OFSOFSKI, Frank
Born 28 July 1889; died 18 November 1918; buried 19 November 1918; age 29
Frank OFSOFSKI (i) showed keenness for military life. He enrolled with the Army Volunteers before 1914 then enlisted at the outset of World War I and served in the Samoa Expeditionary Force which sailed from New Zealand on 9 August 1914, 5 days after war had been declared. He enlisted a second time in 1916.
Frank’s parents were both born in Poland and were brought to New Zealand as children. His father, Johan or John, grew up in the Wairarapa on a farm that his own father, Martin, had set up near Carterton. His mother Franciszka, or Frances SPORA, was first taken to Jackson’s Bay, where many people from Poland, Germany and Italy had been recruited to set up a new Vogel-sponsored settlement. Most left soon after arriving, disillusioned by what they found. The Spora family left too and went to Carterton to begin farming.
Two years apart in age, John and Frances attended Carterton School and, perhaps reflecting their shared heritage, they grew together. In 1889, when John was 20 and Frances 18, they married. Frank was born in July 1889 in Carterton. He was the first of 10 children.
When war broke out, Frank was living in Newtown, Wellington at 9 Gordon Street off Riddiford Street, working as a yardman for ‘Stewart and Co’ according to his army personnel file. This was probably the Stewart Timber, Glass and Hardware Company in Courtenay Place. His parents also seemed to have left Carterton because when Frank enlisted, he gave his mother as his next of kin and her address as 9 Gordon Street as well.
Like many young men of the time, Frank had already had some military training while serving with the Carterton Volunteers and this might have helped his selection as one of the 1400 volunteers in the Samoa Expeditionary Force despatched to seize the radio station in German Samoa after war broke out. Although there would have been anxiety during the journey, because no-one knew the location of the German warships in the Pacific, the convoy arrived in Apia on 29 August and met no resistance. As the troops settled in, the excitement of capturing the radio station would have dissipated. The Official War History talks about the downsides:
…long night vigils on outpost in the plantations in the tropical downpouring rains… maddeningly persistent mosquitos which hovered in myriads during the day, and at night renewed their energies tenfold; the water and wood fatigues, the stone-gathering for concreting works and wall-making, the sweating and trench-digging in the scorching tropical sun; the heavy parades and route marches; the absence of mosquito nets, which made rest impossible when sleeping time came; the centipedes, and monotonous and inadequate food, when a meal of potatoes and pumpkin was chronicled in a private's diary as "a real treat." (ii)
Frank spent part of his time in Samoa hospitalised with what became chronic bronchitis, exacerbated by the rains. Immediately after his return home with the other troops in January 1915, he appeared before a Medical Board in Wellington. Although he had recovered, he was declared unfit for active service and discharged.
He appeared on the Army’s Reserve Roll in 1916-1917 as a motor mechanic, living in Rintoul Street. In January 1918 his name was drawn in the ballot for reinforcements at the front. There is no record that he was called into camp. In November he fell ill with influenza and was taken to the Sydney Street temporary hospital where he died, aged 29. He was buried in the Roman Catholic Section of Karori Cemetery, Plot 98 V.
Researched and written by Max Kerr
(i) This was the spelling that Frank used but variations such as Ofsofske and Opsofski also appear in official documents.
(ii) The Samoa (NZ) Expeditionary Force 1914–1915, Stephen John Smith, Ferguson and Osborn, 1924, p 81
Born 28 July 1889; died 18 November 1918; buried 19 November 1918; age 29
Frank OFSOFSKI (i) showed keenness for military life. He enrolled with the Army Volunteers before 1914 then enlisted at the outset of World War I and served in the Samoa Expeditionary Force which sailed from New Zealand on 9 August 1914, 5 days after war had been declared. He enlisted a second time in 1916.
Frank’s parents were both born in Poland and were brought to New Zealand as children. His father, Johan or John, grew up in the Wairarapa on a farm that his own father, Martin, had set up near Carterton. His mother Franciszka, or Frances SPORA, was first taken to Jackson’s Bay, where many people from Poland, Germany and Italy had been recruited to set up a new Vogel-sponsored settlement. Most left soon after arriving, disillusioned by what they found. The Spora family left too and went to Carterton to begin farming.
Two years apart in age, John and Frances attended Carterton School and, perhaps reflecting their shared heritage, they grew together. In 1889, when John was 20 and Frances 18, they married. Frank was born in July 1889 in Carterton. He was the first of 10 children.
When war broke out, Frank was living in Newtown, Wellington at 9 Gordon Street off Riddiford Street, working as a yardman for ‘Stewart and Co’ according to his army personnel file. This was probably the Stewart Timber, Glass and Hardware Company in Courtenay Place. His parents also seemed to have left Carterton because when Frank enlisted, he gave his mother as his next of kin and her address as 9 Gordon Street as well.
Like many young men of the time, Frank had already had some military training while serving with the Carterton Volunteers and this might have helped his selection as one of the 1400 volunteers in the Samoa Expeditionary Force despatched to seize the radio station in German Samoa after war broke out. Although there would have been anxiety during the journey, because no-one knew the location of the German warships in the Pacific, the convoy arrived in Apia on 29 August and met no resistance. As the troops settled in, the excitement of capturing the radio station would have dissipated. The Official War History talks about the downsides:
…long night vigils on outpost in the plantations in the tropical downpouring rains… maddeningly persistent mosquitos which hovered in myriads during the day, and at night renewed their energies tenfold; the water and wood fatigues, the stone-gathering for concreting works and wall-making, the sweating and trench-digging in the scorching tropical sun; the heavy parades and route marches; the absence of mosquito nets, which made rest impossible when sleeping time came; the centipedes, and monotonous and inadequate food, when a meal of potatoes and pumpkin was chronicled in a private's diary as "a real treat." (ii)
Frank spent part of his time in Samoa hospitalised with what became chronic bronchitis, exacerbated by the rains. Immediately after his return home with the other troops in January 1915, he appeared before a Medical Board in Wellington. Although he had recovered, he was declared unfit for active service and discharged.
He appeared on the Army’s Reserve Roll in 1916-1917 as a motor mechanic, living in Rintoul Street. In January 1918 his name was drawn in the ballot for reinforcements at the front. There is no record that he was called into camp. In November he fell ill with influenza and was taken to the Sydney Street temporary hospital where he died, aged 29. He was buried in the Roman Catholic Section of Karori Cemetery, Plot 98 V.
Researched and written by Max Kerr
(i) This was the spelling that Frank used but variations such as Ofsofske and Opsofski also appear in official documents.
(ii) The Samoa (NZ) Expeditionary Force 1914–1915, Stephen John Smith, Ferguson and Osborn, 1924, p 81