262074 Pte. Norman Brazier New Zealand Expeditionary Force C Company Canterbury Battalion from:Kariori, Taihape, New Zealand Norman Brazier was a farm laborer at Kariori, a remote settlement near Taihape, NZ at that time. He was a member of the Hunterville Mounted Rifles as a Territorial Soldier prior to the outbreak of war in 1915.
His father, James Brazier lived at Cheltenham, near Feilding in the Manawatu Province. He later moved to the new village of Kimbolton and owned a 350 acre farm nearby, which remained the family seat until about 1980.
Norman enlisted to the NZEF at Trentham Camp on 22nd of October 1915 and sailed on the troop ship Maunganui on 8th of January 1916 bound for Egypt, where the NZEF were camped at Zeitoun, near Cairo.
His unit saw action at Ismailia and Suez and then sent to the Dardenelles.
Norman saw action throughout the Gallipoli Campaign and France over the next 5 years. He was wounded 3 times and sent to Walton and Codford General Field Hospitals in England, and returned to active duty on the front line. He later saw action in the Sinai campaign.
Along with other troops the returned to NZ aboard the troop ship Ruapehu and discharged from the Army on 21st of March 1919.
After the war he worked as a laborer for the Mount Albert Borough Council, Auckland, NZ. He never married and lived in boarding houses prior to his death by drowning in Auckland Harbour in 1925. His War Pension Certificate was found on his body by the attending Police.
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