Anthony Ormsby
Born 8th April 1888
Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 30 August 2025 - Military Record
- Service number
- WWI 19449 AWMM
- Also known as
- Toni Omipi Ormsby AWMM
- Tony AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
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- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
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- Forenames
- Anthony AWMM
- Surname
- Ormsby AWMM
- Ingoa
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- Also known as
- Toni Omipi Ormsby AWMM
- Tony AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 19449 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- Iwi Māori, Māori AWMM
- Ngāti Maniapoto, Māori AWMM
- Religion
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Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
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- Date of birth
- 8th April 1888Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 30 August 2025 - Military Record
- Place of birth
- Kopua, OtorohangaPublic - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 30 August 2025 - Military Record
- Birth notes
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- Address before enlistment
- Otorohanga, King Country
After the War he was living in Puketara, PirongiaPublic - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 30 August 2025 - Military Record - Post war occupation
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- Next of kin
- Mrs Laura Marie Ormsby (wife), Otorohanga, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- 1911 Anthony ORMSBY married Laura Marie SYMESPublic - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 30 August 2025 - Military Record
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
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- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 19449 AWMM
- Military service
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- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
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Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
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Training and Enlistment
- Military training
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- Branch Trade Proficiency
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- Enlistment
- WW1 Unknown AWMM Interpreter/Civilian AWMM
- Age on enlistment
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- Occupation before enlistment
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Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 02 Jan 1917-27 Mar 1917 AWMM
HMNZT 73 AWMM Vessel was Opawa AWMM Corporal/Military AWMM 12th Reinforcements AWMM Maori Contingent AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
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- Days interned
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- Liberation date
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- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
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- POW serial number
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Medical history
- Medical notes
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Last known rank
- Last rank
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- Last rank
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Biographical information
- SOLDIERS' LETTERS.
PRIVATE TONY ORMSBY. We have received the following letter from Private “Tony” Ormsby, late of Te Kuiti, which was written from Christchurch, Hants., England, on June 2nd:
“We are still in England and having a pretty decent time. The weather is beautiful, and we are camped in one of England’s most beautiful districts. We had three months’ solid training in Sling Camp on the Salisbury Plains, and we have come to Christchurch to finish off with engineering. It took us three months to get to England and we called at Sydney for two days, Albany two days, Cape Town three weeks, where we had to wait for another Reinforcement. There was quite a fleet came across from Cape Town. It was a beautiful sight, especially after we were met two days before getting into Plymouth by a flotilla of destroyers. We also called at Freetown, Sierra Leone, so you can see we have been to a few ports since we left, but none compare with Old New Zealand, or Te Kuiti.
I met Bert Boles, Mick Caveney, Hughy Conway, McAdam, Bannister and several other Te Kuiti boys. Bert Boles, Bannister and McAdam are in the officers’ training school. Of course you know Bert has been awarded the D.C.M. We were present when the King presented him with his medal. It was a great day, a big review, and it was a decent sight. Mr Massey, Sir Joseph Ward, and Sir Thomas Mackenzie were all there. Old Bert had a yarn with the King, and you would have thought they were pals and knew one another all their lives. You can imagine how proud we were of Old Bert. He is just the same as ever, and while we were in Sling we had quite a reunion.
I don’t know how long they are going to keep us here, but we hope to get away pretty soon. I see by the papers you had a good race meeting and show this year. Kia ora. Racing is practically cut out in England during the war. Wetere Hetet is here with me and well. Kind regards to all enquiring friends.” AWMM
About death
- Death
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- Date of death
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- Age at death
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- Place of death
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- Cause of death
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- Death notes
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- Cemetery
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- Cemetery name
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- Grave reference
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- Obituary
- Puketotara, Pirongia, the family burial ground between Otorohanga and Te Awamutu. Mr Ormsby, who belonged to Ngati Maniapoto, was a returned soldier of World War I. He was a lifelong friend of Sir Peter Buck. During his life he had been a Maori Health Inspector in the Waikato-Maniapoto area; a farmer, and a native agent. In later years he had been living in Auckland. He is survived by his widow and two children.
Tony Ormsby Te Ao Hou, December 1956, Page 3 AWMM - Memorial name
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- Memorial reference
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Memorial
- Memorial name
- WWI Roll of Honour, Ngāti Maniapoto's Memorial Flag Pole, Te Tokanganui-a-Noho, Te Kūiti AWMM
Sources
- External links
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R21382694
Further Reference - Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20201108000000/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-CowMaor.html
Further Reference - “SOMEWHAT OBSCURE.” Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 202, 25 July 1927, Page 8
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS19270725.2.97
Further Reference - SOLDIERS' LETTERS. King Country Chronicle, Volume XI, Issue 994, 28 July 1917, Page 5
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KCC19170728.2.26
Further Reference - Tony Ormsby Te Ao Hou, December 1956, Page 3
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TAH195612.2.5.1
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- References
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
49: 22 - Soutar, M. (2019). Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Maori In the First World War. New Zealand: David Bateman Ltd.
- Roa, T., Paki, M., & Pūrekireki Marae. (2015). Maiea te tupua : whānau accounts of Waikato-Maniapoto World War One veterans and one conscriptee : commemorating 100 years of World War One. Pirongia : Pūrekireki Marae.
- McClintock, K., Turner, K., Searancke, M., Manawaiti, S., Meredith, P. (2024). Ngāti Maniapoto Ope Taua 1914 – 1918.
- Cowan, J. (1926). The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, N.Z.: Maori Regimental Committee by Whitcombe & Tombs.
- Pugsley, C. (1995). Te Hokowhitu a Tu : the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the first World War. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed.
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
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