Briddick, Joseph

No.555 – Private Joseph Briddick – 4^th Battalion AIF

Joseph Briddick was born in Newcastle New South Wales in1893 to Joseph Wilson and Eva Mary Briddick. The family moved across to Western Australia while Joseph was still young and took up residence at 6 Bellevue Terrace (later renumbered) and then at High Street Fremantle. He was educated at Fremantle Boys School and was an army cadet during this time. After he left school he became a broom maker and prior to the war moved back to Newcastle in NSW where he took up employment as a Miner. 

Joseph presented himself to military authorities in Sydney on the 25^th August 1914. He was given a medical examination and was found to be 21 years 7 months old; 5 feet 4 inches in height; weight of 9 stone 12; chest measurement of 31-34 inches; fair complexion; blue eyes and fair hair. His religious denomination was Church of England. He was passed fit for service and assigned to F Company of the 4^th Battalion AIF with the regimental number 555.

The 4^th Battalion trained in Sydney NSW until their embarkation on the 20^th October 1914 aboard the H.M.A.T. “Euripides”. Their ship pulled into King George’s Sound in Albany to await the rest of the ships of the convoy and they departed from Albany in early November 1914. After their ship arrived in Egypt, the 4^th Battalion trained at Mena Camp near Cairo.

They trained in Egypt until the 5^th April 1915 when they departed for Lemnos Island. Their stay here was only a few weeks as the landing at Gallipoli would take place on April 25^th. The 4^th Battalion as part of the 1^st Brigade landed after the 3^rd and 2^nd Brigades on April 25^th. Joseph survived the landing and stayed with the 4^th Battalion on the peninsula for the next few months. He is mentioned in accounts of Fremantle soldiers such as Walter Hale of the 12^th Battalion so it seems he was able to catch up with old school mates while at Anzac. As the campaign had become a stalemate, the British command planned a large assault in August that would break through the Turkish lines.

The main breakthrough at Anzac would be in the northern sector so in the south diversions were needed. The 1^st Brigade was tasked with the capture of the position known as Lone Pine. The 4^th Battalion as part of the 1^st Brigade helped capture this position but a huge battle erupted with the Turks trying to recapture their trenches, and a bombing battle ensued over various parts of the line. The 1^st Brigade was reinforced by the 7^th & 12^th Battalion’s and finally the position was held. Joseph had been wounded sometime between the 6^th to 9^th August and was evacuated back to hospital in Malta. His knee was deemed bad enough for evacuation back to England, where he arrived on the 9^th September 1915. Joseph would spend the next nine months in England. He left England to join the 4^th Battalion in France on the 28^th May 1916. After a few days at the 1^st Australian Division Base Depot he was sent to hospital and diagnosed with venereal disease. This ailment kept in hospital till the 5^th July 1916.

Joseph rejoined the 4^th Battalion on the 15^th July 1916 just in time for their action at Pozieres. The 4^th Battalion played their role in the capture of Pozieres village on the 21^st July 1916 and they continued to hold their gains for the next week. On the 23^rd July Joseph was wounded with shell shock and was sent back to the Casualty Clearing Station and subsequently to hospital in Rouen. He was assessed here and it was decided to send him to England and so he was admitted to the Beaufort War Hospital on the 27^th July 1916. By October he had recovered and was taken on strength of No.1 Command depot at Perham Downs. While here he was granted two weeks furlough, returning on the 14^th November 1916. A week later he was sent to No.4 Command Depot at Wareham. Another few months would be spent here during which time Joseph was charged with going AWOL for six days. He was given 168 hours detention and forfeited 14 days pay. On 23^rd March 1917, Joseph was transferred to the newly forming 61^st Battalion, which was part of the proposed new 6^th Division.

The next few months would be spent training with this unit in England until it was realized that due to lack of reinforcements that a 6^th Division could not be sustained and the men would be sent back to their old units. On the 19^th August Joe was charged with being in Gillingham without a pass and was awarded one day of Field Punishment No.2. On the 12^th September 1917, Joe left Southampton bound for France, and after arriving at Le Havre spent a week at the 1^st Australian Division Base Depot.

He finally rejoined the 4^th Battalion on the 25^th September 1917. The 4^th Battalion had just been involved in the attack along the Menin Road and would be taking part in future attacks towards the heights of Passchendaele. On the 4^th October 1917 while taking part in an offensive along the Broodseinde Ridge, Pte Joseph Briddick was killed in action. A Private H Pike of the 4^th Battalion stated that;

 “Briddick was a signaller and was killed outright – shot through the eye with a rifle bullet on Broodseinde Ridge. I was a S/B {stretcher bearer} and saw him lying dead no doubt he was killed instantly. I am sure he is buried as all the dead were buried there on the ridge."

Unfortunately Joe’s grave could not be located after the war and he is therefore commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ieper Belgium.

His brother was still living in Fremantle, and Joe’s mother was also still in Fremantle, living at Pier Street, then in Duke Street East Fremantle and then Edmund St Beaconsfield.