommercially and although your new works must also acknowledge us and be noncommercial, you do not have to license the derivative works on the same terms.

Tools

Download Add to My Collection Contact us about this Citation for this item

Kā Kōrero o Waikirikiri Selwyn Stories

Rifleman John Eric Erikson Warnock

Description

TitleRifleman John Eric Erikson WarnockSummaryA soldier in World War One. DescriptionJohn Eric Erickson Warnock was born 4 November 1895 in Nelson, eldest son of David Benjamin Warnock and Jessica nee Cole who died when both he and his brother were very young. John and his brother, Jim, were adopted by his father’s younger sister, Selina Maude, then head teacher at Killinchy School. He was educated at the Killinchy school and then at Waitaki Boys' High School. After leaving school, he worked as a cheese-maker for Mr Blair in Pigeon Bay. He was 5ft 10 1/8in tall, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.

John enlisted on 11 January 1916 at Trentham and was assigned to the Rifle Brigade. He embarked on board the Tofua and arrived in Devonport, England on 27 July 1916. After a very short time in Sling Camp he left for France on 12 August and was killed in action about a month later on 16 September 1916. A day earlier the New Zealand division, including the Rifle Brigade, had begun their part in the battle for Flers–Courcelette. The offensive dragged on for week. The battle is significant for the first use of the tank in warfare. John’s name is recorded on the Caterpillar Valley Memorial, commemorating more than 1,200 officers and men of the New Zealand Division who died in the Battles of the Somme in 1916, and whose graves are not known. John is remembered on the Leeston Plaque of the Ellesmere County Memorial.

Caterpillar valley was the name given by the army to the long valley which rises eastwards, past "Caterpillar Wood", to the high ground at Guillemont. The ground was captured, after very fierce fighting, in the latter part of July 1916. It was lost in the German advance of March 1918 and recovered by the 38th (Welsh) Division on 28 August 1918. After the Armistice, this cemetery was hugely increased when the graves of more than 5,500 officers and men were brought in from other small cemeteries, and the battlefields of the Somme. The great majority of these soldiers died in the Autumn of 1916 and almost all the rest in August or September 1918. Caterpillar valley cemetery now contains 5,569 Commonwealth burials and Commemorations of the First World War. 3,796 of the burials are unidentified. On 6 November 2004, the remains of an unidentified New Zealand soldier were entrusted to New Zealand at a ceremony held at the Longueval Memorial, France. The remains had been exhumed by staff of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, France, Plot 14, Row a, Grave 27 and were later laid to rest within the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, at the National War Memorial, Wellington, New Zealand. On the east side of the cemetery is the Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial, commemorating more than 1,200 officers and men of the new Zealand Division who died in the battles of the Somme in 1916, and whose graves are not known.First NameJohn Eric EriksonLast NameWarnockFamilySingleEldest son of David Benjamin Warnock and Jessica nee ColeDate of Birth4 November 1895Place of BirthNelsonDate of Death16 September 1916Place of DeathFranceCause of DeathKilled in action

Connections

CollectionSoldiers of Selwyn World War OnePlaceKillinchy Last edited by: Sarah Davy

More InformationAuckland War Memorial Cenotaph

Military Service

Memorial or CemeteryCaterpillar Valley MemorialEllesmere County MemorialOccupation before EnlistingCheese-Maker Regiment or ServiceNew Zealand Rifle BrigadeEnlistment Details11th January 1916 at TrenthamService Number23280 TransportTofuaCountryNew Zealand

Attribution

Researched ByL. M. SeatonTaken FromPhoto taken from Auckland War Memorial Cenotaph. Please refer to this site for the photo’s copyright license

Menu

Rifleman John Eric Erikson Warnock