War Memorial Hall c1929
William Rawlings Bennetts DELBRIDGE
William Delbridge was born on 1 December 1897 in Fairfield, Victoria. His parents were William Rawlings Bennetts and Elizabeth (née Stevenson) Delbridge. He attended Scotch from 1911 to 1913.
William’s pre-war occupations seem to have included shop assistant, engineer and plumber. He enlisted on 23 July 1917 in Melbourne. He served in the 2nd Field Company of Engineers with the rank of Sapper. His Regimental Number was 20019.
William died on 22 November 1918 at Bohain, in France. He was 20 years of age.
Service record
William was in the 54th Infantry of the militia before he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He tried to enlist in the AIF at 18, but was unsuccessful on account of ‘forged consent’ (see below). His enlistment paper from that attempt show him to have been just 5 feet 2¾ inches (159 cm) tall. When he successfully enlisted at 19 in July 1917, he was recorded as 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall. He was allotted as a Private to the Recruit Depot at Broadmeadows, but in August 1917 was sent to join Engineer Reinforcements at Seymour as a Sapper. Perhaps this transfer was connected with the fact that on enlistment he had described himself as an ‘Engineer and Plumber’. Scotch records suggest he was a shop assistant at James McEwan and Co. hardware store. He embarked at Melbourne with the Engineer Reinforcements on 21 November 1917. They sailed via Suez, disembarking at Southampton, England, on 30 January 1918.
He travelled from England to France on 13 August, being taken on strength of the 2nd Field Company of Engineers on 20 August 1918. On 22 November, after the Armistice, the Company was marching from Bohain to Mazinghien. William was one of several cyclists riding in pairs behind the marching column. When the Company was suddenly halted at about 10 a.m., Delbridge tried to dismount and overbalanced, perhaps because of the weight of his pack on the back of the bicycle. He fell between the wheels of a lorry that was passing the column from the rear. William was admitted to hospital with a compound fracture of the pelvis and thigh. He died of his injuries that day.
On 28 November, a Court of Enquiry was held into the circumstances of Williams’ death (See below). The President of the court was Old Scotch Collegian Major Clive Steele, MC. In summing up, the Court found that neither William nor the driver were at fault in this accident (see below). At his father’s instruction, William’s epitaph reads: ‘He Still Lives/ In The Thoughts Of Those/ Who Loved Him’
William Delbridge is buried in the Premont British Cemetery (Plot III, Row C, Grave No. 16), France.
Photographs and Documents:
William’s enlistment in December 1915 was cancelled on the grounds of ‘forged consent’.
William’s forged consent paper of December 1915.
William’s enlistment paper with genuine parental signatures from July 1917.
A touching image of William Delbridge at Broadmeadows in 1917. The caption says it was taken on about 29 January 1917, but this date is probably too early in the year: he only enlisted in July. He looks very young and small.
Finding of the Court of Enquiry into William’s death.
Sources:
- Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
- Mishura Scotch Database
- National Archives of Australia – B2455, DELBRIDGE W R B
- Scotch Collegian 1919
- The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=77025
