Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

British War Medal 1914-20 (2) (1784 T-Sjt. C. H. Goode. 42 Bn. A.I.F.; 42601 Pte. A. Tuffen. N.Z.E.F.) latter officially re-impressed, generally very fine (2) £80-£120

Cyril Hazlewood Goode attested for the Australian Imperial Force on 7 January 1916, initially with the 11th Depot Battalion before eventually joining the 2/42nd Battalion of the A.I.F. Having been promoted to Corporal (with rank of Acting Sergeant) he proceeded overseas, arriving in Southampton on 18 September 1917, and thence to France on 16 January 1918. He was reported missing on 12 August 1918 in the aftermath of the Battle of Amiens in which the 42 Battalion played a crucial role. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneax Memorial, France.

Robert Brooks (alias Arthur Tuffen) was born on 21 July 1878 in London. He attested for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Dunedin on 19 December (year left blank assumed 1916) and was posted overseas to Walton on Thames with the 1st Otago Regiment on 15 October 1917. He then moved to Hornchurch three days later and on to Codford on 16 November 1917. He was posted to France on 19 February 1918 and two weeks later joined the 1st Battalion, being posted to 4th Company. He received a head wound in action at La Signy Farm on 5 April. The Regimental History for this date states:
‘At 5 o'clock on the morning of April 5th the enemy commenced an artillery bombardment which must rank as one of the heaviest and most sustained the Regiment ever experienced. It extended along the whole Divisional front; and from guns of all calibres shells were poured down over the forward, support and rear positions as far back as Bus-Ies-Artois and Bertrancourt, almost without interruption from early morning until the late afternoon. It furiously searched every known and likely forward position, and in the back areas batteries and villages and roadways were pounded by guns of the heaviest calibres. Its extraordinary depth and intensity indicated an attempt by the enemy to renew the progress which had been so abruptly stayed a few days previously. It was not long before these attacks developed. At 8.15 a.m. reports were received from the 3rd Brigade that the enemy was attacking from the right of the Serre Road to the left boundary south of the Quarries. The attack was beaten off; but when renewed at 10 a.m. the enemy succeeded in capturing a short length of trench east of La Signy Farm, and the Farm itself, the small garrison of three sections of Rifle Brigade troops who comprised this advanced post being overwhelmed. At no other point did the enemy make any progress, and he suffered very severely from our artillery and machine gun fire, his casualties being estimated at 500 killed. Prisoners captured on the front of the left Brigade stated that their ultimate objective was Colincamps, also that many new batteries had been brought up for the attack. At 2 p.m. an attack was made against the right of the Divisional sector, but similarly failed, the only party of Germans who reached our line being taken prisoners. Under cover of this sustained bombardment attacks were launched by the enemy during the day along the whole Army front; but nowhere did he achieve more than very local successes. This may be said to have signalled the termination of the great German drive in the Battle of St. Quentin.
The positions occupied by the Regiment in support had to weather the storm of this extraordinary and relentless artillery bombardment, and a large number of casualties were sustained among both officers and men. During the afternoon an enemy two-seater aeroplane was brought down by Lewis gun fire directed from one of the posts occupied by 4th Company of the 1st Battalion, and the pilot and observer made prisoners. Rain commenced to fall late in the afternoon, after which the situation became comparatively quiet.’

Having been treated in the field, Tuffen was transported to England and was in hospital at Walton for over a month. He was then transferred to Hornchurch and back to Codford shortly after that. By August he was deemed fit enough to return to duty and was posted to the Reserve Brigade at Sling Camp, heading back to France on 10 October 1918 and joining his unit on 30 October. He was returned to the UK in February 1919 and departed for home in May aboard S.S Chupra, arriving back in New Zealand on 28 July 1919. He was discharged on 25 August 1919 and was to die, on 29 December 1919, as a result of the wounds he received the year before. He is buried in Dunedin (Anderson’s Bay) Cemetery.

Tuffen’s service papers indicate that he had lost the second finger of his right hand through an accident at some point but otherwise he was classified as “Fit Class A”. Also indicated is the fact that Arthur Tuffen was actually an alias, with his real name being Robert Brooks. He lists his parents as being Robert Tuffen and Mary Ann Tuffen, although his sister is listed as Miss Ellen Brooks.