BRADSHAW, Edmund Mortimer
| Service Number: | 3667 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 March 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Field Ambulance |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 10 March 1894 |
| Home Town: | Kadina, Copper Coast, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Moonta Public School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Bank Clerk |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 20 May 1917, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen Block P, Plot II, Row M, Grave No. 13B |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Kadina War Memorial Arch, Moonta All Saint's Anglican Church Memorial Honour Roll, Moonta Corporation of The Town of Moonta Roll of Honour, Yorketown Kadina Union Bank WW1 Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Mar 1915: | Enlisted | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 3667, 7th Field Ambulance, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 31 May 1915: | Embarked Private, 3667, 7th Field Ambulance, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide | |
| 15 Dec 1915: | Honoured Military Medal, His recommendation stated: "This man was stationed at Goose Alley, N.W of Flers on 7 November 1916; while a heavy barrage was being maintained on the area, he set out to assist a wounded man who was observed some 200 yards from the dressing station. He rendered first aid, dressing his wounds, and carried him back to the aid post. He was under shrapnel fire the whole time, the personal risk he ran was great, and his action is worthy of the highest praise". |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Gary Fradd
Mort Bradshaw lived in South Australia from 1908 until 1915, having grown up at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. He was 5 years old when his father became the officer in charge at the Telegraph Station and he was 14 when the family moved to the Yorke Peninsula.
Mort was working as a bank clerk at Kadina when he enlisted on 9 March 1915, aged 20, to serve with the 7th Field Ambulance, 2nd Division. On 31 May 1915, within three months of enlisting, Mort sailed for Sydney on HMAT A2 Geelong and then to Egypt on 28 June on board HMAT Clan McEwan, with Mort believing, like many other Australians who enlisted, that he was off on a great adventure.
Mort’s unit went on to Gallipoli on 15 September 1915 and six months later went to France, on 14 March 1916, embarking from Alexandria for Marseilles on the Minneapolis. Mort‘s unit fought in the vicinity of the Albert-Pozières-Bapaume road during the bloody Battle of the Somme. Mort was awarded the Military Medal for bravery under fire on 5 December 1916 with his citation as follows:
‘This man was stationed at Goose Alley, north west of Flers on 7 November, 1916. While a heavy barrage was being maintained on the area he set out to assist a wounded man who was observed some 200 yards from the dressing station. He rendered first aid, dressing his wounds, and carried him back to the aid post. He was under shrapnel fire the whole time, the personal risk he ran was great, and his action is worthy of the highest praise.’
(Commonwealth Gazette No. 103 29 June 1917)
Mort remained on the Western Front for the following six months but was wounded in battle on 3 May 1917, at Bullecourt. Just over two weeks later on the 20th of May, Mort died in hospital at Rouen, aged just 23. All up Australia lost 10,000 men in this disastrous battle. Mort Bradshaw is buried in St Sever Cemetery, Rouen (Block 1 Plot 2 Row M).
(SOURCES: Traynor 2016; 2018; National Archives of Australia 2018)
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