Herbert Henry MATHEWS

Herbert Henry MATHEWS Update Details

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MATHEWS, Herbert Henry

Service Number:	4552
Enlisted:	5 October 1915
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	52nd Infantry Battalion
Born:	Longford, Tasmania, Australia, 18 April 1897
Home Town:	Longford, Northern Midlands, Tasmania
Schooling:	Longford State School, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation:	Labourer
Died:	Killed in action, Mouquet Farm, France, 4 September 1916, aged 19 years
Cemetery:	No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France.
Memorials:	Longford War Memorial

World War 1 Service

5 Oct 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4552, 12th Infantry Battalion
8 Feb 1916:	Involvement Private, 4552, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: ''
8 Feb 1916:	Embarked Private, 4552, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Warilda, Melbourne
19 Apr 1916:	Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 52nd Infantry Battalion

Help us honour Herbert Henry Mathews's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks

Herbert Mathews was only 18 when he enlisted in late 1915. He was the son of William and Annie Martha Mathews.

He joined the 12th Battalion but was transferred to the 52nd Battalion during the reorganisation of the AIF in Egypt during early 1916.

The 52nd Battalion suffered severe casualties during the Australian's last attack on Mouquet Farm. Mathews was posted as missing on 4 September 1916 as were many others of the unit.

An eyewitness stated "he knew a Mathews in D Company No. 16 Platoon who was called "Jock", used to work on a sheep farm and came from Longford, Tasmania. This man was killed at Mouquet Farm and Informant saw him hit and blown up by a shell just after going over the top. He was only a few yards away."

Mathews' body was never found and his parents were informed during May 1917 that he was officially killed in action.

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