BEDSER, Wilfred Harold
| Service Number: | 751 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 February 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Staff Sergeant Major |
| Last Unit: | 11th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Tinana, Queensland, Australia, 14 June 1890 |
| Home Town: | Rockhampton, Rockhampton, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer, Soldier, Police Officer |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 11 October 1967, aged 77 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, Queensland Columbarium 1, Section 9 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 751, 11th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Jun 1915: | Involvement Sergeant, 751, 11th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Jun 1915: | Embarked Sergeant, 751, 11th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Medic, Brisbane | |
| 21 Apr 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 751, 11th Light Horse Regiment, GSW Buttock | |
| 16 Nov 1918: | Promoted AIF WW1, Staff Sergeant Major, 11th Light Horse Regiment | |
| 19 Aug 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Staff Sergeant Major, 751, 11th Light Horse Regiment, Discharged at own request in Egypt on 19 Aug 1919 in order for him to join the Cairo City Police as Head Constable, and allow him to marry at Jaffa, Palestine. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
Wilfred Harold Bedser enlisted for WW1 in 1915 and on his Attestation Paper, dated 3 Feb 1915, it was noted that; he was bprn at Tinana, Qld, and was 24 years 9 months of age; he was single and a labourer residing at Rockhampton; his N.O.K. was his brother Alfred Bedser, Rockhampton; and he had previously served in the Royal Navy, Infantry and Artillery Brigades in Queensland, and for 5 years with the Queensland Police Force.
Wilfred Alfred Bedser was born on 14 Jun 1890 at Tinana, via Maryborough, Qld, a son to Seth Bedser and Jane Hamilton Bedser (nee Fulson).
He embarked in 1915 for Gallipoli and would go on to serve in Egypt where he was wounded in action in Apr 1917. He recovered and continued to serve in Egypt until Mar 1919 when he applied for his discharge on the grounds he wished to marry and reside at Jaffa, Palestine. Headquarters refused to grant approval until he could provide evidence that he had means to support himself. He took 3 months unpaid leave to search for work and accepted the position of Head Constable with the Cairo City Police (Egyptian Government Service) and his discharge was granted in Aug 1919.
It is unclear whether he did marry but his records indicate by 1921 he was Resident Inspector with the police at Jerusalem. By 1932 he was back in Australia living in Melbourne working with Victoria Police and was evidently single. He married Vivienne Therese Friel in 1932 in Melbourne and they would go on to have one child.
By 1937 he was was a New Guinea Government Service Officer serving in the European Constabularly at Wau. By 1938 he and his wife were located at Salamaua, PNG, where Vivienne was employed with the Burns Philip company drapery department. With the outbreak of WW2, and concern with the Japanese advances, they were compulsorily evacuated back to Sydney, NSW, where Vivienne's mother was residing and where their only child was born in 1941.
By 1944 Wilfred was back in Queensland working as an inspector with the A.W.C. in Townsville and by 1949 was living on the Prestwood Cattle Station via Georgetown.
(source- National Archives Australia- WW1 service record; various newspaper articles- see links).
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