DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT
Phone: 02 6127 1999, Fax: 02 6265 1545
MSPA 313/10
Friday, 23 July 2010
Australian WW1 Soldier Laid To Rest
World War I soldier, Private Alan James Mather was today laid to rest with full military
honours in a solemn ceremony held by the Australian Army at the Prowse Point Military
Cemetery, Ploegsteert, Belgium.
Private Mather’s relatives, together with Dr Brendan Nelson, Ambassador to the European
Union, Belgium and Luxembourg representing the Australian Government, the Chief of the
Army, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie and other dignitaries, joined to commemorate
Private Mather of the 33rd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force.
“We stand here today, some 93 years after the tragic loss of this gallant Australian soldier, so
that a grateful nation, the Army and family can finally provide the honourable farewell that he
so justly deserves,” Dr Nelson said.
“As a young man, Alan had served as a Second Lieutenant with the Inverell troop of the New
South Wales Mounted Rifles from 1901 to 1903.
“With the commencement of World War One, Alan was already 35 years old – he could have
left the fighting to men fifteen years or more his junior, but such was his spirit, and the spirit
of the times, that he left his comfortable life in rural New South Wales and responded to the
call to arms.
“The Australian nation is proud of the exceptional service Private Mather rendered to his
country and we are now able to pay our respects at a known grave.”
Carried by members of Australia’s Federation Guard to his final resting place, Private Mather
was buried with full military honours, afforded the same treatment he would have received
had his remains been discovered in the post-battlefield clearances between 1919 and 1921.
Private Mather was one of 216,000 men from Australia, New Zealand and the United
Kingdom who fought in the Battle of Messines against German forces in west Flanders from
June 7 to 14, 1917, and later listed as missing, alongside 6,178 Australian soldiers on the
Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium.
Media Contact:
Imagery of the event is available at:
Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664
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