James was the son of George Matheson and Mary Matheson (née Curtis) and brother of Angus John Matheson (61339) and William Matheson (46750).
When he enlisted in the army in December 1915, James was working on the family farm near Lawrence. He was assigned to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and after training in New Zealand he boarded a troop ship as part of the 13th Reinforcements in May 1916 bound for England.
His war came to an end within just over a fortnight after arriving. A medical examination at Sling Camp identified heart and joint problems that made him unsuitable for fighting. After spending time at nearby Codford camp he was invalided back to New Zealand on the hospital ship Maheno and in January 1917 discharged from the army as being permanently unfit.
This was despite a medical examination at Trentham Army Camp in May 1916, just before he left for England, passing him as fit. This recorded that he had not had any illnesses, which presumably was based on James’s statements.
His personnel file reveals that James had suffered from rheumatoid arthritis from a young age. He had enlisted in the 9th Reinforcements but three weeks later discharged as unfit. He enlisted in the 13th Reinforcements “owing to annoyance caused by receiving ‘white feathers’”. These were given to apparently able-bodied men who weren’t in uniform, from women wanting to shame them into enlisting. James had been bullied into joining up when he was obviously unfit to do so, and wasted more than a year of his life and army resources as a result.
James died at Lawrence in 1962, aged 72. He did not marry and was the last of George and Mary’s children still alive. In his will he left 100 pounds to the Lawrence presbyterian church and separately any necessary sum for the restoration and permanent upkeep of the family grave. All his remaining possessions were bequeathed to “my friend George Crawford of Forsyth farmer and his son John Crawford”.
Otago Witness 14 March 1917
