Lieutenant Dodd Alfred Mehan

Dodd Alfred Mehan was born at Townsville on 8 December 1892. His father, Jack, had been responsible for the establishment of the Townsville Bulletin in 1881. While he was in high school, Mehan’s family moved to Sydney where he and his brothers Alfred Mehan MM and Jack Stephen Mehan attended Sydney Church of England Grammar School. After leaving school, Mehan soon followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a journalist.

Mehan enlisted very early in the war on 16 August 1914, joining the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF), a small force raised in New South Wales for deployment to German New Guinea to seize or neutralise German colonial strongholds in the Pacific. Mehan remained in the ANMEF for around 14 months, 9 of them in German New Guinea. He was discharged on 14 October 1915, only to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) less than two weeks later.

As a member of the 3 Division Cycle Company, Mehan was promoted to the rank of sergeant and boarded HMAT Demosthenes in May 1916; onboard he performed solo on at least one occasion, singing “The Rosary”. With further promotions in January and May 1917, Mehan rose to the rank of lieutenant. In November 1917 he received the Military Cross for taking two pillboxes and showing “a fine example of personal bravery, dash and leadership throughout the operation” during the Battle of Polygon Wood.
With both his brothers joining the army, their mother Theresa followed them to Europe, establishing herself in London, later serving as Lady Superintendent Finance – AIF HQ, the highest ranking civilian staff member of the AIF in London.

At the end of the War, Dodd applied successfully to be demobilised in England to pursue his acting career. In the early 1930s, Mehan and his mother moved to America, where Mehan appeared briefly on Broadway and in several small parts in short films and television series. He eventually returned to London, dying on 30 April 1954 at the age of 63.