Shep's Place Family Tree

Bertram along with his younger sister, Laura Mabel, moved to Perth, Western Australia in about 1900. There he met and became engaged to Mildred Jane Manning. Although Mildred became married in later years, she was, in 1982 at the age of 93, still wearing Bertram's engagement ring. Bertram returned to Adelaide, South Australia to enlist into the Australian Army, which he did on the 6th January 1915. His service number was 1604, rank private, 10th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade. Bertram landed at ANZAC Cove Gallipoli on the 25th April 1915 which is now known and celebrated as ANZAC Day. He wrote the letter below to his sister-in-law Jeanne ‎(Rene)‎, his younger brother Nathaniel's wife, on the 29th July 1915. He was wounded the following day, the 30th July 1915, at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey. A bomb ‎(hand grenade)‎ struck his bayonet and exploded, small pieces of metal embedding in his right eye and left forehead. He reported wounded to the base hospital in ANZAC Cove on the 7th August 1915, was transferred to the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Lemos, Greece, then sent onto Malta on the hospital ship "H.S. Dunluce Castle" about the 14th August 1915. On the 3rd of October 1915 surgeons in Hamrun Hospital, Malta attempted to remove the metal pieces from the eye using an electro-magnet, this was unsuccessful and so they removed the right eye. Bertram embarked on the "H.S. Kanowna" for Australia on the 20th October 1915 and was discharged from the Australian Army on the 28th April 1916 as "Permanently Unfit".

After recovery he attempted to re-enlist into the Australian Army but was unsuccessful and so he traveled to New Zealand where he joined the YMCA and was attached to the New Zealand Army. He then returned to Egypt with the YMCA New Zealand Expeditionary Force where it is thought he worked in an army hospital. He became ill with dysentery and died in the Government Hospital, Suez, Egypt on the 27th June 1918.

Casualty Details
Name: FIDLER
Initials: B H
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Civilian
Regiment: Young Men's Christian Association
Date of Death: 27 Jun 1918
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: B. 7.
Cemetery: SUEZ WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY

Australian Army Records:
Bertram returned to Adelaide, South Australia to enlist into the Australian Army, which he did on the 6th January 1915. His service number was 1604, rank private, 10th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade. Bertram landed at ANZAC Cove Gallipoli on the 25th April 1915 which is now known and celebrated as ANZAC Day. He wrote the letter below to his sister Barbara Irene ‎(Rene)‎, on the 29th July 1915. He was wounded the following day, the 30th July 1915, at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey. A bomb ‎(hand grenade)‎ struck his bayonet and exploded, small pieces of metal embedding in his right eye and left forehead. He reported wounded to the base hospital in ANZAC Cove on the 7th August 1915, was transferred to the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Lemos, Greece, then sent onto Malta on the hospital ship "H.S. Dunluce Castle" about the 14th August 1915. On the 3rd of October 1915 surgeons in Hamrun Hospital, Malta attempted to remove the metal pieces from the eye using an electromagnet, this was unsuccessful and so they removed the right eye. Bertram embarked on the "H.S. Kanowna" for Australia on the 20th October 1915 and was discharged from the Australian Army on the 28th April 1916 as "Permanently Unfit".
After recovery he attempted to re-enlist into the Australian Army but was unsuccessful.

New Zealand Army Records:
Bertram arrived in New Zealand on the 21 February 1917 and was accepted into the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on the 22 February 1917 as being "fit for home service". It is interesting that on his New Zealand Army enlistment form he put his date of birth as 6 March 1877. On the 23rd April 1918 he left Wellington New Zealand on board H.M.N.Z.T. No 102 "Willochra" ‎(His Majesty's New Zealand Troopship)‎ for Suez, Egypt as "Y.M.C.A. ‎(NZ)‎ Secretary". He arrived in Suez on the 31 May 1918 and "Marched in from O'Seas Australian Camp and Posted to Strength". He was admitted to the Government Hospital Suez with diarrhoea on the 11 June 1918. His disease changed, he was discharged, re-admitted and placed on the Dangerously Ill List all on the same day, 18 June 1918. He died of Dysentery in the Government Hospital, Suez, Egypt on the 27 June 1918.

