John Dwyer (soldier)

He captured a German gun and fired it against enemy soldiers

John James Dwyer was born on 9 March 1890 at Lovett, now Cygnet, Tasmania. He worked as a labourer and axeman, including on the Lake Margaret hydro-electric scheme near Queenstown, before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1915. He served with the 15th Battalion at Gallipoli and later transferred to the 4th Machine Gun Company. In France he gained experience on the Somme, was wounded at Messines in June 1917 and became a sergeant that August.

During the attack near Zonnebeke on 26 September 1917, Dwyer pushed his Vickers gun forward with the infantry. When an enemy machine gun held up the advance, he took his gun to within about thirty yards, put the German crew out of action and brought the captured weapon back. He then used the enemy gun effectively against further resistance. The following day, when shellfire destroyed his Vickers, he went back for a replacement and returned to the position. His persistence kept machine-gun support available during the advance and consolidation.

King George V presented his Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace in January 1918. He subsequently served as an acting regimental sergeant major and received a commission in May. He returned to Australia with a recruiting party later that year and left the Army as a lieutenant.

Dwyer married Myrtle Dillon in September 1919. After working in orcharding and sawmilling he entered local government and became a justice of the peace. Elected to Tasmania's House of Assembly in 1931, he served as Speaker from 1941 to 1948, as Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries and briefly as Deputy Premier. He retired from parliament in 1961. Dwyer died on Bruny Island on 17 January 1962 and received a state funeral before burial at Cornelian Bay, Hobart.

Official Victoria Cross citation: For most conspicuous bravery when in attack. Sergeant Dwyer, in charge of a Vickers machine gun, went forward with the first wave of the brigade. On reaching the final objective, this non-commissioned officer rushed his gun forward in advance of the captured position in order to obtain a commanding spot. Whilst advancing, he noticed an enemy machine gun firing on the troops on our right flank, and causing casualties. Unhesitatingly, he rushed his gun forward to within 30 yards of the enemy gun, and fired point blank at it, putting it out of action, and killing the gun crew. He then seized the gun and, totally ignoring the snipers from the rear of the enemy position carried it back across the shell swept ground to our front line, and established both it and his Vickers gun on the right flank of our brigade. Sergeant Dwyer commanded these guns with great coolness, and, when the enemy counter attacked our positions, he rendered great assistance in repulsing them. On the following day, when the position was heavily shelled, this non-commissioned officer took up successive positions. On one occasion, his Vickers gun was blown up by shell fire, but he conducted his gun team back to Headquarters through the enemy barrage, secured one of the reserve guns, and rushed it back to our position in the shortest possible time. During the whole of the attack, his contempt of danger, cheerfulness, and courage, raised the spirits of all who were in his sector of the line.