BRADSHAW, William George Mason
| Service Number: | 2252 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 April 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1889 |
| Home Town: | North Sydney, North Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | St Leonards Superior Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Engine driver |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Turkey, 7 August 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
Lone Pine Cemetery, ANZAC Special Memorial C.89 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, East Killara North Sydney Technical High School WW1 Honour Board, Petersham Fort Street High School Great War Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2252, 3rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 2252, 3rd Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Karoola embarkation_ship_number: A63 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 2252, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Karoola, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
William George Mason Bradshaw was born in Sydney in 1889. His father, George, died in 1903 when he was 14 years of age. His mother was Anne Jeanette Bradshaw of Redfern, New South Wales.
William left Sydney in June 1915 with the 6th reinforcements of the 3rd Battalion, a group which had the misfortune to be taken on strength of the Battalion at Gallipoli, two days before the start of the Battle of Lone Pine, a savage hand to hand fight that lasted over five days and resulted in the deaths of many from the 3rd Battalion.
William was reported missing after the battle. His Red Cross wounded and missing file doesn’t shed much light on his fate. He was only with the unit in the front line for a few days and it seems that some of the witnesses may have confused him with another Bradshaw. One soldier stated he had been hit multiple times by machine gun fire and was last seen on a stretcher to be evacuated.
An entry in his service states he was buried in the ‘Lone Pine Trenches, Grave No.16, by Chaplain J.C. McPhee.’ This information was included in a Court of Enquiry held during June 1916, which confirmed his death as ‘7-12 August 1915.
He has a special memorial in the Lone Pine Cemetery, stating “believed to be buried in this cemetery.”
Mrs. Bradshaw communicated with Base Records on many occasions, even from 1927 to 1938, refusing to accept that her son had died at Gallipoli, suggesting he may have been hypnotised and was in fact in Sydney but unable to remember his family.
In the Sydney Daily Telegraph during March 1932, an article was printed headlined, ‘MOTHER'S FIGHT WITH FATE. Soldier Son dead to A.I.F. but not to her.’
In a tiny flat at 207 Darlinghurst Road, King's Cross, is a grey-haired widow, who, since the war, has never ceased to search for her soldier son. Though the authorities believe, that Private William George Mason Bradshaw, No. 2252, 3rd Battalion; A.I.F., was killed on Gallipoli in 1915, his mother, Mrs. A. J. Bradshaw, still hopes to see him return. She sat yesterday with his medals on her lap, while she told her story. She was sure, she said, that he must have come back — perhaps with his memory shattered. He is always with her thoughts. “Last night,” said the mother, “he came to me so vividly in my dreams. I could hear his voice, saying, 'Oh, mother, save me! Find me!' “The doctors at Sydney Eye Hospital say that I am going blind. I am making a last effort to find my boy. I have never given up since they reported him missing….”
On October 3, 1916, a letter came from the authorities. “There is ‘no definite report’” it said, of the soldier's death. “Looking however, (1) to the length of time which has elapsed since this soldier was officially reported missing — viz., 7th to 12th August, 1915; (2) to the fact that Private Bradshaw's name has not appeared in any list of prisoners of war received to date, the Military Board is regretfully constrained to conclude that the soldier is dead, and that death occurred between August 7 and 12 1915.” A later inquiry from the War Office revealed that “3252, Private W. C. M. Bradshaw was buried on Gallipoli Peninsula in grave No. 16, Lone Pine trenches, on August 14, 1915. There was just that difference of one initial — enough for a mother's hopes!
The last word the mother had from her son was a letter dated, “Lone Pine Trenches, 5/8/'15. All our chaps are used to the noise already. The Turks’ shells do very little damage to us. The noise is the worst. Not much to write this letter, but expect to have something worth writing about next time.”
That was “5/8/15.” Now it is “2/3/'32” .... The mother met almost every returning troopship, and carried her son's photo wherever she went. She has visited Randwick and other military hospitals, and moved watchfully among the Anzac Day throngs for years. Often, she has deprived herself of food to spend the money on her search. Once at Milson's Point she is sure she saw him — just as he was the day, he came to her and said, “Mum, you can't say no, because I've enlisted.” He was twenty-six, and I said, “Bless you, my son. Honor and glory be yours! May you come back covered with medals.” “But only the medals have come back — the Gallipoli Star, bright ribbons, but not my son.”
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