Just two decades after the ‘war to end all wars’, another global conflict plunged New Zealand into a long and grave period of fighting. Of the country’s population at the time of about 1,600,000 some 140,000 New Zealand men and women served — about 75% in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (army), and the most of the remainder in New Zealand or British naval or air forces. Nearly 12,000 were killed.
This article is the first in a series to remember those of the clan (Matheson, Mathieson or a variant spelling) who served in the Second World War. It lists those who lost their lives during the conflict while serving in New Zealand forces, and links to articles that profile each of them.
I am grateful to everyone who has assisted by sharing stories, photos and other material. Any further information about the people featured in this article would be appreciated.
New Zealand’s online cenotaph is operated by the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and I would encourage anyone with a relative who has served in New Zealand’s armed forces to add material to it. You can find out how to contribute here.
Andrew Matheson
Webmaster
25 April 2017
| Name and number | Date and place of death and age | Rank, service and unit | Burial or memorial |
| Archibald Allisdair Matheson NZ412714 |
11 July 1944
North Sea, Europe 29 |
Flying Officer
RNZAF 692 Squadron, RAF |
Runnymede memorial to Allied airmen, UK.
Carterton war memorial. |
| Charles Irvine Matheson 550275 |
20 December 1944
Italy 30 |
Private
New Zealand Infantry 26 Battalion |
Forli war cemetery, Italy.
Wanaka war memorial. |
| Farquhar Duncan Matheson NZ392057 |
26 July 1943
Netherlands 26 |
Flying Officer
RNZAF 77 Squadron, RAF |
Bergen-op-Zoom war cemetery, Netherlands.
St Mary’s Peace Memorial Hall, New Plymouth. Ongarue war memorial, Taranaki. |
| John Matheson 6263 |
20 May 1941
Crete 35 |
Warrant Officer Class II
New Zealand Infantry |
Athens memorial,
Greece. |
| John Archibald George Matheson 17415 |
9 February 1945
Germany (while prisoner of war) 29 |
Private,
New Zealand Infantry 26th Battalion |
Alamein memorial, Egypt.
Invercargill cenotaph. parents’ grave, Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill |
| Kenneth Duncan Matheson NZ425122 |
31 March 1944
Germany 34 |
Pilot Officer
RNZAF 7 Squadron, RAF |
Durnbach war cemetery, Germany.
Lower Hutt war memorial |
| Myles Gibbons Matheson 9797 |
27 November 1941
Western Desert, North Africa 35 |
Private
New Zealand Infantry 20th Battalion |
Knightsbridge war cemetery, Acroma, Libya.
Otautau war memorial, Southland. |
| Roderick McLeod Matheson 9659 |
2 June 1941
Egypt 36 |
Private
New Zealand Ordnance Corps, attached to 27th New Zealand Machine Gun Battalion |
Cairo war memorial cemetery.
Bannockburn war memorial, Otago. |
| Alexander Reginald Mathieson 15551 |
27 November 1941
Western Desert, North Africa 22 |
Private,
New Zealand Infantry 26th Battalion |
Knightsbridge war cemetery, Acroma, Libya |
| Ian Edgecombe Mathieson NZ413447 |
25 November 1943
RAF Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland 23 |
Flight Sergeant
RNZAF 130 Squadron, RAF |
St Illogan churchyard, Cornwall, England.
Waipukurau war memorial. |
| John Mathieson 802792 |
29 June 1947
56 |
Corporal
New Zealand Military Forces |
Onerahi public cemetery, Whangarei |
| Rex Tawheta Mathieson NZ4213267 |
1 July 1944
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea 20 |
Flight Sergeant
RNZAF 31 Squadron, RNZAF |
Bomana war cemetery, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
New Plymouth Boys’ High School memorial. |