Casualty Details
Name: FIDLER
Initials: B H
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Civilian
Regiment: Young Men's Christian Association
Date of Death: 27 June 1918
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: B. 7.
Cemetery: SUEZ WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY

‎[The Nationality on the website for service personnel refers to the branch of the armed forces they were serving in at the time of death. In this case it refers to the United Kingdom Auxiliary Organization known as the Young Men's Christian Association and does not refer to the nationality of the casualty.]‎

The following letter was written the day before Bertram was wounded at Gallipoli leading to the loss of one eye.

July 29th 1915
Gallipoli Peninsula

Dear Rene,
The letter you wrote on June 3rd has just reached me after travelling a devious course through various Battalions and Companies, judging by the remarks inscribed upon the envelope; nonetheless however was the pleasure its arrival brought, not less welcome the home news it contained; it was pleasing indeed to receive so good a report of health at home. I am afraid the various forms my messages and notes take will prove more curious than interesting or satisfactory; our military post cards, that for a time formed my sole means of communication, do not lend themselves to descriptive writing or poetic expression or comparative discourse, nor to any flight of imagination scarcely; consequently they will not form an historical or auto-biographical point of view that would be entirely satisfactory.

Frank Caddy and I did travel from Melbourne to Suez by the same troopship; the result, to meet frequently whilst on board; he had passed through his signalling course at Broadmeadows, and sent as a signaller in a Victorian Battalion, it was quite a surprise when the day after leaving Melbourne we met on deck. During the voyage the Signallers were given a course of studies in map reading and chart sketching; it is an interesting subject upon which I had purchased a text book, and having received my Officer's permission to attend the classes, consequently Frank and I had a little schooling together.

Quite a number of the Signallers I find to be really decent fellows. One of our own lads was a village chum of Frank's. I was thankful to note there was no discrepancy between the letter appearing in the Courier.

Thank you very much for posting on those papers. Here we hunger and thirst for home papers, especially Weeklies, for they contain more, as only men cast upon a distant and desolate shore can feel the want of home news; then not being sweetly reasonable beings, for man is not yet wholly under the guidance of reason, we long for news at home at this present moment more than we wish to learn what has happened six weeks ago. I fancy sometimes that perhaps in this respect our home folk are equally impatient of intervening space and the time required to span it, and that even women are not yet questionless devotees of Goddess Reason. Mother's letters have contained more information relating to Mt Barker boys who have reached here than I have been enabled to gain during the twelve weeks since my arrival; so many Battalions comprising so great a number of smaller units go to form an army of this size that without explicit details it is almost impossible to trace an individual member of any one; the difficulties here have been multiplied by the heavy casualty lists of the first few days and by the number of reinforcements arriving. A few days ago I heard for the first time of our cousin Gordon who was then in good health. They, as you probably know left their horses in Egypt and have served here in the trenches as infantrymen, we are indeed a cosmopolitan army, several days ago I saw a company of Maoris, about 600 strong, going down for a sunbathe, and this morning watched an Indian Mountain Battery practicing the mounting and dismounting of their guns, the packing of them upon mules and transporting and firing them on steep scrubby hillsides; it was a most interesting performance, and the men are expert. Interesting and pleasing also it is to see the Scotch Howitzers manned by the Northern laddies come into action, and answer the evening guns.
Your Loving Brother,
Bertram H. Fidler

From ­http­://­cwgc­.­org­/
"Suez War Memorial Cemetery is situated on the western outskirt of the town of Suez, about 7 kilometres from the centre. Starting from the Shell petrol station on the right hand side of Cairo/Suez Road., continue past the Suez main check point, the railway lines, and another check point until you reach a large square. Turn left at the square and along this road until the traffic lights. Turn left at the lights and at the end of this road a Mosque will be found. At the roundabout, take a right turn and continue down this road until you come across a sign for Suez African Indian War Memorial Cemetery - the cemetery is on the left hand side of this road."
From ­http­://­diggerhistory2­.­info­/
"Suez War Memorial Cemetery is situated on the western outskirts of the town, about 3 kilometres from the town centre towards the main Cairo to Suez road."
However, ­http­://­cwgc­.­org­/ and ­http­://­www­.­australianwargraves­.­org­/ now have a map which has allowed us to correctly locate the cemetery.