Dates:
War Service:
Private 1505 BERTRAM BAX of the 19th battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force. He enlisted on 12 April 1915 in Liverpool, New South Wales. He gave his occupation as plasterer. His address in Australia was 'Bronte', Victoria Street, Burwood, New South Wales.
He served in Gallipoli from August 1915 until the evacuation in January 1916 and then sailed to Marseilles to join the BEF arriving on 25 March 1916.
On 14th November 1916 the 19th Battalion captured and held the notorious 'Maze' defence system at Flers. The failure of flanking Battalions to reach their objectives left the unit out on its own, holding a salient deep within the German lines. The Battalion held this position against counter attacks and intense shelling for two days, using German weapons so that their own .303 ammunition could be used to maintain their Lewis guns in action. Of the 451 all ranks who went into the attack, 381 became casualties.
He was reported missing in action at Flers on 14 November 1916. This was later amended to killed in action.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
Location of Memorial:
He is remembered on the on the Australian War Memorial in Melbourne and on the war memorial in the Church of St George, Catford.
Details:
He was 35 years old, the son of William and Eliza Bax, of Elsinore Road, Forest Hill. He was educated at Dalmain Road School. He is probably the Bertram Bax who sailed from London to Sydney in 1914.
Source:
CWGC
Service record
Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 : Charles Bean. Volume III
The AIF Project website
Contributed By: Andy Pepper
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