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FITZGERALD, Nicholas Paul
| Service Number: | 1338 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 December 1914, at Oaklands |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 50th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Orroroo, South Australia, Australia, May 1888 |
| Home Town: | Orroroo, Orroroo/Carrieton, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 23 March 1947, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Broken Hill Barrier District Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1338, 10th Infantry Battalion, at Oaklands | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Feb 1915: | Involvement Private, 1338, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Clan McGillivray embarkation_ship_number: A46 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Feb 1915: | Embarked Private, 1338, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Clan McGillivray, Melbourne | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Private, 1338, 50th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Kathleen Bambridge
He was 58 years old when he died.
Biography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
Pre-War
Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald was born in approximately May 1888 in the country town named Orroroo, Australia. He was born into a family of Catholics, was 5 feet tall and 4 inches and weighed 67 kilos. Nicholas Paul’s eyes were grey, his hair colour was brown, and he had a scar on his right elbow (reason unknown). He had received 2 charges for bad language in public (reasons unknown). Nicholas Paul’s trade was mining. At the time he was working in the mine, a statement was made in the newspaper by a mining company (name unknown) which stated that a man found two pieces of gold that were the size of a fist. Nicholas Paul was not married at the time and it is unknown whether he lived with family or friends. He enlisted into the army on the 18th of November 1914 at Oaklands army barrack, Morphettville SA. He was accepted into the Australian imperial force on the 28th of November 1914. Once accepted, Nicholas Paul had to undergo a medical examination on the 3rd of December 1914 which was a routine health check for all people entering the force. This is where they first started the initial army training. Nicholas Paul was 26 years old at this time.
During the War
Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald was assigned the service number 1338 as a private. The date he left Australia was the 2nd of February 1915. Nicholas was sent to fight in the 2nd reinforcement for the 10th battalion. He boarded the HMAT Clan McGillivray travelling to Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria is a city positioned on the coastline of Egypt. This is where Australian soldiers trained, slept and lived for weeks and months before being sent out to battle.
The 10th battalion was committed to the Gallipoli campaign and landed at Anzac cove as the initial covering force. The 10th battalion penetrated the furthest inland of any Australian troops during the initial fighting.
From the medical documents, the earliest information given about Nicholas was that he was absent without leave for 3 days during the campaign. This means he forfeited 3 days of pay. He was evacuated sick from Gallipoli on 1 October 1915 with pleurisy.
In early 1916, the battalion was reorganised in Egypt at which time it provided a cadre staff to the newly formed 50th battalion. Nicholas joined he 50th Battalion then. It was transferred to the Western front in March 1916, and for the next two and a half years took part in trench warfare in France and Belgium until the Armistice in 1918. Nicholas spent rather longer in Egypt due to eye trouble and did not reach France until June 1916. He fought with the 50th at Mouquet Farm in August before being hospitalised with an infection on 22nd October 1916. He was transferred to Etaples, France. Etaples is a small city in northern France.
The area around the small fishing port of Etaples was the scene of major concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and hospitals. It was remote from attack, and accessible by railway from both the northern and the southern battlefields. At its peak, 100,000 troops were housed there with Commonwealth army training and reinforcement camps and an extensive complex of hospitals.
On the 12th of December 1916, Nicholas Paul was discharged to duty from the 51st general hospital in Etaples France, he had been in hospital for 52 days. He rejoined the 50th Battalion on 18th April 1917 and fought with his unit at Messines and Third Ypres.
As the war raged on 1st of December 1917, Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald was appointed driver from being a private. The statement of service form states he was instructed by the Australian Imperial Force under order number Y85 to take on the role as a driver from that moment forward and completing this order when he was instructed to. The job of a driver is to drive military vehicles compared to what he was doing before as a private which was a solider.
On the 7th of March 1918, Nicholas Paul was once again sick in hospital delivered by the 4th A.F.A (Australian Field Ambulance).
Finally, on the 14th of December 1918 Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald was granted leave back to Australia by a Military boat amongst other injured/sick soldiers (boat unknown). They travelled with a pit stop at Burma and arrived in Australia on the 30th of December 1918. On the 14th of April 1919 Nicholas Paul was officially discharged from duty. The last detachment of men from the 50th Battalion returned to Australia in September 1919.
Post-War
Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald was now back in the country town Orroroo, Australia. The year is 1919 and the war is over. He had finally returned home after being at war for four years. Overall Nicholas Paul spent 4 years and 138 days of service in the military and he had 4 years and 12 days of actively serving and training.
Germany had formally surrendered on November 11, 1918, and all nations had agreed to stop fighting while the terms of peace were negotiated. On June 28, 1919, Germany and the Allied Nations (including Britain, France, Italy and Russia, Australia) signed the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the war. Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald was awarded with 3 achievements which were the British War Medal, a participation medal named the star and finally a victory medal.
Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald’s final resting place is unknown. According to RSL records he died in Adelaide on 23rd March 1947.
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