Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Date of Enlistment
- 07/10/1915
- Date of Discharge
- 25/12/1917
- Place of Enlistment
- Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 21/04/1871
- Place of Birth
- Watford, England
- Address (at enlistment)
- Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT
- School(s) Attended
- Blundell's School (England)
- Occupation
- Soldier
- Next of Kin
- Florence Bridges (wife), Pall Mall, London, England
Unit and Rank Details
- Final Rank
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Final Unit
- 2 Division Headquarters AIF
Awards and Honours
Distinguished Service Order (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.169, 4 October 1917)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.66, 2 May 1918)
Notes
Bridges was a cousin of Major General William Throsby Bridges. He was an officer in the Indian Army with the 116th Mahrattas when he was appointed as Director of Military Art at RMC in March 1915 but enlisted in October that year as Brigade Major with the 8th Brigade of the AIF. He arrived in Egypt in December 1915 and was soon appointed as a General Staff Officer I in the 1st Division with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. When the AIF moved to France in 1916, Bridges was transferred to the 2nd Division as a Staff Officer and remained in that role until December 1917. During that period the 2nd Division fought at Pozieres, Flers, Lagnicourt, Bullecourt, Ypres and Passchendaele. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his work with the 2nd Division on the Somme between October 1916 and February 1917 as well as being Mentioned in Despatches.
Bridges returned to England in December 1917 after a request from the Indian Army. His appointment with the AIF was terminated on 25 December 1917 and Bridges rejoined the 116th Mahrattas as commanding officer and fought in Mesopotamia. He died on 7 May 1953.
Description - height 5 feet 9 inches, weight 151 pounds, chest 34-37½ inches, fair complexion, blue eyes, greyish black hair, Church of England, scar back of the left hand and wrist.
Sources
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
AWM Honours & Awards
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)