Jack BRAITHWAITE

Regimental number24/58
Date of birth1883
Place of birthDunedin
ReligionChurch of England
Address5 Cliffs Road, St Clair, Dunedin
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation32
Height5' 7.5"
Weight130 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs J Braithwaite, 5 Cliff Road, St Clair, Dunedin
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date29 May 1915
Rank on embarkationRifleman
Enlistment statusVolunteer
Unit nameNew Zealand Expeditionary Force, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 2nd Battalion, A Company
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Wellington on 10 October 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll24/1521
Final rankPrivate
Final unit2nd Battalion, Otago Infantry Regiment
FateExecuted 29 October 1916
Place of burialSt Sever Cemetery Extension (Plot I, Row K, Grave No 10), Rouen, France
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Disembarked Suez, 8 February 1916.

Transferred to 2nd Bn, Otago Infantry Regiment, 10 March 1916.

Admitted to No 2 NZ Field Ambulance, Moascar, 1 April 1916 (measles); transferred to No 1 NZ Stationary Hospital, 1 April 1916; discharged to duty, 5 April 1916.

Appointed Lance Corporal, 1 April 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, France, 9 April 1916.

Found guilty, 3 May 1916, of being absent without leave: deprived of Lance stripes, and forfeited 2 days' pay by Royal Warrant.

Found guilty, 13 June 1916, of (1) being absent without leave from Reveille, 30 May, till 9 pm, 31 May 1916; (2) stating a falsehood, to be an Officer; (3) being in possession of a document purporting to be a genuine pass, 31 May 1916: awarded 60 days' Field Punishment No 2, and forfeited 60 days' ordinary pay.

Found guilty by Field General Court Martial, 7 July 1916, of (1) when on Active Service absenting himself without leave; (2) when in confinement escaping: awarded imprisonment with hard labour for two years.

Found guilty by Field General Court Martial, 19 July 1916, of when on Active Service in confinement, escaping: awarded imprisonment with hard labour for two years. Sentences from 7 and 19 July to run concurrently.

Found guilty by General Court Martial, 11 October 1916, of at Blangies N., near Abancourt, on 28 August 1916, joining in a mutiny in Forces to which the Army is applied, as if they were Regular Forces: sentenced to suffer death by being shot.

Executed, Rouen, 6 am, 29 October 1916.

Forfeited entitlement to war medals.

In 2000 the New Zealand Government announced that the five New Zealand soldiers who had been executed during the First World War would be pardoned; in 2005 their descendants were granted the appropriate medals.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsNominal Roll Vol. 1: A Company/2nd NZRB
SourcesArchives New Zealand (Wellington), Agency AABK, Series 18805, File 22278447