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Lance Corporal Alfred Arthur Jonathon Boyce
Description
TitleLance Corporal Alfred Arthur Jonathon BoyceAlternative NameArthur AlfredSummaryA soldier in World War One. DescriptionAlfred was born 16 February 1895 son of Frederick and Mary Elizabeth Boyce in North Canterbury. Before enlisting he was working as an Engine driver for F. Sowden of Aylesbury. He was 5 ft 5in tall with a fair complexion, brown eyes and auburn hair. He also had a mole on his left side. He had previous military experience having served with the Mounted Rifles, the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry.
He enlisted on 28 May 1915 and was accepted if he underwent an operation for varicose veins. He duly did so and eventually left with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 9 October 1915. They sailed for Suez arriving 18 November 1915 and went to camp at Ismalia. His ill health continued for he suffered an acute bout of appendicitis in March 1916 and was hospitalised in the General Hospital in Cairo. He recovered and was discharged on 17th April and attached to the training battalion. A month later on 20th June he embarked from Alexandria for France and the Western Front. He fought through the Somme battles and on 25 February 1917 he was promoted to Lance Corporal. He was killed in action on 7 June 1917 during the Battle for Messines. The battle began at 3.10 a.m. on 7 June 1917 with the explosion of huge mines that had been placed under the German lines by hard-working tunnellers. Almost immediately, New Zealand troops of 2nd and 3rd (Rifle) brigades left their trenches and advanced towards the ridge in front of them, on which lay the ruins of Messines village. At first very successful in capturing the village it later became the target of intensive German shelling killing large numbers of soldiers. In the four days over 700 soldiers were killed. Alfred’s body was not found or identified and his name is recorded on the Messines Ridge Memorial to the Missing. In New Zealand he is remembered on the Malvern County War Memorial.
The Messines Ridge (New Zealand) Memorial to the Missing is situated within Messines Ridge British Cemetery, which is located 9.5 Kms south of Ieper town centre. Messines (now Mesen) was considered a strong strategic position, not only from its height above the plain below, but from the extensive system of cellars under the convent known as the 'Institution Royale'. The village was taken from the 1st Cavalry Division by the German 26th Division on 31 October-1 November 1914. An attack by French troops on 6 -7 November was unsuccessful and it was not until the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917 that it was retaken by the New Zealand Division. On 10-11 April 1918, the village fell into German hands once more after a stubborn defence by the South African Brigade, but was retaken for the last time on 28-29 September 1918. The Messines Ridge Memorial stands within Messines Ridge British Cemetery and commemorates over 800 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died in or near Messines in 1917 and 1918 and who have no known grave. This is one of seven memorials in France and Belgium to those New Zealand soldiers who died on the Western Front and whose graves are not known. The memorials are all in cemeteries chosen as appropriate to the fighting in which the men died. Messines British Ridge Cemetery, in which this memorial stands, occupies ground that belonged to the 'Institution Royale'. It was made after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefield around Messines and from a number of small burial grounds in the area. The dates of death of those buried here range from October 1914 to October 1918, but the majority died in the fighting of 1917. There are now 1,531 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 954 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate a number of casualties known or believed to be buried among them, or who were buried in other cemeteries where their graves were destroyed by shell fire. Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Charles Holden.First NameAlfred Arthur JonathonLast NameBoyceFamilySingleSon of Frederick and Mary Elizabeth BoyceDate of Birth16 February 1895Place of BirthNorth CanterburyDate of Death7 June 1917Place of DeathMessines, BelgiumCause of DeathKilled in action
He enlisted on 28 May 1915 and was accepted if he underwent an operation for varicose veins. He duly did so and eventually left with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 9 October 1915. They sailed for Suez arriving 18 November 1915 and went to camp at Ismalia. His ill health continued for he suffered an acute bout of appendicitis in March 1916 and was hospitalised in the General Hospital in Cairo. He recovered and was discharged on 17th April and attached to the training battalion. A month later on 20th June he embarked from Alexandria for France and the Western Front. He fought through the Somme battles and on 25 February 1917 he was promoted to Lance Corporal. He was killed in action on 7 June 1917 during the Battle for Messines. The battle began at 3.10 a.m. on 7 June 1917 with the explosion of huge mines that had been placed under the German lines by hard-working tunnellers. Almost immediately, New Zealand troops of 2nd and 3rd (Rifle) brigades left their trenches and advanced towards the ridge in front of them, on which lay the ruins of Messines village. At first very successful in capturing the village it later became the target of intensive German shelling killing large numbers of soldiers. In the four days over 700 soldiers were killed. Alfred’s body was not found or identified and his name is recorded on the Messines Ridge Memorial to the Missing. In New Zealand he is remembered on the Malvern County War Memorial.
The Messines Ridge (New Zealand) Memorial to the Missing is situated within Messines Ridge British Cemetery, which is located 9.5 Kms south of Ieper town centre. Messines (now Mesen) was considered a strong strategic position, not only from its height above the plain below, but from the extensive system of cellars under the convent known as the 'Institution Royale'. The village was taken from the 1st Cavalry Division by the German 26th Division on 31 October-1 November 1914. An attack by French troops on 6 -7 November was unsuccessful and it was not until the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917 that it was retaken by the New Zealand Division. On 10-11 April 1918, the village fell into German hands once more after a stubborn defence by the South African Brigade, but was retaken for the last time on 28-29 September 1918. The Messines Ridge Memorial stands within Messines Ridge British Cemetery and commemorates over 800 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died in or near Messines in 1917 and 1918 and who have no known grave. This is one of seven memorials in France and Belgium to those New Zealand soldiers who died on the Western Front and whose graves are not known. The memorials are all in cemeteries chosen as appropriate to the fighting in which the men died. Messines British Ridge Cemetery, in which this memorial stands, occupies ground that belonged to the 'Institution Royale'. It was made after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefield around Messines and from a number of small burial grounds in the area. The dates of death of those buried here range from October 1914 to October 1918, but the majority died in the fighting of 1917. There are now 1,531 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 954 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate a number of casualties known or believed to be buried among them, or who were buried in other cemeteries where their graves were destroyed by shell fire. Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Charles Holden.First NameAlfred Arthur JonathonLast NameBoyceFamilySingleSon of Frederick and Mary Elizabeth BoyceDate of Birth16 February 1895Place of BirthNorth CanterburyDate of Death7 June 1917Place of DeathMessines, BelgiumCause of DeathKilled in action
Connections
CollectionSoldiers of Selwyn World War OneImageMalvern War MemorialMore InformationAuckland War Memorial Cenotaph
Military Service
Memorial or CemeteryMessines Ridge Memorial to the MissingMalvern County War MemorialOccupation before EnlistingEngine driverRegiment or ServiceNew Zealand Rifle BrigadeEnlistment Details28th May 1915Service Number24/695Embarkation9th October 1915Theatre of WarBattle for MessinesCountryNew Zealand
Attribution
Researched ByL. M. SeatonTaken FromPhoto taken from Auckland War Memorial Cenotaph. Please refer to this site for the photo’s copyright license
Lance Corporal Alfred Arthur Jonathon Boyce. Selwyn Stories, accessed 16/01/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/276
