Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur Lyrett Mayne was born in South Australia, Adelaide: Norwood in 1987, October. He was a man of blue eyes and fair hair; he was 5’8, weighed 60 kilograms and was a Methodist. He wasn’t married and didn’t have any children, and his next of kin was his brother, Edgar Mayne. He was 28 years and 1 month when he enlisted in WWI on the 2nd of November 1916. At this time, the British army waslow on men and had enforced a law that forced all men to join. This was called conscription. He would have signed up in an agency in Norwood, submitting a form with all information about him and any previous service completed. Mayne had not had any pervious service to do with the army and no training prior to this. He was a natural born British Subject (being Australian) meaning he was not a migrant.

Mayne began as a Private in the army, which was the lowest/first rank any soldier would go into. His first unit was the 2nd Depot Battalion, which he joined on the 3/11/16. At this time, the battalion was sailing for France and the Western Front. In this unit, he fought against the German Army in Ypres, Belgium. He fought in this unit for 25 days. He then continued to the 9th Light Horse Regiment on the 28/11/16. This unit was formed in Adelaide and trained in Melbourne between October 1914 and February 1915. As a soldier in this unit, Mayne had a responsibility to ride a horse instead of fighting on foot like the infantry. The light horse unit was known as mounted infantry. He carried a .303 rifle, the standard infantry weapon and would have also been armed with the Hotchkiss Medium Machine Gun (MMG.) By December 1916, this unit had reached the Palestine frontier and was involved in fighting to secure the Turkish outposts of Magdhaba, Rafa and Gaza. It was in this Light Horse Regiment, that Mayne had been promoted from a Private, to a Corporal. He then embarked Adelaide per the A6 “Cian McCorquodale” as a Corporal on the 5/2/17, began travelling and then disembarked in Suez (a city in north-eastern Egypt) on the 12/3/17.

He then marched into a camp in the city of Suez. After this however, he marched out from the Adelaide Camp in Egypt and was taken to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment on the 26/3/17. Mayne would have been a part of the 3rd’s next major engagement, which was the second battle of Gaza on the 19th April. However he would not have been in this unit to see the fall of Gaza on the 7th of November. Mayne then travelled back to the 9th Light Horse Regiment on the 22/4/17. These two units worked together to take down Gaza and the Turkish position in southern Palestine. On the 10/7/17 Mayne was still in Egypt, however he was resting. Then on the 29/7/17, he returned to the unit’s ex rest-camp in Egypt. On the 2/1/18 he was transported to the general hospital and on the 6/5/18 he was taken to a rest camp in Port Said, another city in Egypt. There are no other records of where Mayne was from here, however it can be assumed he stayed in this rest-camp until he was then discharged on the 30/9/19 after disembarking in Adelaide. This means the Arthur Lyrett Mayne, served his time in the war as a soldier in the 2nd Depot Battalion, 3rd and 9th Light Horse Regiment for approximately 3 years.

ANZAC stands for “Australian and New Zealand Army Crops” and the ANZAC Spirit refers to the characteristics of the soldiers that fought for Australia/Britain in WWI. Despite the fact that Arthur Lyrett Mayne was most likely forced to join the army due to the timing of his signing in, he didn’t lack any of the characteristics that the soldiers would have had. Mayne could have resorted to deserting but he instead fought wherever he was sent, continuing to fight different battles and learning how to go from the infantry to the mounted infantry. It seems he was also injured and spent a lot of time in rest-camps, still going to whichever hospital or camp he needed to. He served his country for approximately 3 years. His service and sacrifice to his country is admirable and Mayne displayed characteristics of a strong, resilient, proud and brave Australian. Mayne was awarded the British War Medal, Victory Medal and Star medal for his service in the army. Arthur Lyrett Mayne and his great contribution to WWI will continue to live on for centuries to come.