John James Dwyer VC (1890 - 1962)

Ancestors

Biography

Sergeant John James 'Jack' Dwyer [1]

John James "Jack" Dwyer VC was born on 9th March 1890 in Port Cygnet, on Kangaroo Bay in the Huon Valley south of Hobart, Tasmania (Australia). He was the son of Charles Dwyer, a farmer, and his wife Mary Scanlon. ^[2] Jack was educated at Mills Reef State School, following which he obtained labouring work in Queenstown, Tasmania.

On 4th February 1915 in Queenstown, Jack enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), his young nation's overseas expeditionary force for the (First World) War. ^[3][4] He embarked for the Middle East on 17th April 1915. He was initially posted to the 15th Australian Infantry Battalion, with whom he saw action at Gallipoli. ^[5] In 1916, having been promoted to Sergeant, he deployed to the Western Front with the 4th Machine Gun Company. ^[6]

He was wounded in action on 9th June 1917 in Belgium.

Victoria Cross

In September 1917 during the Battle of Polygon Wood, Jack performed several acts of bravery that resulted in his being awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), his citation reading:

"On 26th September 1917 at Zonnebeke, Belgium, during the Battle of Polygon Wood, Sergeant Dwyer, in charge of a Vickers machine-gun during an advance, rushed his gun forward to within 30 yards of an enemy machine-gun, fired point blank at it and killed the crew. He then seized the gun and carried it back across shell-swept ground to the Australian front line. On the following day, when the position was being heavily shelled, and his Vickers gun was blown up, he took his team through the enemy barrage and fetched a reserve gun which he put into use in the shortest possible time." ^[7][8]

In May 1918 Jack was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and was promoted to Lieutenant in August. ^[9] He returned home in October with other Victoria Cross recipients to encourage recruiting efforts. His AIF appointment terminated on 15th December. Following the war he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Jack established an orchard on 171 acres at Alonnah, Bruny Island, south of Hobart, Tasmania, under the soldier-settlement scheme. ^[10]

On 24th September 1919 in St Brendan's Catholic Church, Alonnah, Jack married Myrtle Dillon.

The irregularity of income from his farm led Jack to join J J Dillon & Sons, his father-in-law's sawmilling enterprise near Alonnah.

From 1924 Jack served as a Bruny Island councillor until he moved to New Norfolk in 1928, on the Derwent River northwest of Hobart. He set up his own sawmill at Moogara, fourteen kilometrea northwest of New Norfolk. In May 1931 John was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly as Labor member for Franklin. He retained the seat until his death. He was appointed Speaker of the House from 1942 to 1948, following which he acepted appointment as Minister for Agriculture. Following an electoral redistribution, in 1949 he sold his sawmill and moved to Glenorchy, on the southern bank of the Derwent River in Hobart, within the redrawn boundaries of Franklin. From 26th August 1958 to 12th May 1959 he served as Deputy-Premier. He resigned his portfolio in September 1961 due to poor health but remained in parliament. John Dwyer VC was returned to parliament in ten successive elections. ^[11]

As a Victoria Cross recipient, Jack was awarded the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937 and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953.

Aged 71 years, he passed away on 17th January 1962 on Bruny Island, Tasmania, survived by his wife, son and five daughters. His remains are interred in Cornelian Bay Cemetery, New Town, Hobart. ^[12]

The medal set of John James Dwyer VC is displayed at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. ^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ Australian War Memorial: 2060 Sergeant John James Dwyer; accessed 17 Jan 2022
2. ↑ Tasmania Birth Index #937406/1890
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial: Liutenant John James Dwyer; accessed 17 Jan 2022
4. ↑ Department of Veterans' Affairs (2020), John James Dwyer, DVA Anzac Portal; accessed 17 Jan 2022
5. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 15th Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 17 Apr 2019
6. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 4th Machine Gun Company; accessed 17 Apr 2019
7. ↑ London Gazette 23 November 1917 Supplement: 30400 Page: 12328: John James Dwyer VC; accessed 17 Apr 2019
8. ↑ Victoria Cross George Cross Association: South of Zonnebeke, Belgium 26-28 September 1917; accessed 17 Jan 2022
9. ↑ Centenary of ANZAC Tasmania Remembers 1914-2014: Sergeant John Dwyer VC; accessed 17 Jan 2022
10. ↑ The Returned Soldiers' Settlement application #1488000; accessed 17 Jan 2022
11. ↑ Parliament of Tasmania: John James Dwyer; accessed 17 Jan 2022
12. ↑ Find-a-Grave; accessed 17 Jan 2022
13. ↑ Monument Australia; accessed 17 Jan 2022

See also

• Australian War Memorial: John James Dwyer; accessed 17 Apr 2019.
• Blanch, Craig and Pegram, Aaron. For Valour: Australians Awarded the Victoria Cross. New South Publishing, Sydney NSW, 2018. ISBN 978 17422 35424.
• IWM: Sergeant John James Dwyer; accessed 17 Jan 2022.
• Wikipedia profile: John Dwyer; accessed 17 Apr 2019.