Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

25/01/1916

Place of Enlistment

Goulburn NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

05/07/1894

Place of Birth

Bega NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Station Hill, Queanbeyan NSW (previously Cotter Camp ACT)

Occupation

Labourer

Next of Kin

Son of William and Jessie Bryce of Crawford Street, Queanbeyan NSW

Burial Place

Unicorn Cemetery, Vend'huile, France

Service Number

2132

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

3 Machine Gun Battalion AIF

Died (killed in action), 29 September 1918 near Bellicourt, France

Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance, Crawford St, Queanbeyan NSW
World War 1 Memorial, corner of Lowe St and Farrer Place, Queanbeyan NSW
Roll of Honour at St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Lowe Street, Queanbeyan NSW
Memorial plaque in porch of Christ Church, Queanbeyan NSW

Prior to enlisting Bryce had spent four years working on the Cotter before getting a job with the NSW Railways. He participated in the Men from Snowy River route march and embarked for overseas with the 4th reinforcements to the 55th Battalion. After spending a couple of weeks on the frontline at Flers he was transferred to the 1st Anzac Light Railways as a fettler in January 1917. He rejoined the 55th Battalion in June 1917 but was shot in the back during the Battle of Polygon Wood in September 1917.

He was treated in England and rejoined his unit in France in January 1918 but was sent back across the Channel in March with a carbuncle on his neck. After convalescing he was marched in to the Machine Gun Training Depot at Parkhouse. Bryce returned to France and was taken on strength with the 3rd Machine Gun Battalion on 16 September 1918. He was killed in action during the attack on the Hindenburg Line by the 3rd Division north of Bellicourt.

In some documents, including the Roll of Honour, he is incorrectly referred to as William John Bryce.

Description - height 5 feet 5 inches, weight 140 pounds, chest 32-35 inches, dark complexion, blue eyes, black hair, Presbyterian.

AWM Roll of Honour Circular
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Queanbeyan Age - 25 January 1916, 15 October 1918, 22 October 1918
Queanbeyan/ Canberra Advocate - 14 October 1918
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'The Men from Snowy River', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)