Martin George Nissen

1900 - 1960  (59 år)

• Navn	Martin George Nissen
  Fødsel	3 feb. 1900	Australien, South Australia, Adelaide
  	Adresse: Tucker St.
  Køn	Mand
  Død	6 jan. 1960	Australien, Queensland, Brisbane
  Person-ID	I85687	My Family Genealogy | Familen Ravnholdt & Hansen
  Sidst ændret	13 jan. 2026

  
  

  Far	Hans Johannes Trules Nissen,   f. 31 mar. 1872, Danmark, Vejle Amt, Elbo Herred, Fredericia- d. 17 mar. 1941, Australien, New South Wales, Gosford (Alder 68 år)
  Mor	Josephine Rollinson,   f. 30 okt. 1866, Australien, South Australia, Adelaide d. 1 jun. 1910, Australien, New South Wales, Sydney (Alder 43 år)
  Ægteskab	16 dec. 1895	Australien, South Australia, Adelaide
  	Adresse: J Horskins Cottage Royal Av and Gillies St.
  Familie-ID	F24116	Gruppeskema  |  Familietavle

  
  

• Begivenhedskort		Fødsel - Adresse: Tucker St. - 3 feb. 1900 - Australien, South Australia, Adelaide Død - 6 jan. 1960 - Australien, Queensland, Brisbane  = Link til Google Earth
  Kort forklaring	: Adresse       : Beliggenhed       : By       : Sogn       : Amt/Region       : Land       : Ikke indstillet

  
  

• Notater

  Martin George NISSEN (son of Hans Johannes Trules NISSEN and Josephine ROLLINSON) born 3 February 1900, Tucker St, Hindmarsh Ward, Adelaide, SA. He was 10 when his mother died, and probably went to an orphanage in the Newcastle area. When he was about 17 he travelled to North Queensland to work with his half-brothers. He tried to join the army when he was 17, was found to be underage, so joined again at 18. He gave his next of kin as an aunt, Kathleen Gulliver of Newcastle. He left for overseas but the ship was turned back at the Armistice. He did an NCO course and seems to have become a sergeant. His photo was only found just before this book was printed, with thanks to Joyce BYERLEE. His niece, Joyce BROOKS, describes him as a very handsome man and remembers him trying to collect money so he could compete in the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928. Apparently he was a very gifted athlete who may have also run in the Stawell Gift. His later occupation was machine man, though he also worked at times as a shearer’s cook and at the BHP steel mills in Newcastle. He was known to purloin material from cane trains and was also a safe cracker. In February 1940 he wrote c/- Doombeen Bakery, Doombeen, Brisbane that his army discharge papers had been swept away by flood waters in the Herbert River at Ingham in March 1938. In October 1940 a letter from RSSILA, Townsville sub-branch, indicated he had held Sergeant’s rank in Australia. His address was then Belgian Gardens, Townsville. When he joined the army again, in May 1941, he gave his address as Tully, North Queensland, and his next of kin as his sister, Freda. On 5 May 1941 he was sent to the Garrison Battalion in Hay, NSW, and on 23 June he deserted. Apparently he was a strong unionist and a union delegate and did not agree with the army being used as strike-breakers. He was court marshalled and discharged from the army in absentia in September 1946. However he re-joined the army in Sydney on 12 December 1941, and was made Lance Corporal in January 1942, but once again he deserted in December 1942 and, according to his niece Ruth, he went to Townsville, Qld, and hid out there through the war. He was discharged in absentia on 3 July 1946. He continued living in north Queensland after the war. One story is that he loved travelling around Australia by train for free. He didn’t marry. In 1959 he was known as Walter Bennett. He wrote c/- PO Rockhampton seeking his service records, maybe trying for a pension. He was quite a gambler and died penniless on 6 January 1960 in Brisbane Hospital aged 59.