Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Mervyn was one of three brothers from Exeter, Tasmania, who enlisted in the AIF. One brother, 1832 Pte. Bernard Locke Scolyer 26th Battalion AIF was killed in action at Pozieres on 5 August 1916.

Mervyn managed to survive the war despite being wounded on three occasions and being severely gassed during August 1918, which resulted in him being evacuation to England then sent home to Australia.

The following letter from Mervyn Scolyer was published in Launceston Examiner on 8 October 1917 under the heading LETTERS FROM THE FRONT. IN THE MESSINES PUSH.

Private Mervyn Scolyer, writing home to Exeter from the London General Hospital, London, says:

“I haven't had any mail for about six weeks. A big mail came in before the push started, but they didn't get it sorted in time to give it to us before we went over the top. As you will know before you get this, Fritz had a shell waiting for me, and he gave me a fair dose. But I got my bayonet through one before they got me, and you ought to have heard him hollow. I will never forget it. He tried hard to get me before I got him. But very few of them will face the bayonet. They will fire like billy-ho till you get about twenty yards from them, then up with their hands, and they start to cry for mercy. Well, it was a great victory for us, one of the best of the war. It was a very strong position, but our artillery was wonderful. None of the enemy's trenches was left for two miles. The mines they blew up before we went over made the ground rock just like an earthquake. Fritz and his front-line trench went sky high.

Our artillery had been bombarding him for three weeks before hand, off and on, but the night we went over there wasn't a shot fired. You would have thought they had all gone to bed. But at ten minutes to three to the second — about an hour before daylight —all the artillery opened, and all the mines went off, and the machine guns were rattling by the thousand. You would have thought hell was let loose. At the same time, over we went across No Man's Land, into his first trench, or, at least, where it was — it was only big craters — and straight on to his second line, and so on. The ground was covered with dead and wounded Germans. We kept on going till ten o'clock, when we got our first objective, and there we waited till two in the afternoon, while they swung around on our left. Then off we went for our last objective, which we got at four o'clock, and dug in. But we didn't get dug in properly before they counter-attacked, about two hours after.

That is when I got my crack. I was in front with my machine gun, keeping Fritzs’ heads down, while our men dug in. A shell dropped right between Frank Moran and myself. Poor Frank was killed right out. I only felt my back at first, and thought it was bruised. I got up and walked back about fifty yards to Sandy Gowens, and got him to have a look at my back. He told me a piece had gone in, and he dressed it. Then my leg began to feel a bit sore. I got him to have a   look at it, and there was a hole where it went in. He also fixed that up. I didn't feel very bad then, and started off walking with a stick. I got half a mile, but couldn't get any further, and lay down. Of course, Fritz was shelling all the time, and wasn't sparing the shells. I was lying there for a while when two fellows from another battalion came along, and started off with me. We hadn't got far when a shell killed one of them. So, I had to wait again while the other got another fellow to help him. I got back to our front-line trench, where the dressing station was, and there were hundreds waiting to get dressed. Two stretcher-bearers took me on about a mile and a half, and there I got in a motor ambulance. I was soon out of reach of the German shells. And that is when my wounds began to pain me. I went on to another dressing station. I told them to have a look at my other leg, and there was another wound there. I got one to each leg, one in the thigh, one in the back, and one on my nose Roy and Ernie got one the same day. Roy got over here to London, and has been down to see me We are fed well — five meals a day. We have a lot of visitors and they never come empty-handed.