Papers of Major-General Sir William Throsby Bridges
MSS 082

Collection Description

Original and copies of correspondence, copies of diaries, postcards, photographs and miscellaneous material relating to Major-General William Throsby Bridges, KCB, CMG.

Administrative / Biographical history

William Throsby Bridges was born on 18 February 1861 at Greenock, Scotland, son of William Wilson Somerset Bridges, naval officer and his wife Mary Hill, née Throsby. He was educated at Ryde, Isle of Wight, and from 1871 at the Royal Naval School, New Cross, London. On retiring from the Navy, his father emigrated with his family to Canada, settling at Shanty Bay, Ontario, and Bridges continued his schooling at Trinity College School, Port Hope. In April 1877 he entered the Royal Military College of Canada at Kingston, intending to train for a commission in the British Army. He obtained his Certificate of Military Qualifications in 1879. He left the College on 27 June 1879, at his parents request after only completing two years of his course. His discharge certificate records his character and conduct as "Very Good". His parents left Canada to settle at Moss Vale. He followed his parents and arrived in Sydney in August 1879 and that month joined the colony's civil service as assistant inspector of roads and bridges at Braidwood; he held similar appointments at Murrurundi and Narrabri until 1885.

In 1885 he returned to military life. Applying too late to join the Sudan contingent, he was commissioned instead in the temporary forces raised to cover the contingent's absence. He took a permanent commission in the artillery three months later. In October 1885 Bridges married Edith Francis and in 1886 began four years of service on the staff of the School of Gunnery in Sydney. In 1889 he became a founding member of the Royal United Service Institution of New South Wales. The following year he was promoted to captain and returned to England to attend gunnery courses.

Upon his return, Bridges held the posts of Chief Instructor at the School of Gunnery and the colony's Artillery Firemaster for nine years. He served with the British Army in South Africa and was evacuated to England in May 1900 with enteric fever. He resumed his post at the School of Gunnery upon returning to Australia.

Bridges was involved in the drawing up of a defence bill for the amalgamated colonial defence forces, by now under Commonwealth control. In July 1902 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and in 1905 became Chief Intelligence Officer on Australia's first military board of administration.

In October 1906 he was promoted to colonel and argued strongly for the establishment of a general staff to oversee and improve military efficiency. His success was marked by his appointment as the first chief of the Australian general staff in January 1909. Within a year, Bridges became the Australian representative on the Imperial General Staff in London but in 1910 was recalled to found Australia's first military college. William Bridges, the first commandant of the Military College Duntroon and the first commander of the AIF, was killed by a sniper early in the Gallipoli campaign. He was promoted to brigadier general and the college, Duntroon, opened in June 1911. Bridges retained this post until his appointment as Inspector General of the Australian Army in May 1914.

When the First World War began Bridges was given the task of raising an Australian contingent for service in Europe - he named it the Australian Imperial Force and was appointed its commander. Bridges' division was the first ashore at ANZAC Cove on 25 April; foreseeing disaster, he argued for immediate evacuation. The force stayed and Bridges began a routine of visits to the firing line, showing a complete disregard for his own safety. On 15 May a sniper's bullet severed his femoral artery and he died three days later on board the hospital ship HMT Gascon. He became the only Australian killed in the First World War to have his remains returned to Australia.

Bridges was awarded a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1909, and in 1915 a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), and was twice posthumously mentioned in Despatches.

Major-General William Throsby Bridges, KCB, CMG died at the age of 54 on the 18 May 1915 at Gallipoli, Turkey. He is buried on the slopes of Mount Pleasant, overlooking the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

References:
Australian War Memorial 'Who's who in Australian Military History : Major-General William Throsby Bridges, KCB, CMG' https://www.awm.gov.au/people/P10676834/ retrieved 27 February 2008
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition: Bridges, Sir William Throsby (1861 - 1915) http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070415b.htm?hilite=bridges retrieved 27 February 2008
Correspondence to his son Major A.G. Bridges, Rtd. from T.F. Gelley, Registrar, Royal Military College of Canada, 4 March 1958.

Acquisition Details

Scope and Content

This collection relates to Major-General William Throsby Bridges, KCB, CMG and includes items donated by his youngest son Major Anthony George Bridges, together with items added to the collection from other donors.

System of arrangement

This collection has been arranged in box then folder order.

Access Restrictions

Reproduction Restrictions

Existence and Location of Orginals

Related and Separated Materials

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