Captain Dwyer Augustus Neville was not originally in Brian Horrocks’ group of prisoners. He contracted epidemic typhus during the great retreat from Omsk and was abandoned in a hospital by the accompanying British soldiers. Eventually, he recovered and was sent to join the last British prisoners-of-war in the Andronovsky prison in Moscow. We know that he returned with Horrocks because he is listed in the commander’s diary and the newspaper articles published after they all returned safely to London, even though he was not in the photograph taken at Liverpool Street Station.
Neville was born in Australia on 18th April 1892 and joined the Royal Flying Corps in February 1917. In September 1918, he was on patrol in an SE5A with Number 41 Squadron RAF when he was forced down over the Comines Canal and captured by the German Army. After he was repatriated on 13th December 1918, he volunteered for Siberia and a year later was stuck in the long line of trains trying to reach the safe haven of Vladivostok.
Dwyer attended the Café Royal dinner and then returned to Australia. Contracting typhus does not appear to have shortened his life as he lived until October 1979 and is buried with his wife at Buderim Cemetery, Queensland.
The other prisoner to succumb to typhus was Sergeant Frank Illingworth, who can be seen in the photograph below. He had transferred from the infantry to the Royal Engineers and joined the British Railway Mission in Omsk. His signature can be clearly seen next to Horrocks’ on the Café Royal card, but I haven’t been able to discover for certain what happened to him in later life.
Typhus wasn’t the only medical problem facing the prisoners and the next post will cover the equally fearsome threat of frostbite.
Rupert Wieloch 
Dwyer Neville is a fascinating chap who was born at sea (not in Australia) and was a Japanese interpreter in 1911, before marrying a German national while residing in Petrograd in 1914! He returned to the UK to serve in the RFC/RAF, during which he was captured, as you state, and then moved to China in 1921. His family was interned by the Japanese during WWII, but he returned to the UK to serve in the RAF. After the war, he emigrated to Australia, joining his wife and son in 1947, who arrived before him. I am unsure what became of his daughter after internment as she is not mentioned on Australian immigration papers.
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Dwyer Neville is a fascinating chap who was born at sea (not in Australia) and was a Japanese interpreter in 1911, before marrying a German national while residing in Petrograd in 1914! He returned to the UK to serve in the RFC/RAF, during which he was captured, as you state, and then moved to China in 1921. His family was interned by the Japanese during WWII, but he returned to the UK to serve in the RAF. After the war, he emigrated to Australia, joining his wife and son in 1947, who arrived before him. I am unsure what became of his daughter after internment as she is not mentioned on Australian immigration papers.
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Sorry, slight correction on the above. I have since established that he did not return to the UK to join the RAF, but rather did so in Lahore in September 1941. He spent most of the war in South East Asia, but did spend some time back in the UK undertaking a Japanese language course to prepare him for interpreter and intelligence work. He then returned to Asia and following the war spent time assisting with war crimes trials, which explains his late release from the RAF in November 1947, when he emigrated to Australia, initially settling in Cremorne NSW and subsequently moving to Buderim, QLD.
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Thanks Steve, it is great to receive a follow-up of one of the prisoners in Moscow. Dwyer Augustus Neville particularly interested me because my wife is a great niece of Auber Octavius Neville, who emigrated to Western Australia in 1897, but I found no direct family link to his namesake despite the First Roman Emperor connection. I am not surprised about Dwyer’s further exploits, which must have been influenced by his extraordinary experience in Siberia. Effectively, he was abandoned in Tomsk by Eric Johnston, who was released from captivity at Easter, and survived alone after contracting Typhus for six months. Dwyer (and the other prisoners) must have been quite bitter about the fact that Johnston was awarded a CBE in the Siberia honours list. Sadly, he was not in either of the photos that I found of the prisoners after they were released, so I have no visual image of him and only found his gravesite by chance. Your help is much appreciated.
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I have an image, his full WWI and WWII service records, and other data, if you’re interested in copies? My interest in him lies in the fact that he served on 41 Sqn RAF during WWI, for which unit I am the Honorary Historian.
A fascinating man who is almost worthy of a tome by himself. Born at sea, learnt Japanese in the UK, lived in Russia and learnt Russian, married a German national during WWI, a daughter born in Finland, moved to the UK with his wife and daughter, fought in WWI and captured, escaped and interned in the Netherlands, after repatriation volunteered for service in Russia, captured again and narrowly escaped death, repatriated, moved to China in 1921 where his son was born (I believe), rejoined the RAF in 1941, served in India, Ceylon and Mesopotamia, brushed up on his Japanese skills and returned to SE Asia to assist with Intelligence and translation, assisted with war crimes trials, released from the RAF as a 55-year-old Squadron Leader in 1947 (very old for active service, indicating his retention value), emigrated to Australia, faded into obscurity (sadly), and died in Queensland in 1979.
Let me know if you would like copies of the documents I have and where to send them.
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