Private John Ovens

Private John Ovens, New Zealand Pioneer Battalion. He was killed in action on the Somme on 29th September 1916 ,aged 29. He had been born in Foulden and was the son of John and Martha Ovens of The Gardens, Foulden and the husband of Eva Ovens of Dannevirke, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand and is buried in Caterpillar Valley, Longueval, Somme, France.  He had served his apprenticeship as an engineer before emigrating to New Zealand in 1906. He was managing a sheep farm in Waipatiki Bay when he enlisted in December 1915. By Autumn the rains had turned this ground into a glutinous quagmire making all movement very difficult as can be seen from the photographs. The colour image shows a peaceful Somme landscape today with ” no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now”.