Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

My Dad (Tom Durbridge) and his older brother, Levi, of Mundulla SA, enlisted in February 1916 after a call for reinforcements for World War One following the retreat from Gallipoli and redeployment to north-eastern France.
No 1906, Tom was assigned to the 48th Battalion led by Lt Col Ray Leane. Because of the number of Leane family members in the 48th, it was nick-named the 'Joan of Arc' battalion because it was 'Made of All Leanes'.
My father saw action on many fronts, including the disastrous Bullecourt, Polygon Wood, Messines, Menin Road, Passchendaele and he also mentioned battles at Ypres in Belgium.
I remember stories he told us as children - but even then, they were edited to shield his daughters from the sheer horror of the unspeakable.
I know he suffered trench feet and was wounded twice and evacuated to England both times - to Eastbourne - then sent back to the Front after he recovered.
On April 5, Dad was involved in the fierce battle at Dernancourt as the Germans made a last push towards Amiens and Paris.
According to 'Leane's Battalion' by Neville Browning (2009) the Australians "put up a brilliant defence of Dernancourt which helped halt the German offensive in 1918."
But he was captured and taken prisoner and transferred to a POW camp near Hamburg where he was put to work on roads and railways.
He told us of going over the wire to gather nettles for soup, but said the ordinary Germans were also starving.
On his release after the Armistice on November 11, 1918, Dad weighed 45kg (seven stone).
He returned to Mundulla after the war, but his brother Levi did not. He died of wounds in September 1918 and is buried at the Australian War Memorial at Villers Bretonneux.