Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Ernest Oliver Fidge – A Biography 
 
Ernest was born in Mount Gambier, South Australia where he grew up, later moving to Adelaide.  He was a single man and his source of income was from his job as a baker. When enlisting, his only known family member was his next of kin, his mother, Mrs Mina Fidge, and he most likely lived with her given his age. The only prior military type involvement Ernest had experienced was when he participated in Citizen Service, reservist type participation, likely to have been an extremely different experience to where he was heading.

Ernest was a young and eager man of 19years and 5 months, when he signed up for the war on the 2 August 1915. He had a fresh complexion, dark brown hair and blue eyes. Ernest embarked for Egypt on the HMAT Benalla A24 on the 27th of October 1915. 

Ernest's first posting was to the 27th battalion until he transferred to the 10th battalion on the 28th of February 1916. During his time fighting in the 10th battalion he fought in the battle of Pozieres and many other smaller battles alongside. Ernest appeared to have a much tougher time during this battle. Ernest was wounded in action in France on the 23rd of August 1916, suffering from shell shock. He returned to duty a day later. An injury in any sense would have probably shaken Ernest up and maybe added some extra pressure and issues managing following the injury, and may explain why Ernest went absent while on active service on the 15.10.16. There is no detail as to why he went absent without leave. He was fined 4 days pay from this crime.  Ernest was admitted to the hospital for an un-specified illness on the 30.11.16, and we don’t know when Ernest was discharged. Ernest was later admitted to hospital again for bronchitis on the 10.12.16. This time he was taken by boat to an English hospital, suggesting he was quite unwell.  His frequent illnesses, implies that the living conditions were poor and the weakened soldiers were susceptible to the diseases and bacteria. In addition, the soldiers were likely sleep deprived and suffering from the lack of food and stress of fighting conditions.  He was discharged from the hospital on the 4.1.17, suggesting he was quite unwell as he was in hospital for 25 days, although in this time, there were no antibiotics. Following this hospitalisation, Ernest committed two further crimes and went A.W.L (absent without leave) on the 7.1.17 until 8:45pm the next day, and again on the 21.1.17 at 9:30am until 4:30pm three days later (24.1.17). After doing this a second time he lost a further four days of pay. Ernest went AWL whilst in England post hospitalisation.  He may have realised he did not want to return to the harsh environment of the trenches, been scared for his life or been suffering from shell shock and making poor decisions.
  
As time went on, it appears that Ernest may have settled back into the routine of the war.  During the battle of Polygon Wood, east of Ypres, Ernest carried messages through shellfire to the front line and got several important messages through, earning him a military medal for showing great bravery and courage during battle. Because of his courage and bravery, not only did he deliver the required messages, he returned with three captured prisoners. Ernest was clearly a very brave, young man, who despite fear, obeyed orders and went above the call of duty. This demonstrates the ANZAC spirit through his determination and grit, and sense of duty to country.  
  
Ernest returned from the war on the 25th of January 1919. There is no information about Ernest for about 10 years until around 1927. After the war Ernest worked in a physical job as a labourer.  It is interesting that he did not return to baking. Ernest seemed unsettled after the war, getting trouble with the law, changing jobs, moving around from Mount Gambier, Victor Harbor, Adelaide and Berri and even having a period of homelessness. In around 1937, Ernest appeared to begin to spiral out of control. He had multiple charges against him for public intoxication. These charges suggest that Ernest may have had trouble with drinking, which may have been a result of shell shock or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), a mental disorder resulting from witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event.  Our young soldier Ernest, was forever impacted by the war.
 
 
 
 
Bibliography:  
https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search  
 
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/roll-search  
 
http://recordsearch.naa.g  
 
http://trove.nla.gov.au/?q&adv=y  
 
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/awm4/  
 
https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search/people?people_preferred_name=Ernest+Oliver+Fidge&people_service_number=&people_unit=&facet_related_conflict_sort=8%3AFirst%20World%20War%2C%201914-1918 
 
https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search/people?roll=Honours%20and%20Awards&people_roll_type=award&people_preferred_name=Ernest%20Oliver%20Fidge 
 
https://birtwistlewiki.com.au/wiki/HMAT_A24_Benalla 
 
https://wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/ships/view.php?pid=2727