Information about birth

Date of birth:
28/07/1887
Place of birth:
Leek, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom

General information

Profession:
Farmer

Army information

Country:
New Zealand
Force:
New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Private
Service number:
32124
Enlistment date:
25/07/1916
Enlistment place:
Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand
Units:
 —  Canterbury Regiment, 3rd Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
22/11/1917
Place of death:
Joiners Rest, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
30

Cemetery

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 2

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place

My story

Private Reuben Clulow served in the Canterbury Regiment, Third Battalion, 4th New Zealand Brigade. He was the son of the late Mrs. Fanny Clulow, of 77, Shirburn Rd., Leek, Staffs., England.

His unit was in the Polygon Wood sector 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.

Neither the New Zealand Division history or that of the Canterbury Regiment give detailed information for the November 1917-February 1918 period so it is impossible to say with any certainty how Reuben Clulow died on 22 November 1917. On the night of 21/22 November, 3rd Canterbury Battalion relieved the 3rd Auckland Battalion at a position called Joiners Rest, at Polygon Wood and it can be presumed he was killed during this event. The opposing German forces generally held higher ground, and movement in the New Zealand lines was often observed and shelled or machine-gunned.

He is buried in Buttes New British in Plot I, Row A, Grave 11 with others of the 3rd Canterbury Battalion who died on 22 November 1917.

Files 2

Sources 5

"The history of the Canterbury Regiment N .Z .E .F. : 1914 -1919", Ferguson D., Whitcombe and Tombs, 1921, p.204 - 211
Sources used
Auckland Cenotaph
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C2789?n=clulow&ordinal=1&from=%2Fwar-memorial%2Fonline-cenotaph%2Fsearch
Sources used
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead/results?firstName=Reuben&lastName=Clulow
Sources used
NZEF-Project
http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=48055
Sources used
The Long, Long Trail
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/
Sources used