Rfn
Ernest Jesse Goer
Information about birth
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Date of birth: 18/06/1881 |
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Place of birth: Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand |
General information
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Profession: Driver |
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: 53490 |
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Enlistment date: 03/02/1917 |
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Enlistment place: Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand |
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Units: — New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 1st Bn. |
Information about death
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Date of death: 07/12/1917 |
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Place of death: Reutel, Beselare, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 36 |
Cemetery
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Polygon Wood Cemetery Plot: Unknown Row: F Grave: 6 |
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
Ernest Goer was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 18 June 1881 to James and Betsy Goer. The family arrived in New Zealand from Staffordshire, England in the 1870s. Several children were born in England and five, including Ernest, were born in New Zealand. Ernest married Olive Murch in 1906 and the couple had a daughter, Olive Cleta Charlotte, born in 1908 and another, Glady in 1913. He was a driver for Wellington City Corporation when he enlisted on 3 February 1917.
He joined the 27th Reinforcement, service number 53490, training at Trentham and Featherston camps before embarking on the troop ship Maunganui from Wellington on 12 June 1917, arriving at Devonport on 16 August.
As part of a Rifle Brigade group Ernest entered Tidworth Camp on the Salisbury Plain. He sailed to France on 23 October , spending some time at Etaples until being posted to B Company of 1st Battalion, 3rd (New Zealand Rifles) Brigade on 2 November 1917.
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 ( Ernest’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 Ernest Goer died on 7 December 1917. There were heavy snow storms during the time.
His body was recovered and he, along with others from the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, is buried at Polygon Wood Cemetery. He is in Row F, Grave 6.
Ernest’s older brother Charles was killed at the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917.
He joined the 27th Reinforcement, service number 53490, training at Trentham and Featherston camps before embarking on the troop ship Maunganui from Wellington on 12 June 1917, arriving at Devonport on 16 August.
As part of a Rifle Brigade group Ernest entered Tidworth Camp on the Salisbury Plain. He sailed to France on 23 October , spending some time at Etaples until being posted to B Company of 1st Battalion, 3rd (New Zealand Rifles) Brigade on 2 November 1917.
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 ( Ernest’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 Ernest Goer died on 7 December 1917. There were heavy snow storms during the time.
His body was recovered and he, along with others from the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, is buried at Polygon Wood Cemetery. He is in Row F, Grave 6.
Ernest’s older brother Charles was killed at the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917.
Connection to other soldiers 1
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Charles Arthur Goer
Brother |
Sources 3
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Archives New Zealand http://www.archives.govt.nz 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 |
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New Zealand births deaths marriages https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search 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/480028 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=5d5c5017-d84f-406e-9a9f-e3dcb406b439 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7175180 |
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The NZEF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=94366 |
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Online Cenotaph (Auckland Museum) https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/c5630 |