FIDLER, Joseph Hugh
| Service Number: | Merchant Navy |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Unit: | Merchant Navy |
| Born: | Wistow, South Australia, 28 July 1889 |
| Home Town: | Wistow, Mount Barker, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Mt Barker Primary School |
| Occupation: | Chief Engineer |
| Died: | Hughesdale, Melbourne, Victoria, 11 December 1971, aged 82 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| Date unknown: | Involvement Merchant Navy, Merchant Navy |
|---|
Help us honour Joseph Hugh Fidler's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Gordon Fidler
Joseph was known throughout his life by his middle name Hugh.
Joseph's (Hugh) schooling started when he was enrolled at the Mt Barker Primary School on the 20th January 1896. He was recorded as living in Mt Barker, his father as being a miner. In June 1902 Hugh was in class V and gained full marks in the annual school examination. He stayed at the Mt Barker Primary School until he finished his schooling in April 1903.
In July 1903 while working at an Ironworks in Mt Barker he injured the index finger on his right hand, it had to be amputated at the first joint.
Hugh served as an engineer in the Merchant Navy in WW1. In 1916 he was on transport ship that was torpedoed & sunk, he was also on ships attacked & sunk by submarines in the Mediterranean, Straits of Messina & Malta.
At the outbreak of WW2 he again answered the call to arms and joined the Merchant Navy as a Chief Engineer attached to the Bristish Eastern Fleet. On his return from this war zone he was posted to the Pacific Islands and served on the American Liberty Ships.