Mason family papers, photographs and realia concerning Ambrose Mason, 1888-1921

fonds

1888-1921

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Ephemera, Objects, Medals, Badges

1009290

0.16 metres of textual material and 14 photographs (1 box)
3 military medals
3 medal ribbons
1 wartime badge
2 medallions
4 ephemera items (postcards) - embroidered in silk
1 handkerchief
1 bag
1 wallet

Corporal Ambrose Mason was born at the family home in Crown Road, Riverstone, on 22 July 1894, the fourth of eight children of Samuel Mason and Mary Cusack. He trained to become a school teacher at Hereford House, Glebe, and subsequently commenced teaching at Corowa in the Riverina district. On 14 July 1914, he volunteered for service with the Australian Imperial Force, training at the Liverpool Army Camp. Twelve weeks later he embarked on the troop ship Themistocles as part of the Reinforcements for the 1st Australian Infantry Battalion. After training in Egypt, he joined the 1st Battalion on the Western Front in April 1916 (Service Number 3402, C Company). He fought at Pozieres and in the Ypres Salient and was killed on 5 November 1916 during a night attack on the German lines at Flers in the Somme Valley. Ambrose's body was not found for some considerable time and as a consequence his family and friends clung to the belief that he had been taken prisoner by the Germans. Although the Red Cross made enquiries on the family's behalf, it was not until August 1917 that it was able to advise them that it had received unsubstantiated advice that Ambrose's body had in fact been recovered four months after he had been killed and that he had been buried on the battlefield sometime between February and April 1917. The family did not receive official confirmation of his death until 4 January 1918.

Reference:
Notes by Ron Mason, 2016, supplied with the collection

Mary Mason (mother of Ambrose) kept the collection in a tin box. In the late 1970s, Ambrose's sister Cass gave the tin box to her nephew Phil Mason. It later passed to Sara Berger, Ambrose's great niece.