Richard Arthur Matthews (SN 2090) born in Ballarat, was a 20 year old labourer when he enlisted in Ballarat on September 16th 1914. Assigned to the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance he embarked from Fremantle on June 25th aboard the Wandilla and sailed first to Egypt and then on to Gallipoli in October. By the end of November, he had been moved to the island of Mudros where he was disciplined for ‘wilfully disobeying a lawful order’. After the Gallipoli campaign ended, he was moved back to Egypt where, in January 1916, he was diagnosed with a cardiac disorder which he attributed to shell shock. He was assessed as unfit for further active service, so he was returned to Australia aboard the Runic. He reached Melbourne in mid-May 1916 and was discharged as ‘medically unfit, neurasthenia’ on June 20th 1916.

Lucas’s Staffs Appreciation of Brave Men, the original Avenue register, records his name as Richard A. Matthew.