Series number

AWM37

Series title

Records of 1st Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train and HMNZT WILLOCHRA, 1914-18 War [Compiled by LCDR (later RADM) L S Bracegirdle DSO RAN]

Series contents range

1 January 1913 – 31 December 1920

Extent

2.5m

Access conditions

Subject to the Australian Archives Act (1983)

Agency controlling

Department of Defence

Custodial Agency

Australian War Memorial

Function and Provenance

The 1st Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train was formed in Melbourne in 1915 from volunteers from the Royal Australian Naval Brigade. Intended as a mounted unit to provide quick response pontoon bridging to assist mobility on the Western Front, the unit recruited, camped and trained on the Melbourne Domain during March to May 1915. They wore the Army uniform of a Light Horseman, but with an anchor patch to denote them as RAN. Training concentrated on horsemanship, leaving bridging training to be done at Chatham in England. Two major changes in these plans occurred:

• En route via India, 20% of the horses died. The surviving horses were disembarked at Bombay to become Indian Army remounts, and the 1st RAN Bridging Train ceased to be a mounted unit.

• Instead of proceeding to Britain for further training, the unit disembarked at Lemnos, and proceeded to Gallipoli, serving not with the AIF, but with the British Army at Suvla.

The unit served at Suvla until the December 1915 evacuation, tasked with building and repairing piers and jetties, often under fire, for the unloading of stores and evacuation of casualties. The last 1 RAN Bridging Train personnel were evacuated on 20 Dec 1915.

While in a temporary camp on Lemnos, elements of the Bridging Train mutinied over the failure of the British authorities to ensure pay came through and the poor conditions in the camp. Few records remain of the ‘mutiny’ and it does not appear that there were any significant punishments or repercussions before the unit was dispatched to Egypt. Now under the command of HQ AIF Forces Egypt, the 1^st RAN Bridging Train operated swing bridges across the Suez Canal and also participated in the 1916 amphibious assault on El Arish in which their role was to build a pier to enable the unloading of the horses of the Australian Light Horse.

The unit was disbanded in May 1917. Members of the unit returned to Australia but many volunteered to transfer to the AIF and were sent to France.

The Commanding Officer from the unit's inception until March 1917 was Lieutenant Commander L S Bracegirdle RAN. As a junior officer in the NSW Naval Militia, he had served in China (Boxer Rebellion) and in the Boer War as a Lieutenant in the South Africa Irregular Horse. In 1911 he enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy, and in August 1914 he served as a staff officer in the Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) in the seizure of German New Guinea. In February 1915 he was appointed to raise and command the 1^st RAN Bridging Train. He served as CO of the RANBT throughout its operations at Suvla and in Egypt until March 1917 (just before the unit was disbanded in May of that year).

In April 1917 he was promoted Commander and posted as Officer Commanding Troops on HMNZT WILLOCHRA for its voyage with convalescent cases from Suez to Australia in April-May 1917. He then held naval staff appointments in Adelaide and Sydney. Following the war, he remained in the Naval Reserve.

In 1931 Bracegirdle became Military and Official Secretary to the Governor-General Sir Isaac Isaacs, and moved to Yarralumla, Canberra. He continued in this role up to and throughout the Second World War, successively serving Lord Gowrie, the Duke of Gloucester, and Sir William McKell. He retired from the Navy in 1945 with the rank of Rear Admiral, and from his post as Official Secretary in 1947. In January 1948 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO). He died in Sydney in March 1970.

In 1940, Bracegirdle, donated his records to the Australian War Memorial where, with related photographic records, they were initially known as the ‘Bracegirdle Collection’.

Content

These comprehensive records provide a clear account of the day to day activities and the running of the 1^st RAN Bridging Train and of the voyage from Egypt back to Australia of HMNZT WILLOCHRA. They highlight the difficulties for a navy unit working with the army of another country and under administrative control of both the RAN in Australia and the AIF in Egypt.

The papers of the 1^st RAN Bridging Train fall into two main categories: Unit Records and Files (Items 1 - 73) and Correspondence (Item 74).

The 1^st RAN Bridging Train records are classified as follows:

• Operations Items 1 - 15

• Personnel Administration Items 16 -35

• Logistics Items 36 – 40

• Disbandment Item 41

• Commander's records Items 42 - 43

• Miscellaneous Items 44 - 48

• Voyage overseas Item 49

• Operations at Suvla Item 50

• Works files Items 51 - 52

• Operations in Egypt Item 53

• Training, security Item 54

• Organisation Items 55 - 56

• Personnel

• Recruiting Item 57

• Ceremonial Item 58

• Personnel administration Items 59 - 64

• Welfare Items 65 - 68

• Miscellaneous Items 69 - 70

• Logistics Items 71 - 73

• Correspondence (all subjects) Items 74/1 - 74/677

HMNZT WILLOCHRA records are classified as follows:

• RAN Correspondence Items 75

• HMNZT WILLOCHRA Papers Items 76/1 - 76/12

Items 1 – 49 appear to have been raised in Melbourne prior to embarkation, while the remainder began on the voyage overseas and continued until the unit was disbanded. Both systems overlapped in 1915 (eg personnel administration) until the later files largely took over. Even then, some later papers continued to be added to the earlier files.

There is some overlap between the Bridging Train papers and the WILLOCHRA papers in the form of Bracegirdle's personal notebook (Item [9) which related to both.

System of Arrangement and Control

The series is controlled by a single number system (Nos 1 – 76) based broadly on subject matter groupings, and subdivided where necessary with a Part Number (eg Item 50 Pt 1 and Pt 2) or, uniquely in the case of the Operations Works Files, with a ‘Works’ prefix, ie Item 51/W1 to 51/W90 (note: not complete).

The other exception is Item No 74, which consists of a large number of correspondence files from 1^st RAN Bridging Train consisting of Nos 74/1 to 74/677 sequentially numbered as they were raised, with no apparent grouping system. In addition, some of the larger files in this sequence have been further subdivided into parts, eg Item 74/437 (Medical matters) which consists of Pts 1 to 6.

Items Nos 75 and 76 relate to HMNZT WILLOCHRA. The bulk are in Item 76/1 - 76/12, which is divided into 12 subject groups.

Using the Series

Each item in the series is recorded on the RecordSearch database which researchers can search via the internet. The entire series has an access status of "OPEN".

The series has not been digitised, however the files are available to be physically viewed in the Reading Room at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. More information can be found at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/research-at-the-memorial

Further assistance in finding relevant information may be gained from related series of records (click on Series Links at the bottom of this page).

Sources

First World War Official Histories, Volume IX – Navy

Defence Force Journal No 81, Mar/Apr 1990, "The RAN at Gallipoli" by LT T Frame, RAN

AWM37 Series Dossier

Website "RAN Admirals" http://www.navy.gov.au/biography/rear-admiral-leighton-seymour-bracegirdle (accessed 20 Sep 2019)