Information about birth

Date of birth:
14/06/1896
Place of birth:
Levuka, Lomaiviti, Fiji

General information

Profession:
Engine Driver - Shedman

Army information

Country:
New Zealand
Force:
New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Private
Service number:
19459
Enlistment date:
18/09/1916
Enlistment place:
Narrow Neck, Auckland, New Zealand
Units:
 —  New Zealand Maori (Pioneer) Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
08/10/1917
Place of death:
Lijssenthoek, Remy Siding Casualty Clearing Stations, Belgium
Cause of death:
Died of wounds (D.O.W.)
Age:
21

Cemetery

Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery
Plot: 20
Row: I
Grave: 8A

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 3

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place
#3 Place of death (approximate)

My story

Private Joseph Curtis was part of the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion under direct command of divisional headquarters. The New Zealand Division took part in the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917. After terrain had been won, the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion was tasked with consolidating these gains by constructing navigable roads to the new front and repairing damaged roads. This task was difficult because the rain turned the landscape into a quagmire in the first days after the battle. The roads were also targets for German artillery fire, as destroying these could cripple the supply lines. Private Joseph Curtis was wounded on 7 October 1917. He was most likely wounded while working on the roads near Spree Farm and Kansas Cross. He was transported to the Casualty Clearing Station at Lijssenthoek (Remy Siding), where he succumbed to his wounds and was buried on the 8th of October 1917.

Files 1

Sources 6

Auckland War Memorial Museum
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph
Sources used
Chris McCarthy, Passchendaele : The Day-by-Day account, 2018, 113-117.
Sources used
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/433114/curtis,-joseph/
Sources used
James Cowan, The Maoris in the Great War : a history of the New Zealand native contingent and pioneer battalion : Gallipoli 1915, France and Flanders 1916-1918, 1926, 124-125
Sources used
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery
http://www.lijssenthoek.be/nl/adres/12606/-joseph-curtis.html
Sources used
The Long, Long Trail
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/
Sources used