The AIF Project

Bertie O'BRIEN

Regimental number1602
Place of birthLondon, England
SchoolLondon County Council Public School, London, England
Age on arrival in Australia29
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation32
Next of kinMother, Mrs M O'Brien, 78 Gopsall Street, Hoxton, London, England
Previous military serviceServed as a Private in the 1st Gloucestershire Regiment, British Army (7 years in the Regular Army; 5 years with the Reserves).
Enlistment date23 December 1914
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll24 December 1914
Rank on enlistmentCorporal
Unit name9th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A49 Seang Choon on 13 February 1915
Rank from Nominal RollCorporal
Unit from Nominal Roll9th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularCaptain of all Regiment sports.
FateKilled in Action 23 July 1916
Place of death or woundingPozieres, Somme Sector, France
Age at death33.11
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
57
Medals

Military Medal


Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 62
Date: 19 April 1917

Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Medals: Military Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

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