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10 June 1894 - 9 August 1916
Norman Astridge was the great great uncle of one of A.
Norman enlisted in Palmerston North on 15 December 1914. At the time he was 21 years old and working as a motor mechanic at the Club Hotel. His father Albon Charles Astridge and his step-mother Harriet resided in Levin. The whereabouts of his mother Charlotte Sarah (nee Taylor) is unclear at this stage. Norman had at least one sibling, a brother named Percy.
Norman embarked on one of several troopships which left Wellington on 17 April 1915, bound for Suez, Egypt. He was part of the 4th Reinforcements of the Auckland Mounted Rifles. As a Trooper, Norman was able to take his horse to war with him. He was trained to ride his horse into battle, then dismount to continue the fight on foot.
By 3 October 1915, Norman was with his unit at Mudros, on an island of Lemnos, Greece. It is unclear if he was sent to Gallipoli with the reinforcements but we do know that by the end of 1915 he was stationed at the Zeitoun Military Camp in Egypt, then in January 1916, he was sent to the Canal Zone to guard the Suez Canal.
It is possible that Norman was involved in the Battle of Romani on 4-5 August when the Turks were defeated. Unfortunately Norman was killed on 9 August, 1916 in a bomb explosion. He was initially buried at the Hod el Dababis Military Cemetery in Egypt, but was reburied at the Kantara War Memorial Cemetary, Egypt. His grave is at plot A.93.
Norman's father Albon was sent his son's medals: The 1914-15 Star, The British War Medal and The Victory Medal, along with a memorial plaque and scroll.
Norman's name is engraved on the Weraroa Memorial Peace Gates in Levin, and the World War 1 Hall of Memories at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
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| A's great great uncle was Private Norman W Astridge. |
Sources of information
Online Cenotaph Records - Auckland War Memorial Musuem
Archives NZ - Archway Record R22271414
Papers Past - Auckland Star, Vol XLVII, Issue 199, 21 August 1916, p7
Papers Past - NZ Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16314, 22 August 1016, p8
Wikipedia - Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment
Kete Horowhenua - Adopt and Anzac
Hi Kristen, thank you for taking time to do some more research on Great great Uncle Norman. you have found out more information than we knew about him and his war experience. Aaron's great grandad was Norman's half brother and only about 6 years old when his big brother left for war. As you can imagine a six year old wasn't told much about his brother death. I can fill in a couple of gaps in his history. His mother Charlotte died when he was quiet young, his father went on to marry twice more and Harriet was his third wife. Norman had 2 siblings and 6 half siblings.
ReplyDeleteWe are interested to know his final resting place and I'll share this with the wider family. Unfortunately we don't know what happened to Norman's medals, hopefully they were passed on to one of his older siblings families.
Cheers, Miranda