13498 L/Corporal William Daniel Lysaght, (6/1/1895-25/11/1918). "alone in a front line trench"

 

Mr P. Lysaght, of Fairfield, Ashburton, has received word from the Minister of Defence that his son, LanceCorporal D. W. Lysaght. was admitted to the New Zealand General Hospital, Brockenhurst, on January 6th, suffering from trench fever.  -Press, 18/1/1917.

THE FALLEN AND WOUNDED. 

PERSONAL NOTES. 

Mr P. Lysaght, of Fairfield, has received advice that his son, Private D. W. Lysaght, has been transferred to the Convalescent Depot at Hornchurch.   -Press, 12/3/1917.

William Lysaght's name appears on a list of soldiers who returned home the following July.  In August he was discharged as medically unfit.  A Medical Report in his Army record contains this comment: "I consider the physical and mental strain of the Somme Battle on a boy of 18 1/2 years was the original cause of the disability, and that disability was further aggravated by an attack of trench fever in Dec. 1916."

"Patient is obviously nervous. He says he starts at slight noises. He says he was badly shaken on the night of Oct 1 at the Somme. Found himself alone in a front line trench with Germans bombing him from a communication trench. Says he has been 'nervy' since then."

The disability referred to is described as "disordered action of heart."

The Official History of William's Regiment, the Otagos, has this to say about the fate of his company, the 4th of the 2nd Batallion, on October 1st, 1916: The 2nd Battalion of the Regiment assembled in Goose Alley for the attack, and under cover of an artillery barrage extending over a line parallel thereto, moved forward at zero hour to the assault in four waves, each perfect in line and interval, and with rifles at the slope. Almost immediately, 4th Company on the right, together with portion of 8th Company, came under heavy machine gun fire from the direction of Gird Trench...

Advancing to the crest of the ridge after changing direction, 4th and 8th Companies were seriously depleted in strength under the blasts of machine gun fire which swept their ranks. Every officer was a casualty, and non-commissioned officers and men were heavily hit. But with unfailing determination they pressed on, successfully reaching their objective and passing some distance beyond it. 

October 1st must have been a trying day for all who survived of the 4th Company.

Mr D W. Lysaght, a conductor on the Roslyn cars, died last night of influenza. Deceased, who, despite the fact that he had not been on the line very long, was very popular with all who came in contact with him, was a returned soldier. He was a son of Mr Patrick Lysaght, of South Canterbury.   -Evening Star, 26/11/1918.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Mr and Mrs Lysaght and family wish to thank the residents of the Kaikorai Valley, especially Mr and Mrs Burgess, Mrs Williamson, Mrs Strong, Mrs Armstrong, and the employees of the Roslyn Tram Company, for their unending kindness and sympathy in the loss of their dear son, Lance-corporal W. D. Lvsaght.   -Evening Star, 7/12/1918.

Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.