Date de naissance: 05/01/1889

Lieu de naissance: New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand

Profession: Architecte

Pays: New Zealand

Force armée: New Zealand Expeditionary Force

Rang: Captain

Numéro de service: 23/1288

Incorporation date: 28/04/1915

Incorporation nom de lieu: Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand

Unités:  —  Otago Regiment, 3rd Bn.  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 04/10/1917

Lieu de décès: Van Meulen Farm, Belgique

Cause du décès: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Âge: 28

1914-15 Star Médaille

British War Medal Médaille

Mentioned in Despatches Eervolle vermelding

Victory Medal Médaille

Captain Neville Henry Arden (3rd Battalion Otago Regiment, 4th New Zealand Brigade, New Zealand Division) was killed in action on the 4th of October 1917, during the Battle of Broodseinde.
On the 2nd of October 1917 the 3rd Battalion Otago Regiment took over the frontline from the 1st Battalion Otago Regiment. On the night of the 3rd of October, the 3rd battalion Otago Regiment moved to its assembly positions, located 200-300 yards in the rear of the existing front line, west of ‘s Graventafel. The 3rd Battalion Otago Regiment would attack with two front line Companies: the 4th Company, which was commanded by Captain Neville Henry Arden, and the 14th Company. The 8th Company was responsible for mopping-up and had to assist the leading Companies. The 10th Company was the Battalion reserve.
On October 4th moments before the attack, a German barrage was put down on the frontline. At 6.00 a.m., the Battalion advanced. The 3rd Otago regiment took Dochy Farm and Riverside. Otto Farm was harder to take, but eventually fell. Van Meulen Farm and the dug-outs surrounding it near ‘s Graventafel also offered strong resistance. An attack on these places was organized and personally led by Captain Neville Henry Arden. They managed to capture 50 prisoners and a couple of machine guns. Earlier in the advance, Captain Neville Henry Arden had already been wounded. Nevertheless the 3rd Otago managed to capture all the previously mentioned strongpoints.
When the objective was gained, Captain Arden went forward to determine the most suitable line for consolidation. It was there that he was grievously wounded. The Battalion consolidated a line near Van Meulen and the attack was continued by the 3rd Canterbury and 3rd Wellington. Captain Neville Henry Arden was buried in the field near Somme and Aisne, east of the New Zealand Division’s jump off position. On his Service Record it is mentioned that he was buried at D.13.d.06.65 about 30 yards to the left of a pillbox used as a Regimental Aid Post. This suggests that Captain Neville Henry Arden was evacuated to the rear, but succumbed to his wounds on his way to or at a bandage station. In the regimentbook he ‘died of his wounds after he gave his last instructions’. His remains were reinterred on Tyne Cot Cemetery after the war.

Byrne, A.E., Official History of the Otago Regiment, N.Z.E.F. in the Great War 1914-1918, (Dunedin, Wilkie & Co, Ltd), p. 254-259. Sources utilisées

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), p. 99. Sources utilisées

Stewart, H., The New Zealand Division 1916-1919. A Popular History Based on Official Records, (Auckland, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1921), p. 260-273. Sources utilisées

Wright, M., Western Front. The New Zealand Division in the First World War 1916-18, (Auckland, Reed, 2005), p. 107-110. Sources utilisées

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/461757

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=56263f9b-dce9-404b-9c01-631f19152daf

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7170328

The NZEF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=6565

Online Cenotaph (Auckland Museum) https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C387