Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Joseph John Dwyer

Joseph John Dwyer, otherwise known as ‘Joseph Valentine’ to his friends, was a soldier that fought in World War One. Dwyer enlisted for the War on the 16th of September 1915, when he was 24 years old and 8 months. Joseph enlisted from Magill in South Australia, and was single at the time of enlistment meaning that his next of kin was his mother, Mrs Margaret Dwyer. At the time of enlistment, Dwyer was a labourer. Joining the war, he was a Private, although he gradually moved into the position of Sergeant during the period of ‘The Great War’ from 1914-1918. Dwyer was one of the soldiers to return safely home from the war after being in service with the 29th Battalion, 8th Brigade for 3 years – 195 days.

Joseph John Dwyer, was 24 years old and 8 months when he joined the Australian Imperial Forces, meaning that his birth date was around January 16th 1891. Dwyer was in the middle-aged category for men to enlist in the war, as it was expected of them to be between the ages of 19-38 years old as of August 1914. Dwyer was however quite tall for this period of time, with the average height of soldiers being 5ft 6”, however Dwyer did not fit into this category and was on the taller area of this spectrum being 5ft 11” tall. He weighed  80kg (177 Lbs) and had what was known as ‘fresh’ complexion. He had blue eyes with the distinctive marks of 6/9 vision on each eye and he also had brown hair with a military styled haircut.

Dwyer trained with the 29th Battalion and the 8th Brigade. This meant that he fought in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium in 1918. This Battalion moved to supply reinforcements for the other heavily depleted Australian Units. This Battalion undertook comprehensive training programmes, and by the time their orders arrived to transfer to Europe in June 1916, they had reached the peak or climax of their training regime. Dwyer’s Battalion was taken to battle on the HMAT Ascanius with three other troupes. They departed the Australian waters and arrived at Port Suez in Egypt on the 7th December 1915. Unfortunately, this Battalion was too late to take part in the fight at Gallipoli, so they undertook the defensive duties and protected the Suez Canal from the Ottoman forces. Before the Battalion arrived in Egypt, the 8th Brigade was detached from their divisional level, however in early 1916, it was assigned to the 5th division, and this ceased to see the AIF expand from two infantry divisions, into five.

Whilst, Dwyer did not retain any severe wounds during the war however, he was wounded in France on the 2nd June 1917. Doctors allowed Dwyer to continue with his training and on the field during this period when he was injured.

Joseph John Dwyer was appointed with three different medals. He was awarded the Victorian Star Medal for services in the war between August 5th 1914 and the 31st of December 1915. Dwyer was awarded the British War Memorial Medal for services between the 5th August 1915 and the 11th November 1918 for the completion of ‘The Great War’. Finally, he was awarded with the Victory Medal which was awarded to all soldiers in 1919 to commemorate the victory of the Allied Forces over the Central Powers.

Dwyer showed the ANZAC Spirt by fighting for Australia. He fought very bravely in the war and he risked his life to fight for his country and for all Australians. Dwyer was extremely brave in his decision to join the army; however, he was rewarded and commended on his efforts by becoming a Sergeant, and by being awarded three medals.