John Walter Bryson (SN 836) Ballarat born, was a 21 year old farmer when he enlisted in Ballarat on March 14th 1916. He sailed from Melbourne aboard the Ascanius on May 27th and reached England on July 18th. Posted to the 39th Infantry Battalion he crossed to France in November 1916 and served through the war largely without major incident. In 1917 his record shows a sprained ankle, then in 1918 he was hospitalised for a time with pneumonia and influenza. When the war ended, he was granted six months leave to enable him to undertake a sheep and wool course at Leeds. It was during this period that he married Elizbeth Hetherington in Yorkshire on June 26th 1919. He returned home on the Zealandic, disembarked at Melbourne on May 12th and was discharged on July 12th 1920.

Lucas’s Staffs Appreciation of Brave Men, the original Avenue register, records his name as John W. Bripon.