B Company, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 2nd Battalion
8 February 1896 - 1 November 1959
Eric was the son of my Great Aunt Elsie.
8 February 1896 - 1 November 1959
Eric was the son of my Great Aunt Elsie.
I have researched the following information about Eric
from his military records and other related texts.
I have endeavored to record the story of his
involvement in the war as accurately as possible.
Eric as the son of Robert and Elsie Ashcroft. He was born in Napier on 8 February 1896. Eric had an older brother but he died around his fifth birthday. His younger siblings were:
- Robert (Bert) Peter Ashcroft (who also served during WW1)
- Joseph James George Ashcroft
- Harold Day Ashcroft
- Dorothy Henrietta Ashcroft
- Joyce Harriett Ashcroft (born Cobb) [Joyce was actually Eric's first cousin, the daughter of his uncle Percy. Joyce joined the Ashcroft family following her mother's death during the Influenza Epidemic in 1918.]
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Robert and Elsie Ashcroft with one of their children, probably Eric Arthur,
and if so, the photo would have been taken around 1896/7.
This photo was taken by Harriet Cobb.
(Photo courtesy of J Ashcroft.)
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Eric gave his mother's name as his next of kin, but care of his Uncle George W Cobb in Martinborough. At the time George was the clerk of the Featherston Town Board.
1 February 1917, Eric was admitted to the NZ Stationery Hospital suffering first from myocarditis (inflamation of the heart) and later in March, mumps. Because of Eric's condition he was sent back to New Zealand labelled "unfit for war service on account of his illness contracted on active service."
Eric served as a rifleman but was discharged from service on 3 August 1917, diagnosed with DAH (disordered action of the heart).
Eric was awarded the 1914-15 Star, The British Medal and the Victory Medal.
In 1920, Eric married Esther Maude Griffin (1885? - 3 April 1957). It appears they had no children. Eric and Esther lived in a number of places, including Christchurch, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Waitomo, and Otahuhu. Esther died in Auckland in 1957 and was cremated.
Shortly after Esther's death, Eric married again, this time, to his first cousin, Clarice Evelyn Cobb (3 February 1907 - 27 December 1969). The wedding date is unknown at present, but it was between 1957 and 1959. Clarice was the second daughter of Eric's uncle Percy Cobb, and the birth-sister of his adopted sister Joyce. In Eric's military files, the 'Notification of Death' certificate indicates that Clarice was his next of kin, and that they lived at 110 Weymouth Road Extension, Weymouth at the time of his death. This means they were married less than two years before he died.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph - Cenotaph Record
Archives New Zealand: Archway - Military Files
J Ashcroft
J Ashcroft
Last updated 28 June 2020
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