The same hail of artillery fire badly wounded five of his comrades and brought down a crucial supply line for the Allies fighting on the Western Front.

The actions that followed would earn Private William James Matthews the the Military Medal for gallantry and a service record that reads:

"Matthews assisted the wounded to cover and then helped re-organise the pack train, showing the utmost coolness and disregard for his personal safety under heavy artillery fire. 

“It was largely owing to his initiative that the rations got through to the battalion.”

Those actions came two years after Private Matthews departed Brisbane aboard the HMAT Seang Bee as part of the sixth reinforcement to the 26th infantry Battalion bound for the Western Front in what would become known as World War I.

A year before that, a 22-year-old farmer from Nimbin named Henry Philip Jackson, departed Brisbane aboard the HMAT Omrah as part of the 9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment that would serve in Egypt and at Gallipoli. Both men served with aplomb.

Private Jackson returned to Australia in October 1918 and settled at Ballina on the NSW North Coast.

Private Matthews returned to Australia on December 21, 1918, settling at Kyogle in western NSW where many years later his great-grandson and namesake Will Matthews would begin his rugby league career with the Kyogle Turkeys. 

On Monday, he will carry their combined legacy into the traditional Anzac Day clash with the Roosters.

It will be the third time he’s played on one of rugby league’s most sacred occasions but it was only last year that he found out the full extent of his family’s contribution to the Anzac legend.

“I’d always known a little bit but I’d never really thought too much about it,” Matthews said.

“But then [last-year] my old-man got a bit of information about his grandfathers’ service in World War I on both sides, his mum and his dad’s side. 

“They served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front and won a few medals.

“It’s pretty interesting to learn about that and it makes you realise how special this day is. It certainly adds a bit of extra significance to the day for me. 

‘We’re celebrating their legacy and what they went through. It really puts things in perspective on such a special day.”

On the paddock Matthews will be looking to justify the rap he received from coach Paul McGregor following the Dragons last-start win over  the Titans in which he labelled the 28-year-old “one of the best interchange players in the game.”

“It’s a fair rap. It’s not often you hear praise like that,” Matthews said.

“I think that’s where Mary sees me at the moment, filling that bench role. I can fill a few positions if need be.

“That’s my role at the moment and I’m enjoying it