The only First World War soldier killed on the battlefield to be buried in Australia during the war has a Mosman connection, albeit brief.
Major General William Throsby Bridges
commander of the AIF
During the Boer War, he was seconded to the British army and took part in the relief of Kimberley and the battles at Paardeberg and Driefontein. He became the Australian representative on the Imperial General Staff in London in 1909, but the next year was recommended by Lord Kitchener to found the Royal Military College, Duntroon.
Commander of the Australian Imperial Force and of the 1st Australian Division
After a state funeral in Melbourne, his body was taken to Canberra for a memorial service at St John’s Church, Reid, on 3 September. His funeral procession went up what is today Anzac Parade, past the site of the future Australian War Memorial. He was buried on Mount Pleasant, overlooking the Royal Military College.
Sandy (Major General Sir William Bridges’ horse) was the only horse to return from the First World War
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