KING, John
| Service Number: | 6/1598 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Unspecified New Zealand Army Units |
| Born: | Victoria, Australia, 18 January 1885 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Executed for desertion , France, 19 August 1917, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais Plot I Row Z. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Aug 1917: | Involvement Private, 6/1598, Unspecified New Zealand Army Units |
|---|
Help us honour John kING's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
Frank Hillier Needs was an Australian who joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force under the assumed name of John King, serving at Gallipoli before arriving in France in July 1916.
Arriving on the Somme in October 1916, it seems he spent three days absent (and drunk) for which he served 28 days Field Punishment No. 2. Two further similar transgressions, and two further similar punishments, would follow before, at the end of May 1917, he went missing one final time.
On this occasion, however, he was absent for nearly two months before being arrested; he hadn’t gone far, spending his time, it seems, with the Australian troops billeted at nearby Steenwerck. Private John King was executed by firing squad on 19th August 1917, his grave now to be found in Plot I Row Z.
Information from website WITH THE BRITISH ARMY IN FLANDERS & FRANCE (See link)
Submitted by Geoffrey Gillon
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