the Oxford Observer DECEMBER 2018 Issue 83
Published Monthly 4500 copies
the Oxford & North Canterbury Newspaper
Published and delivered at the beginning of each month to Oxford, Cust, Bennetts, Waddington, Sheffield, West Eyreton, Eyrewell, Swannanoa, Fernside, Summerhill, Ashley Gorge, Okuku, Glentui, Lees Valley, Carleton, Horrellville, Springbank, View Hill. Copies are available at the Oxford, Rangiora & Darfield Libraries, Emma’s at Oxford, Cust PO Boxes & Cafes throughout the district.
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Lost Medal back where it belongs words by Jacky Kirk photos by Victoria Caseley
After a lengthy search, the descendant of a WW1 soldier, who was awarded a medal for sacrificing his life, has been tracked down. Judy Challis found a bronze medal wrapped in newspaper in the hot water cupboard of a New Brighton house she moved into in 1963. For more than fifty years she cherished it, before handing it over to her sister, Angela Lyons, after reading a newspaper article about a family being reunited with their lost medal. Angela, a member of Oxford RSA, took the medal to an RSA meeting, where Rhonda Graham-van Rooden took up the challenge of finding its owner.Measuring 120 mm in diameter and engraved with the name Robert Joseph Crossen, the item was identified as a Memorial Plaque. Also known as a ‘Dead Man’s Penny’, Memorial Plaques were issued after the First World War to the next-of-kin of all British Empire personnel who were killed as a result of the war. It is a sobering thought that 1,355,000 plaques were issued. Rhonda carried out initial research into the Crossen name and appealed for information via local newspapers. Ian Martyn at Medals Reunited NZ and members of the Crossen family in Canterbury unearthed a wealth of information about Robert Joseph Crossen.Robert Joseph Crossen was born in Canterbury in 1890 to parents Thomas and Ellen Crossen. Of their ten children, the three youngest sons of Thomas and Ellen joined up to fight in WW1. Robert enlisted with the Canterbury Infantry Regiment and was deployed to Ypres, Belgium.
After spending around ten weeks in the field, twenty-seven-year-old Private Robert Joseph Crossen was killed in action on 3 December 1917. Battlefield conditions were so brutal that Robert Crossen’s body, along with many others, was never recovered. In 1923 Ellen Crossen received the Memorial Plaque to commemorate the death of her son. Robert’s name is also included on the Buttes New British (New Zealand) Memorial in Belgium, which
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Hauora tuatahi mo te iwi whanua
Ann and David Crossen & Rhonda Graham-van Rooden
commemorates 378 men of the New Zealand Division, who died in the vicinity between September 1917 and May 1918 and have no known graves. The highpoint of the search was tracking down a direct descendant of Private Robert Crossen. David Crossen, the grandson of Robert Crossen’s brother, was handed the Memorial Plaque during the Oxford Armistice Day Memorial Service on 11 November. continued on page 3
REPEAT MEDICATIONS Pre Christmas Check
~ Please check you have enough medications over Christmas and New Year's in advance. ~ If you usually see your Health Provider every three months please make an appointment prior to Christmas. ~ Request a repeat prescription – online through our website www.oxfordhealth.co.nz ~ Call into the Health Centre and fill in a Repeat Prescription Request form ~ We have will have a small team covering the practice from (only 2 GP's) from 24th December to 07th January - so please get in early!!
The Health Centre is closed
Christmas Day (Tuesday 25th) ~ Boxing Day (Wednesday 26th) 2018 New Year’s Day (Tuesday 1st) ~ Day after New Year’s (Wednesday 2nd) 2019 for routine appointments.
If your situation is life threatening please always dial 111 first