Biography of Edmund Joseph "Ned" Dwyer, 1879-1953

Edmund Joseph "Ned" Dwyer was born on 15th November, 1879 in Brisbane.  

He was the eldest of three children.  His sister, Kate and brother Fred made up the family.

Their father, Edmund Patrick had died in 1886, at just 32 years of age so Ned was accustomed to the responsibility of supporting his family.  

This he continued throughout the war years, allotting two fifths of his pay to the support of his mother, Catherine Dwyer.  

She was born Katharina Heckelman in Germany in 1856, but when she was just a few weeks old she left with her parents by ship for Australia.

From all reports the Heckelmans were determined to embrace their new land. Catherine always considered herself truly Australian, never learning the German language nor returning to the land of her birth.

Index to pages

Edmund Joseph (for some unknown reason he sometimes spelt his name as ‘Edmond’) was known to most people as Ned, but to his mother, sister, brother and close family members he was always ‘Sonny’ and it was with this name he signed each one of the ninety letters which survive from his wartime correspondence from December, 1914 to March, 1919.  The letters are all written on the back of 120 postcards which often are more graphic in their depiction of his wartime life than the understated accounts he gives to his sister and mother.

Ten days before his 35th birthday he enlisted for service abroad on 5th November, 1914, joining the 3rd Battalion of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (the Tropical Unit).  

He had previously been a member of the 9th Infantry Battalion (formerly known as the Moreton Regiment) for about 12 years, and held the rank of Sergeant in that unit.

He was single, listing his mother as his next of kin.  Her home stood at what is now 431 Lutwyche Road, Windsor.

Ned’s medical examination report describes him as being 5 feet 4 inches (163 cm) tall and weighing 115 pounds (52.5 kg.), with dark complexion, brown eyes and dark hair.  He was, by any standards, small in stature but wiry and active.

He gave his occupation as engineer, but it seems that he would in today’s terms be described as an electrician or electrical supply linesman.

The question that begs an answer in the light of Ned’s later commitment to overseas service is why he chose to enlist for service in New Guinea rather than in the A.I.F. for immediate overseas service in 1914.  The answer lies almost certainly in the A.I.F. enlistment standards as they applied at the outbreak of the war.  The requirement was that a man be 5 feet 6 inches (167.5 cm) in height, two inches (5 cm) taller than Ned could boast.  

With the growing wartime demand for recruits this standard was lowered to 5 feet 2 inches (162.5 cm) in June, 1915, thus allowing him to join on his return from New Guinea.  In the search for more volunteers the minimum height was lowered to 5 feet in April, 1917.

Ned had one particular interest that he hoped he would be able to pursue during his time in the army – and that was photography.  As it was to eventuate, very few of the cards he posted home in the mail were photographs he had taken personally.  However, the photographs he chose to accompany his messages home enhance his correspondence over those four years.  He chose the photos well, seemingly anxious to share as much of his army life with the family as he could within the restrictions imposed by the army censor and his desire to cause his mother as little worry as possible at a time when mothers all over the world were accustomed to hearing the worst possible news about their fighting sons. 

After twelve months’ in New Guinea, Ned returned to Brisbane on leave.  He gained his discharge from the Tropical Unit.  A few weeks later on 27th January, 1916, he enlisted once more, this time in the A.I.F.

William Francis Walker was a friend of Ned’s of some long standing.  He also lived at Lutwyche and gave his occupation as painter.   The Walker and Dwyer families were well known to each other, probably through the Holy Cross Catholic Church at Wooloowin, where they worshipped. Known by his friends as Will, Walker was approximately the same age as Ned.   He, too, had experience in the Moreton Regiment and enlisted in the A.I.F. late in 1915.   He was immediately attached to the new 42nd Battalion being formed at that time, whereas Ned was initially assigned to the 47th Battalion.   It was only by chance that later on in England these two friends ended up not only in the same Battalion but also in the same D Company.   Will Walker attained the rank of Corporal.

Ned mentions in his letters a number of other friends who were in the army.  Two of particular interest to me are Jack and Willie Dacey.  Annie Dacey, a sister of theirs, married William John Goodwin.  Their son, Michael Joseph, married Kitty Dwyer (Ned’s niece, whom he called Bill as a baby) in 1939.  They are my parents.  

Edmund Joseph Dwyer's War of 1914 - 1919

Ned's Tombstone at Lutwyche "Anzac" Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland

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