GREENFIELD, Bertie
| Service Number: | 1275 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Worthing, Sussex, England, October 1888 |
| Home Town: | West Leederville, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Council School, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, England |
| Occupation: | Brickworker |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Fromelles, France, 20 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1275, 32nd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 1275, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 1275, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From AWM
Private (Pte) Bertie Greenfield, 32nd Battalion. A brickmaker of Leederville, Western Australia, he was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England and emigrated to Australia when he was 20 years old. He enlisted on 19 July 1915 and sailed from Adelaide aboard HMAT Geelong with D Company on 18 November 1915. He was killed in action on 20 July 1916, aged 27, at Fromelles, France and is commemorated on the VC Corner, Australian Cemetery Memorial, France. This photograph is from an Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau file. The Bureau, which commenced operation in October 1915, sought to identify, investigate and respond to enquiries made regarding the fate of Australian personnel. It investigated the majority of personnel posted as wounded and missing on official Army lists, as well as written enquiries from concerned relatives and friends. Approximately 32,000 individual case files were opened for Australian personnel who were reported as wounded or missing during the First World War. The Bureau employed searchers to operate both at the front and in Britain. They searched official lists of wounded and missing, interviewed comrades of missing soldiers in hospitals and wrote to men on active service. Altogether 400,000 responses were sent back to those who placed enquiries with the Bureau. In 2008 a burial ground was located at Pheasant Wood, France containing the bodies of 250 British and Australian soldiers including Pte Greenfield. All of the remains were reburied in the newly created Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. At the time of the official dedication of the new cemetery on 19 July 2010, ninety-six of the Australians had been identified through a combination of anthropological, archaeological, historical and DNA information. Work is continuing on identifying the other remains relocated from the burial ground and buried in the new cemetery as unknown soldiers. Pte Greenfield is among those who have not been identified and his name remains on the VC Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial.
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