Charles was a private in the 26th Battalion, New Zealand Infantry, and died of wounds on 20 December 1944. At this time the 26th Battalion was engaged in heavy fighting with German forces at Faenza, near Bologna in northern Italy. He is buried in Forli Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery, a few kilometres to the east of Faenza, and is also commemorated on the Wanaka war memorial (as Irvine C Matheson).
Charles Irvine Matheson was born in 1914, the son of David Matheson and of Ida Jamieson Matheson (née Ironside), of Wanaka. He married Kathleen Elizabeth Elliott and they are believed to have had one child. It seems Kathleen didn’t remarry, and died in 1996.
Sources:
PapersPast, National Library of New Zealand
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph database
Frazer D Norton: Official history of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. 26 Battalion
Photo of headstone: New Zealand War Graves Project
Photo of Wanaka war memorial: New Zealand History
Portrait: Auckland Weekly News
