| Regimental number | 16 |
| Place of birth | Manilla New South Wales |
| School | Hawarden Public School, Manilla District, New South Wales |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | Labourer |
| Address | Hawarden Post Office, Hawarden via Manilla, New South Wales |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 21 |
| Next of kin | Brother, T Briggs, Hawarden PO, Hawarden via Manilla, New South Wales |
| Previous military service | Nil |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 33rd Battalion, A Company |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/50/1 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A74 Marathon on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 33rd Battalion |
| Other details from Roll of Honour Circular | Awarded the Military Medal. |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of death or wounding | France |
| Age at death | 23 |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 23 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 23), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 121 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Frederick BRIGGS and Matilda WHYNDOM, his wife. Native of Kupit Station, Manilla, New South Wales |
| Medals |
Military Medal 'On the night of 24th/25th February, 1917, in a raid on the enemy's trench, Private BRIGGS while acting as covering bomber for the wire cutters, was severely wounded in the right arm, but with great grit and determination he continued bombing with his left hand. He thus prevented the enemy, who were in readiness at the point of entry, from inflicting further casualties on our wire cutters, who were enabled to complete their work. His action contributed largely to the raiding party's success in entering the trench. The raiding party (drawn from 33rd Battalion) consisted of four Officers and 78 other ranks and entered the German trenches at PONT BALLOT, C.29.a.44.26 on 24th/25th February, 1917.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 133 Date: |
| Other details |
War service: Western Front Medals: Military Medal, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
