Regimental number | 589 |
Place of birth | St Kilda, Victoria |
School | Melbourne Grammar School, Victoria |
Religion | Church of England |
Occupation | Typist |
Address | c/o Mrs Spry, 27 Victoria Parade, Collingwood, Victoria |
Marital status | Married |
Age at embarkation | 38 |
Height | 5' 8" |
Weight | 170 lbs |
Next of kin | Wife, Mrs Victoria M. Bloomfield, c/o Mrs Spry, 27 Victoria Parade, Collingwood, Victoria |
Previous military service | Nil |
Enlistment date | |
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll | |
Place of enlistment | Melbourne, Victoria |
Rank on enlistment | Private |
Unit name | 31st Battalion, C Company |
AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/48/1 |
Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on |
31st Battalion Headquarters and Companies A, B, C and D sailed on two ships, HMAT A62 Wandilla, 9th November 1915 from Melbourne, and HMAT A41 Bakara, 5 November 1915, from Melbourne. It is not possible to tell from the Embarkation Roll on which ship an individual embarked. | |
Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
Unit from Nominal Roll | 31st Battalion |
Other details from Roll of Honour Circular | Name given on RoH circular as Bertram Benjamin BLOOMFIELD. |
Fate | Killed in Action |
Place of death or wounding | Fleurbaix, France (Battle of Fromelles) |
Date of death | |
Age at death | 39 |
Age at death from cemetery records | 39 |
Place of burial | No known grave |
Commemoration details | Australian 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 | 118 |
Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Benjamin and Mary Ann BLOOMFIELD; husband of Victoria May BLOOMFIELD, 27 Victoria Parade, Collingwood, Victoria. Born at Melbourne |
Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Disembarked Suez, ex-HMT 'Wandilla', 7 December 1915. Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 17 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 25 June 1916. Killed in action, 21 July 1916. Handwritten note on Statement of Service file: 'Buried at Fleurbaix V.R. 13 (sh 1)' Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Miscellaneous details | Wife's address subsequently 27 Victoria Parade, Collingwood; then, 22 Queen Street, Kew (5 February 1923); then, son, Eric G. Bloomfield, 14 Hubert Street, East Kew (20 November 1935) |
Sources | NAA: B2455, BLOOMFIELD Bertram |