DYSON, Matthew
| Service Number: | 7968 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 September 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Fremantle, Western Australia, 1899 |
| Home Town: | Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 18 September 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Fremantle 849 Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Sep 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 7968, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Nov 1917: | Involvement Private, 7968, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: SS Canberra embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 23 Nov 1917: | Embarked Private, 7968, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), SS Canberra, Fremantle |
Help us honour Matthew Dyson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Keith Rogers
father - Matthew Dyson 1861-1911
mother - Emma Holloway/Dyson 1872-1952
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
Mattie was the third of eight children of Matthew Dyson Snr (b1861 in Perth, WA) and Emma Holloway (b1877 in Toodyay, WA). Matthew (a Wood Merchant) and Emma married in 1895 in Fremantle WA. By 1903 the family was living at Bibra Lake, Jandacott near Fremantle WA where Matthew was a Farmer and Wood Dealer. Following his death in 1911, Emma remarried Pasquale Tombolini (b1881 in Italy) in 1914 in Fremantle WA. Pasquale was a Fisherman, and he and Emma had separated. By 1918 and Emma was working to support herself and the younger children.
Mattie had left home by 1915 and was working as a Labourer when he enlisted in the AIF in September 1917. He was a Private (Service No:7968) with 16th Infantry Battalion and embarked for France via Suez, Port Said, Taranto and England. Mattie arrived in France on 6 May 1918 and was hospitalised with Influenza. On 18 September 1918 he was reported as WiA (Missing) and confirmed dead on 26 October 1918. In September Emma sent a Lettergram to Base Records in Melbourne - 'Received correct report concerning death seventy nine sixty eight Matthew Dyson consider your conduct very heartless not giving condition and where abouts of my son greatly distressed with anxiety Emma Tombolini'. Then in late January 1919 Emma wrote '... if you have not heard anything about my Dear Son .... seems a long time and not getting any news about him God only knows what has happened ...' (National Archives Australia) and in June 1919 Emma wrote again enquiring about Mattie's disc and requesting a photo of his grave - she wanted to add "Dubie' to his headstone (the name he was callled by his comrades). Mattie's possessions were returned to his mother - a gold ring, Prayer Book, letters, wallet and a YMCA wallet.
Click images to start slideshow.