MATHESON, Donald Murray 71909
Donald was the was the son of George Stafford Matheson and Monica Heaton (and brother of George Stafford, James Alexander and Neil McLeod Matheson, all of whom served in WW1). Donald worked as a railway clerk in different parts of the country. In 1915 he married Winifred Campbell, and the couple had a son later the same year. Donald joined up in December 1917, and in June 1918 embarked with the 35th Reinforcements. He marched into Sling Camp in August 1918 and joined the reserves for the Auckland Regiment, which at that time was fighting in the Somme as part of the Hundred Days Offensive. But Donald was lucky enough not to see action, and after some months in England he returned to New Zealand in 1919.
George and Winnie’s second son had been born soon after George had enlisted in the army. After being discharged from military service George worked as a timekeeper and later mine accountant with the public works and mines departments, retiring to Auckland where he died in 1971.
The photo is from the New Zealand Police Gazette in 1918. Donald Murray Matheson, a discharged prisoner, is identified in the publication Onward as this serviceman.
Sources:
Fac et spera — do and hope — the Mathesons of Fourpenny. A manuscript by Monica Kidd, 1990.
Army personnel file, Archives New Zealand.
Photo from Onward: portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force volume 4, by P J Beattie and M J Pomeroy, 2017.