15/06/2026
Private John Morton Bassett (13886)
A Southland Soldier Remembered
John Morton Bassett was born into a hardworking Southland family and grew up in the Invercargill district of New Zealand. The son of John Bassett and Annie Eliza Bassett (née Penny), he spent his early years in a close-knit community where family, work, and service were important values. Before the war, he worked as a fibrous plasterer, building a future through honest labour and skilled craftsmanship.
When the Second World War called upon New Zealand's young men to serve, John answered leaving behind his family and the life he knew, he enlisted in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) and became Private 13886 John Morton Bassett.
Following training, he was posted overseas and eventually joined the 20th Infantry Battalion, one of the distinguished battalions of the New Zealand Division. Like thousands of New Zealand soldiers, he travelled far from home to serve in the deserts of North Africa, where the Allied armies fought to halt the advance of Axis forces.
The Western Desert Campaign was one of the most demanding theatres of the war. Soldiers faced intense heat, dust storms, shortages of water, and constant enemy action. Despite these hardships, the New Zealand Division earned a reputation for courage and determination. The men fought not only for their country but also for the families waiting for them at home.
By July 1942, the fighting around El Alamein had become critical. The fate of Egypt and the Middle East hung in the balance as Allied forces attempted to stop the Axis advance. Among those serving on that front was Private John Morton Bassett.
On 15 July 1942, at only 23 years of age, Private Bassett was killed on active service during operations in the Western Desert. He gave his life while serving his country in one of the most significant campaigns of the Second World War.
Today, he rests in the El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt, grave reference XXVIII. A. 19, among fellow Commonwealth soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
For his parents, however, Egypt was a distant land they would likely never see. Like many families who lost loved ones overseas, they created a place of remembrance at home. The family headstone, shown in the accompanying photograph, records John's service and sacrifice with simple dignity:
13886 Pte John Morton Bassett
Killed in Action at El Alamein
15th July 1942
Aged 23 Years
The memorial stands alongside the names of his father, John Bassett, who died in 1944, and his mother, Annie Eliza Bassett, who died in 1951. Their son's name was permanently carved into the stone, ensuring that future generations would remember the young Southland soldier who never returned home.
Private John Morton Bassett was not a famous commander or war hero in the traditional sense. He was an ordinary New Zealander who answered his country's call in its hour of need. His sacrifice, shared by thousands of others of his generation, helped secure the freedoms enjoyed today.
More than eighty years later, his name endures—recorded in military rolls, preserved in cemetery records, and engraved forever on the family memorial erected by those who loved him.
Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill
Block 29 - Plot 64
