Private Frederick Charles Bridge was a member of the 6th Australian Light Horse who served his war in the Middle East theatre after spending most of the previous 23 years of his life in and around the Parramatta district of Sydney’s west.
The second of three sons born to English immigrants John and Mary Bridge, he was the fourth of ten children born to the couple, seven of whom were girls.
Living just a short walk from Harris Park Railway station, the last stop before Parramatta, and enlisting in September of 1915, Bridge left behind his wife Elizabeth, and his trade as a cabinetmaker and embarked from Melbourne for the front almost 18 months after enlisting. Just why such a lengthy spell between enlistment and embarkation is unknown. What we do know is that Fred was a member of the Light Horse band. His particular instrument however, is also unknown.
Bridge had a few spells in the camp hospital in Moascar south of Cairo, at first with ‘deafness’, then an inner ear infection, and finally coming down with malaria.
Private Bridge was finally discharged in June of 1919 and returned to civilian life. Frederick and wife Elizabeth moved to the Illawarra where their daughter Joyce was born in 1920. Fred’s older brother William became a member of the Executive Committee of the NSW Junior British Football Association, continuing the family’s involvement in the game.
The Bridges returned to the Parramatta district from Wollongong where they lived until Fred’s death in 1964. His name appears on the Honour Board of the Parramatta Superior Public School and that too of the Granville Rechabites where he was one of 43 members of the club honoured for their service.