Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Andrew Curry McBride #877. 42nd Battalion

Andrew Curry was born in Ballymoney, County Antrim in what is now Northern Ireland. He attended school in Ballymoney and then was apprenticed into the drapery trade. As a young man he crossed over to Liverpool before emigrating to Australia in 1911 at the age of 24.

Andrew settled in Munbilla, a farming district just north of Boonah, and worked as a draper. He enlisted in Brisbane on 28th December 1915 at the age of 28 and was drafted into a newly raised battalion, the 42nd, at Enoggera. Andrew named his mother, Mary McBride of Ballymoney, as his next of kin. The men of the 42nd were destined to be part of the 3rd Division AIF, which was being assembled in England under Divisional Commander John Monash. On 5th June 1916, Andrew and the rest of the 42nd embarked on the “Borda” in Sydney. The embarkation roll shows Andrew with the rank of Lance Corporal.

Several months of training in England preceded the transfer of the 3rd Division to the border region of France and Belgium in November 1916 where the men had to endure one of the coldest winters on record. Very little military activity was conducted by either side. On 31st March 1917, Andrew was promoted to full corporal followed by a posting to the Australian Training Battalions at Tidworth in England just as the Flanders campaign began in June.

The training battalions were established to act as supply points for new enlistments and returning men from the wounded lists. Training in military basics like musketry and gas procedures ensured that when men were posted to their battalions they were fit to take up a position in the line.

For the Australians, the entire latter half of 1917 was devoted to the Flanders campaign (or Battle of Passchendaele). When the whole campaign floundered in the mud, the Australian divisions were exhausted. As winter set in, each division of the AIF took turns in rest areas around Poperinghe; enjoying sports, hot baths and leave in the towns. Many soldiers were also granted furloughs in England.

The British and French commanders were preparing for the Germans to take advantage of a temporary superiority in numbers in the spring of 1918; but there was no indication of where the attack(s) would occur. The Australian divisions in the rest areas were well rested but the attrition rate amongst the ranks over the last two years left many battalions seriously depleted. It is perhaps for this reason that Cpl Andrew McBride was posted back to his original battalion, the 42nd on 1st March. The German offensive began three weeks later.

The main thrust of Operation Michael was directed at the juncture of the British and French Armies on the Somme, with the intention of splitting the forces and forcing the British back to the channel ports. When the British 5th Army collapsed in the face of the German advance, General Haig rushed four of the five Australian divisions from Poperinghe to the banks of the Somme to defend the vital city of Amiens.

The third division, with the 42nd Battalion included, were hastily rushed into a defensive positions near the junction of the Somme and Ancre Rivers at Corbie. Red Cross Wounded and Missing Reports record that on 5th April 1918, Andrew McBride was struck in the neck by a shell splinter which severed his jugular vein. Nothing could be done to stem the bleeding and he died soon after. Andrew was buried in the Heilly Station British Cemetery on the bank of the Ancre River. His mother in Ireland received his medals and memorial plaque.