In memoriam

Lieutenant James Robert Dennistoun

 
 

Lieutenant James Robert Dennistoun. Son of George James and Emily Dennistoun, Peel Forest, Timaru, New Zealand. Mountaineer and explorer. Dennistoun was one of the ship's party on Scott's ill-fated Antarctic expedition.

Arrived France 18 November 1915 with F Squadron North Irish Horse, he transferred to the 23rd Squadron, Royal Flying Corps on 16 June 1916. Probably flying in an FE2b out of Le Hameau at the time, he was reported as missing just 10 days later.

Died of wounds on 9 August 1916 in a hospital in Ohrdruf, Thuringia, Germany while a prisoner of war, aged 33.

Buried in Niederzwehren Cemetery, Germany, grave IV.H.2.

The grave inscription reads:

LIEUTENANT

JAMES ROBERT DENNISTOUN

NORTH IRISH HORSE

ATTD. ROYAL FLYING CORPS

9TH AUGUST 1916 AGE 33

THOU WILT SHEW ME

THE PATH OF LIFE

IN THY PRESENCE

IS FULLNESS OF JOY

 
 
 
 

Image of gravestone in winter kindly provided by Wolfgang Paland via the Great War Forum http://www.1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums. Second gravestone image kindly provided by Steve Rogers, Project Co-ordinator of the The War Graves Photographic Project, www.twgpp.org, via Gerry Chester.

Image of obituary from Flight, 7 September 1916, sourced from www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive

Image of Dennistoun on board the Terra Nova sourced from www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ ~nzlscant/dennistoun.htm

Image of Dennistoun in uniform sourced from Auckland Museum website www.auklandmuseum.com