William Bridges (general): Difference between revisions
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In 1886, he received a commission into the New South Wales Permanent Artillery stationed at [[Middle Head]]. In 1890 he was then sent for training to the [[United Kingdom]] at the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] and at the [[Royal School of Gunnery]] at Shoeburyness. Upon returning to Australia in 1893 he became Chief Instructor at the Middle Head School of Gunnery. He volunteered for service in the [[British Army]] in the [[Second Boer War]] of 1899–1902, from where he contracted [[typhoid]]. After being evacuated to England, he returned to Australia in September 1900, from where rapid promotions followed: Assistant Quartermaster General of the Army HQ in Melbourne; Chief of Military Intelligence; Chief of the Australian General Staff. In 1909 he went to England as Australia's representative on the Imperial General Staff. |
In 1886, he received a commission into the New South Wales Permanent Artillery stationed at [[Middle Head]]. In 1890 he was then sent for training to the [[United Kingdom]] at the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] and at the [[Royal School of Gunnery]] at Shoeburyness. Upon returning to Australia in 1893 he became Chief Instructor at the Middle Head School of Gunnery. He volunteered for service in the [[British Army]] in the [[Second Boer War]] of 1899–1902, from where he contracted [[typhoid]]. After being evacuated to England, he returned to Australia in September 1900, from where rapid promotions followed: Assistant Quartermaster General of the Army HQ in Melbourne; Chief of Military Intelligence; Chief of the Australian General Staff. In 1909 he went to England as Australia's representative on the Imperial General Staff. |
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In 1909-10 Colonel W. Throsby Bridges reported to the Australian Minister of Defence that on his way home to establish the Australian Military College, he had inspected his alma mater [[Royal Military College of Canada]]. A copy of Bridges' diary is in the Masey Library at the [[Royal Military College of Canada]]. Bridges felt that the RMC Kingston system, by which officers were trained for the reserve as well as for all arms of a regular force trained officers without getting full use of their services after graduation. Consequently, with the international scene getting darger, he copied the West Point system, by which only regular army officers were trained via a four-year course training for all arms. <ref>Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC: A History of the Royal Military College' (Published for the Royal Military College Club of Canada by the University of Toronto Press, 1969) Toronto, Ontario </ref> |
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In 1910 Bridges was promoted to [[Brigadier General]] and (on the recommendation of Lord Kitchener) was recalled to Australia to become the first Commandant of the [[Royal Military College, Duntroon|Royal Military College]] at [[Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory|Duntroon]]. He chose the site of the old [[Robert Campbell (Australian landowner)|Campbell]] homestead. In line with the recommendations of [[Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]], Bridges largely modelled Duntroon on the [[United States Military Academy|United States Military Academy at West Point]]. |
In 1910 Bridges was promoted to [[Brigadier General]] and (on the recommendation of Lord Kitchener) was recalled to Australia to become the first Commandant of the [[Royal Military College, Duntroon|Royal Military College]] at [[Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory|Duntroon]]. He chose the site of the old [[Robert Campbell (Australian landowner)|Campbell]] homestead. In line with the recommendations of [[Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]], Bridges largely modelled Duntroon on the [[United States Military Academy|United States Military Academy at West Point]]. |
Revision as of 12:59, 16 April 2011
Sir William Throsby Bridges | |
---|---|
Allegiance | British Empire |
Service/ | British Army Australian Army |
Years of service | 1886 – 1915 |
Rank | Major General |
Battles/wars | Second Boer War |
Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Mention in Despatches |
Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges KCB, CMG (18 February 1861 – 18 May 1915) served with Australian forces during World War I, and was the first Australian to reach general officer rank. He was also the first Australian general to be killed during the war, at Gallipoli on 18 May 1915.
Early life
Born in Greenock, Scotland, the son of William Wilson Somerset Bridges (a Royal Navy captain) and Mary Hill Throsby, he was educated at Ryde on the Isle of Wight, at the Royal Naval School 1871-2 at New Cross, London and at Trinity College School (1873–1876) Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. He studied at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, student number 25 from 1877-9 and obtained his M.Q. certificate. Cadet Bridges was one of the recruits who had entered RMC Kingston late in the second term on 10 April 1877. Although he was a good student, he became unsettled and began failing his courses when his family migrated to Australia leaving him in Kingston. Commandant Hewett asked his father to pay a $100 fine to withdraw his son. This ex-cadet was the first RMC dropout. [1]
In 1879 he joined his family who had settled in his mother's home town of Moss Vale, New South Wales.[2]
Military career
In 1886, he received a commission into the New South Wales Permanent Artillery stationed at Middle Head. In 1890 he was then sent for training to the United Kingdom at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and at the Royal School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness. Upon returning to Australia in 1893 he became Chief Instructor at the Middle Head School of Gunnery. He volunteered for service in the British Army in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, from where he contracted typhoid. After being evacuated to England, he returned to Australia in September 1900, from where rapid promotions followed: Assistant Quartermaster General of the Army HQ in Melbourne; Chief of Military Intelligence; Chief of the Australian General Staff. In 1909 he went to England as Australia's representative on the Imperial General Staff.
