9/1824 Trooper George Dryden, 9/2/1894-21/9/1922.

 COLAC BAY.

Mr George Dryden, who met with a fatal accident at the Ruahine sawmill last Thursday was well and favourably known here. He was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs Alex. Dryden, of Longwood, who until a few years ago resided at Colac for a lengthy period. The deceased was born at Charlton 28 years ago, and came to Colac with his parents as a child. He was educated at the local school, after which he followed the occupation of a sawmiller. When war broke out he enlisted with the 9th Reinforcements, and saw much service overseas. When the army was preparing for the big explosion at Messines the deceased trollied most of the explosives into the tunnel used on that occasion, both he and the horses being rubber shod to prevent any unnecessary noise. He had many narrow escapes at the front and, after four years' service emerged from the ordeal with a broken jaw, the result of a knock from a horse. After going through the war without any serious injury the deceased has been most unfortunate since his return to New Zealand in 1919. Since that time he has had his leg broken on two different occasions, and met with a similar accident prior to enlisting. The day of the fatal mishap his hut at the sawmill was found to be on fire, and the wooden chimney, where the fire had its hold, had to be pulled down to save the rest of the building. Later in the day the hut itself was ablaze, and some difficulty was experienced in extinguishing the flames. Shortly after this word came from the bush that the unfortunate man’s legs had both been crushed as the result of a loaded trolley, approximately four tons weight, passing over them. The victim died whilst being conveyed to the Riverton hospital. Truly an unlucky day for the unfortunate man. George was of a bright and cheerful nature, and may be described as one of the "happy go lucky sort.” His death, under such tragic circumstances, has cast quite a gloom over the district where his well-known and highly-respected parents reside. They have the greatest sympathy from a wide circle of friends, which was expressed in a practical manner by the large number who attended the funeral at the Riverton cemetery on Sunday, which was one of the largest seen there for many years.   -Western Star, 26/9/1922.

George's military record, as found in Archives NZ, contributes a little more to his story.  There is a descri8ption of the accident whichj saw his jaw broken - "laceration and dislocation of lower jaw - 20/11/17 - whilst grooming horse. It lashed out and kicked him on the jaw. Was in perf. of mil duty. and not to blame. Report as 'accidentally injured.'" He also spent a couple of intervalss in the VD section of Codford Hospital in England - not in performance of military duty - but that wasn't an uncommon thing for a soldier in those days.

Riverton Cemetery.