The AIF Project

Joseph Alexander TARDY

Regimental number1635
Place of birthSalford, Manchester, England
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationShip's fireman
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation24
Height5' 8"
Weight147 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs T R Tardy, 48 Hegson Street, Salford, Manchester, England
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date30 November 1914
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name2nd Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/19/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A49 Seang Choon on 11 February 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll1639
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll1st Medium Trench Mortar Battery
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularEnlisted 30 November 1914 - 2nd Bn, 3rd Reinforcements. Taken on strength, 2nd Bn, 7 May 1915. Wounded at Lone Pine, Gallipoli, 8 August 1915. Taken on strength, 1st Light Trench Mortar Battery, 6 May 1916.
FateKilled in Action 20 July 1916
Place of death or woundingPozieres, Somme Sector, France
Age at death26
Age at death from cemetery records26
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
21
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Taken on strength, 2nd Bn, Gallipoli, 7 May 1915.

Admitted to No 1 Stationary Hospital, Lemnos, 21 May 1915 (diarrhoea); discharged to duty, 24 May 1915; rejoined Bn, 25 May 1915.

Wounded in action, 8 August 1915 (shrapnel wound, head); admitted to 1st Australian General Hospital, Cairo, 10 August 1915; transferred to A&NZ Convalescent Camp, Helouan, 13 October 1918l discharged as fit for service, 19 October 1915; rejoined unit at Gallipoli, 4 November 1915. Disembarked Alexandria, 28 December 1915 (general Gallipoli evacuation).

Admitted to hospital, 4 January 1916 (no details recorded); rejoined unit, 9 January 1916.

Found guilty, 30 January 1916, of overstaying leave, 2130, 29 January, to 2220, 30 January 1916 (24½ hours): awarded 7 days' extra fatigue and forfeited 2 days' pay.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 22 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 28 March 1916.

Transferred to 1st Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery, 6 May 1916.

Found guilty, 22 May 1916, of disobeying a lawful command given by an N.C.O., 20 May 1916: awarded 7 days' Field Punishment No 2.

Found guilty, 23 June 1916, of smoking when on sentry duty: awarded 7 days' Field Punishment No 2.

Found guilty, 13 July 1916, of being absent from duty (3 hours), 10 July 1916: awarded 7 days' Field Punishment No 2.

Killed in action, 20 July 1916.

Buried in Chalk Pit Cemetery,½ mile NE of Albert, by Chaplain Rev Father E McAuliffe, attached 1st Australian Infantry Brigade. Grave subsequently lost.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, TARDY Joseph Alexander

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