Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Name: Bertram William Osborne
Service Number: 2520
Place of Birth: Adelaide
Date of Birth: not available
Place of Enlistment: Adelaide
Date of Enlistment: 22 June 1916
Age at Enlistment: 18 years
Next of Kin: Friend, Harry Weston
Occupation: Labourer
Religion: Church of England
Rank: Private
Bertram sailed from Sydney with the 50th Battalion on the Commonwealth on 19 September 1916, disembarking at Plymouth on 14 November and proceeded to France on 12 December. He was reported missing in action on 2 April 1917, then pronounced killed in action. Bertram was actually wounded sustaining a grenade splinter in the lower thigh and became a prisoner of war at Noreuil. He was reported as “died while prisoner of war in German hands in Valenciennes, France - buried at Military Cemetery Valenciennes grave no. 162 in collective grave coffin. Verified German Army 12 March 1918.” {NAA Service Record}
Private W.R. Langford of the 50th Battalion stated, ”At Valenciennes Hospital Osborne died of wounds owing to bad medical treatment.” Harry Weston received Bertram’s Memorial Plaque, photograph of grave site, Memorial Scroll, Victory Medal and British War Medal in the period covering January 1923 and December 1924.
In the Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing, File 1DRL/ 0428 Private E.McMullen of the 50th Battalion states that Private Bertram Osborne, “was taken prisoner of war at Noreuil on 2nd April 1917 was wounded in leg by shell. Was taken back to Dressing Station and leg was amputated 3 days later at main hospital at Valenciennes. I was with him when he died, was conscious, said he was done for... he died about 8 o’clock in the morning, was taken out of the ward by a French man and two Russians in a rough coffin. I have not seen his grave.”