Some searches reveal an extraordinary amount of historical information that, is completely useless when it comes to tracking down a living relative. The search for the family of 33158 Driver Charles Matthews is one such example.
Charles was born in Victoria in 1894. At some point his family moved to NSW. They lived at properties around Coogee with grand sounding names like 'Strathaven' and 'Brooklyn' but this is information which added no value to the search.
During WW1, Charles served with 13th Field Artillery Brigade. He also served in the RAAF in WWII. His service number was 264375 and he was a Flight Lieutenant.
Charles' next of kin was his wife Gladys but there is little information on him after 1970. He died in 1983 but based on the details in the death notice, and a lack of other evidence, I came to the conclusion that Charles and Gladys did not have children.
Charles had a brother whose name was sometimes mixed up in the records. He is sometimes referred to as Edward Joseph and at other time Joseph Edward. It is though this branch of the family that I've found Charle's great great niece. This is WO2 J M and I'll send her Charles medal in the near future.
Thank you to Bruce P who sent Charles' medal to me a few months ago. The returned medal tally is now 2774.
