John Henry Mater

Service number: 1652

Rank: Trooper

Unit: 2nd Remount Unit

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Source: National Archives of Australia

John Henry Mater was born at Braidwood in 1892, the son of Harry Mater, a German national. He was a station overseer. He enlisted on 5 August 1915, and served with the 2nd Remount Unit. An anonymous denunciation to military authorities stated that he was named Rudolf Mater, and was well-known at Braidwood as being pro-German.

While Mater was serving in the Middle East, he struck a superior officer, and was sentenced to a period of field punishment no 2. He was returned to Australia and discharged from service on 31 May 1916. It is not clear if this was because his unit was disbanded or if the anonymous letter had prompted his discharge.

He died in 1956 aged 64. His father died at Manly in 1935 aged 77. The photo is mis-captioned R A Mater.