In 1909-10 Colonel W. Throsby Bridges reported to the Australian Minister of Defence that on his way home to establish the Australian Military College, he had inspected his alma mater Royal Military College of Canada. A copy of Bridges' diary is in the Masey Library at the Royal Military College of Canada. Bridges felt that the RMC Kingston system, by which officers were trained for the reserve as well as for all arms of a regular force trained officers without getting full use of their services after graduation. Consequently, with the international scene getting darger, he copied the West Point system, by which only regular army officers were trained via a four-year course training for all arms. [3]
In 1910 Bridges was promoted to Brigadier General and (on the recommendation of Lord Kitchener) was recalled to Australia to become the first Commandant of the Royal Military College at Duntroon. He chose the site of the old Campbell homestead. In line with the recommendations of Lord Kitchener, Bridges largely modelled Duntroon on the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In May 1914, Bridges was appointed Inspector General of the Army. He was in Queensland when the war began, and arrived in Melbourne on 5 August 1914. Bridges met with the cabinet and was charged with the creation of an expeditionary force of 20,000 men for overseas service. He chose much of his staff from available graduates from the Duntroon college.
Bridges and his command sailed from Albany, Western Australia, on 26 October 1914. En route, the destination was changed from England to Egypt and Bridges arrived there on 30 November 1914. As commander of the 1st Australian Division, Bridges landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli at around 7:30am on 25 April 1915.
While touring the lines on 15 May 1915, Bridges was shot through the femoral artery by a Turkish sniper. Dragged to safety, he was evacuated to the hospital ship Gascon. Infection set in but amputation was deemed impossible since he had lost so much blood.
Made aware of Bridges' imminent death, King George V knighted him on 17 May. He died the following day on board the hospital ship.
His body was returned to Melbourne where he received a state funeral. He was buried on 3 September 1915 at Duntroon on the slopes of Mount Pleasant. The grave was designed by Walter Burley Griffin, the designer of Canberra. A bridge at the Majura Training Area was unofficially named General Grave's Bridge (A play on General Bridge's Grave).[4]
His name is listed on the Memorial Arch at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.
Personal life
On 10 October 1885 Bridges married Edith Lilian Francis (1862–1926), daughter of Alfred John Dawson Francis and Margaret Agnes Anne Francis (formerly Wilson, born Green) at St John's Church, Darlinghurst, New South Wales. They had seven children, three of whom died young.
He was survived by "Sandy", the only (Australian) Waler horse to return from World War I (due to quarantine restrictions). It is not clear when Bridges met Sandy but after his death Sandy was cared for by a number of Army vets until, by order of the Minister of Defence, Sandy was returned to Australia where he lived at the Remount Depot at Maribyrnong.
Awards and decorations
On 17 May 1915, Bridges was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. The award was not formally gazetted until 22 May.[5]
A special training section within the Army Recruit Training Centre (Australia) at Kapooka, "Bridges Company", is named in his honour.
Honours and awards
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) | Awarded 1915 | |
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) | Awarded 1909 | |
Queen's South Africa Medal | ||
1914-15 Star | ||
British War Medal | ||
Victory Medal (UK) |
Legacy
Sir William Throsby Bridges is memorialized in the Anglican 'Parish of St John the Baptist', Canberra, Australia.[6]
See also
Media related to William Throsby Bridges at Wikimedia Commons
References
- ^ Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC: A History of the Royal Military College' (Published for the Royal Military College Club of Canada by the University of Toronto Press, 1969) Toronto, Ontario
- ^ http://www.archive.org/stream/trinitycollegesc5016trin/trinitycollegesc5016trin_djvu.txt Col. A. H. Van Straubenzee `Major-General Sir William Throsby Bridges, K.C.B., C.M.G. in "Trinity College School Record October 1946- August 1947
- ^ Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC: A History of the Royal Military College' (Published for the Royal Military College Club of Canada by the University of Toronto Press, 1969) Toronto, Ontario
- ^ Memorial Plaques at RMC Duntroon and RMC Website
- ^ It's an Honour: KCB
- ^ Sir William Throsby Bridges
Sources
- Coulthard-Clark, C.D. A heritage of spirit : a biography of Major-General Sir William Throsby Bridges K.C.B., C.M.G., Carlton, Vic. : Melbourne University Press, 1979
- MacDonald, Ian. "William Throsby Bridges: Father of the AIF", Australian Heritage, Autumn 2009, pp. 26–27
- Moore, Darren. Duntroon: A history of the Royal Military College of Australia, 1911-2001, Canberra : Royal Military College of Australia, 2001
External links
- Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges KCB CMG "The Father of the AIF", Digger History: an unofficial history of the Australian & New Zealand Armed Forces
- Sandy - the only horse to return from the First World War, Australian War Memorial
- Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges, biography, www.firstworldwar.com
- Use dmy dates from November 2010
- 1861 births
- 1915 deaths
- Australian generals
- Australian military personnel killed in World War I
- Australian military personnel of World War I
- British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
- Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
- Australian knights
- People from Greenock
- Royal Military College of Canada people
- Woolwich graduates
- Alumni of the Royal Naval School