Rfn
Herbert Henry Flute
Information about birth
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Date of birth: 06/05/1888 |
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Place of birth: Astwood, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom |
General information
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Profession: Day laborer |
Army information
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Country: New Zealand |
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Force: New Zealand Expeditionary Force |
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Rank: Rifleman |
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Service number: 22788 |
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Enlistment date: 08/02/1916 |
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Enlistment place: Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand |
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Units: — New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 1st Bn. |
Information about death
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Date of death: 05/12/1917 |
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Place of death: Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 29 |
Cemetery
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Polygon Wood Cemetery Plot: Unknown Row: F Grave: 2 |
Distinctions and medals 2
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British War Medal Medal |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 3
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Enlistment place | ||
| #3 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
Rifleman Herbert Henry Flute
Herbert Flute was born in the village of Astwood, Buckinghamshire, England, on 6 May 1888, son of Charles and Eliza Flute. The 1891 Census shows he had two brothers and a sister. His date of emigration to New Zealand is unknown but he is on the 1914 New Zealand Electoral roll in the Rangitikei district, Manawatu in the North Island, listed as a farm labourer.
Herbert was working near the town of Marton when he enlisted on 8 February 1916 at Trentham, joining the 13th Reinforcement, service number 22788. He trained at Trentham and Featherston camps before embarking from Wellington on 29 May 1916 on the troop ship Tofua, arriving at Devonport on 27 July.
He did further training at Sling Camp before sailing to France on 12 August, with a brief time at Etaples before being posted to B Company of the 3rd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 8 September 1916. He was soon in action as the NZ Division began its battle on the Somme on 15 September, when Herbert received a wound in the upper arm.
He was shipped to England, firstly to the New Zealand hospital at Walton-on-Thames. After recovery he moved to the NZ Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch on 13 October and was there for months before being posted to Codford Camp, Salisbury Plain, where New Zealand wounded retrained before returning to the front. In July he went to the Reserve group at Sling Camp and from there was transferred on 2 November 1917 to D Company of the 1st Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, now in the Ypres Salient. This was after the New Zealand Division had fought in the Passchendaele battle.
The New Zealand Division was in the Polygon Wood area, after the end of the Third Battle of Ypres. Much of the time was spent in wiring, repairing crumbling trenches and improving defences. The landscape was covered with waterlogged shellholes. The opposing German forces generally held higher ground and movement in the New Zealand lines was often observed and shelled or machine-gunned.
The Division relieved the 21st Division from 13th November, when the 3rd (NZ Rifle Brigade) and 4th NZ Infantry Brigades took over the front line. On 1st December the NZ Rifle Brigade relieved the 4th Infantry Brigade in the Becelaere Sector, with the 1st Battalion ( Herbert’s unit) relieving the 3rd Otago Battalion. The brigade headquarters was at the Polygon Butte.
On 3 December part of 2nd Brigade attacked Polderhoek Chateau, with limited success and heavy casualties. The Rifle Brigade history does not offer much detail on this period so it is difficult to say how Roy Cunliffe died on 5 December 1917. There were heavy snow storms during the time.
Henry was buried in Polygon Wood Cemetery along with others of the NZ Rifle Brigade killed in this period. He is in Row F, Grave 2.
Herbert Flute was born in the village of Astwood, Buckinghamshire, England, on 6 May 1888, son of Charles and Eliza Flute. The 1891 Census shows he had two brothers and a sister. His date of emigration to New Zealand is unknown but he is on the 1914 New Zealand Electoral roll in the Rangitikei district, Manawatu in the North Island, listed as a farm labourer.
Herbert was working near the town of Marton when he enlisted on 8 February 1916 at Trentham, joining the 13th Reinforcement, service number 22788. He trained at Trentham and Featherston camps before embarking from Wellington on 29 May 1916 on the troop ship Tofua, arriving at Devonport on 27 July.
He did further training at Sling Camp before sailing to France on 12 August, with a brief time at Etaples before being posted to B Company of the 3rd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 8 September 1916. He was soon in action as the NZ Division began its battle on the Somme on 15 September, when Herbert received a wound in the upper arm.
He was shipped to England, firstly to the New Zealand hospital at Walton-on-Thames. After recovery he moved to the NZ Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch on 13 October and was there for months before being posted to Codford Camp, Salisbury Plain, where New Zealand wounded retrained before returning to the front. In July he went to the Reserve group at Sling Camp and from there was transferred on 2 November 1917 to D Company of the 1st Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, now in the Ypres Salient. This was after the New Zealand Division had fought in the Passchendaele battle.
The New Zealand Division was in the Polygon Wood area, after the end of the Third Battle of Ypres. Much of the time was spent in wiring, repairing crumbling trenches and improving defences. The landscape was covered with waterlogged shellholes. The opposing German forces generally held higher ground and movement in the New Zealand lines was often observed and shelled or machine-gunned.
The Division relieved the 21st Division from 13th November, when the 3rd (NZ Rifle Brigade) and 4th NZ Infantry Brigades took over the front line. On 1st December the NZ Rifle Brigade relieved the 4th Infantry Brigade in the Becelaere Sector, with the 1st Battalion ( Herbert’s unit) relieving the 3rd Otago Battalion. The brigade headquarters was at the Polygon Butte.
On 3 December part of 2nd Brigade attacked Polderhoek Chateau, with limited success and heavy casualties. The Rifle Brigade history does not offer much detail on this period so it is difficult to say how Roy Cunliffe died on 5 December 1917. There were heavy snow storms during the time.
Henry was buried in Polygon Wood Cemetery along with others of the NZ Rifle Brigade killed in this period. He is in Row F, Grave 2.
Sources 4
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Ancestry.co.uk https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ Sources used |
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Archives New Zealand https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ Sources used |
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Auckland Weekly News http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/heritageimages/ Sources used |
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Austin WL., The official history of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (The Earl of Liverpool's Own), (Wellington, L.T. Watkins, 1924), pg. 255-258. Sources used |
More information 5
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480025 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=d857de8e-a095-4cd2-a15a-960c84ee829a |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7174557 |
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The NZEF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=83294 |
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Online Cenotaph (Auckland Museum) https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/c4962 |