General News
7 February, 2026
Veterans' Voices: Francis Edwin Bradshaw
Francis Edwin Bradshaw was born in Horsham to Pricilla and Francis Bradshaw of Wilson Street. He attended Horsham State School, Victoria, and further education at Horsham Technical School. His religion was Methodist. His trade before enlistment was a motor mechanic. Francis was 21 years of age.
On enlistment, Francis was single.
He had previous military service serving as a lieutenant in the 73rd Infantry, Citizen Military Forces, until the time of his enlistment in the AIF.
Francis enlisted on 6 July 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria.
His rank on enlistment was private. Francis’s unit was the 23rd Battalion, 4th Reinforcement.
Francis embarked with his unit from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on 27 September 1915.
His Rank from the Nominal Roll was Warrant Officer (Class II).
Francis Edwin Bradshaw was killed in Action on 7 November 1917 in Broodeinde, Passchendaele, Belgium age 23.
Francis’s place of burial is Bedford House Cemetery (Plot XI, Row D, Grave No. 47), Zillebeke, Enclosure.
No 4, Belgium. Francis Edwin Bradshaw is commemorated on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial on panel 98.
Francis is commemorated in the Horsham Cemetery, Victoria. Francis received a Military Medal Source: ’Commonwealth Gazette’ No 184, dated 14 December 1916.
Francis was entitled to the Military Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal.
At the time of his death, he was a Company Sergeant Major.
Zillebeke village and most of the commune were in the hands of Commonwealth forces for the greater part of the First World War, but the number of cemeteries in the neighbourhood bears witness to the fierce fighting in the vicinity from 1914 to 1918.
Bedford House, sometimes known as Woodcote House, were the name given by the Army to the Chateau Rosendal, a country house in a small, wooded park with moats.
Although it never fell into German hands, the house and the trees were gradually destroyed by shell fire.
It was used by field ambulances and as the headquarters of brigades and other fighting units, and charcoal pits were dug there until October 1917.
In time, the property became largely covered by small cemeteries; five enclosures existed at the date of the Armistice, but the graves from No. 1 were then removed to White House Cemetery, St. Jean, and those from No. 5 to Aeroplane Cemetery, Ypres.
Enclosure No.4, the largest, was used from June 1916 to February 1918, mainly by the 47th (London) Division.
After the Armistice, it was enlarged when 3324 graves were brought in from other burial grounds and from the battlefields of the Ypres Salient. Almost two-thirds of the graves are identified.
Commonwealth casualties buried in the following smaller cemeteries were either concentrated in Bedford House Cemetery after the war or, if lost, are now commemorated there.
In all, 5139 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War are buried or commemorated in the enclosures of Bedford House Cemetery.
3011 of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials commemorate several casualties known or believed to be buried among them.
Other special memorials name casualties buried in other cemeteries whose graves could not be found during the concentration. Second World War burials: 69 (3 unidentified).
There are two Germans buried there.
23rd Infantry Battalion 23rd Infantry Battalion A.I.F (Victoria) 6th Brigade 2nd Division.
The 23rd Battalion was raised at Broadmeadows, north of Melbourne, Victoria, in March 1915, to form the third Battalion of the 6th Brigade in the 2nd Division.
Its colour patch denotes its lineage. The diamond shape signifies the 2nd Division.
The red lower segment indicates that it is the second brigade of three in the Division, and the brown upper segment indicates that the unit is the third of four in the brigade.
After initial training, it left Australia in March and arrived in Egypt in June, where it would complete its advanced training.
The Battalion's arrival was impacted by the torpedoing of the 'Southland', on which B Company of the 23rd Battalion was embarked along with the 21st Battalion and elements of the 6th Brigade Headquarters and attached elements.
It could have been a lot worse, as the loss of life was contained to about forty personnel.
As part of the 2nd Australian Division, the 6th Brigade landed at ANZAC Cove in early September.
The 21st battalion had arrived too late to take part in the August offensive, so its role was purely defensive.
However, it and the 24th battalion were allocated one of the most dangerous parts of the Anzac front line - Lone Pine.
The fighting here was so dangerous and exhausting that battalions were relieved every day.
In addition to combat casualties, disease was a major factor too, with enteric fever/dysentery taking its toll in parallel.
The 23rd manned Lone Pine, alternating with the 24th Battalion until they left Gallipoli in December 1915.
After extraction from Gallipoli in December 1915, the 21st Battalion refitted and reinforced in Egypt before embarking for France in March 1916.
In April, it and the rest of the 2nd Division were being introduced to trench warfare in “The Nursery” sector near Armentieres.
The battalion was next "in the line" on 10 April 1916, when it occupied forward trenches of the Armentieres sector in northern France.
This relatively gentle introduction to the Western Front.
Later when the bulk of the AIF moved to the Somme sector in France for the 'big push', at Pozieres it was engaged mainly on carrying duties in the first phase of the Battle, but suffered its heaviest casualties of the war during the fighting around Mouquet Farm in late August, where the toll was so great that less than 10% of the battalion was comprised of “original’s” at the end of the campaign.
It was estimated that the Battalion lost almost 90 per cent of its original members.
After a short stint in Belgium, the 6th Brigade was back on the Somme for the winter, the most severe in 40 years.
In early May 1917, the 2nd Division was engaged in the follow-up of German troops withdrawing to consolidate their front along the Hindenburg line, conducting delaying defence through what were called the Outpost Villages.
After manning the front line throughout the bleak winter of 1916-17, the 21st Battalion's next trial came at the second battle of Bullecourt in May, where it endured heavy casualties.
After the failure of the first attempt to capture this town by troops of the 4th Australian Division, this new attack was heavily rehearsed.
The 23rd Battalion succeeded in capturing all of its objectives and holding them until relieved, but, subjected to heavy counterattacks, the first day of this battle was the battalion's single most costly of the war.
Later in 1917, it and the 6th Brigade moved north to Belgium for the Third Ypres Offensive, taking part in the Menin Road in September and then, in October, participated in the 3km advance that captured Broodseinde Ridge, east of Ypres, engaging an advancing German formation in a meeting engagement which resulted in the Australians routing their opponents.
While this battle does not usually appear on lists of the Australian battles.
The exhausted and depleted Australians were relieved by the Canadian Corps.
This was one of the Canadian attacks where Australians provided some support. They took Passchendaele on 6 November, bringing a close to the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele).
The Third Ypres campaign and 1917 petered out in the mud and misery of Passchendaele.
Francis Edwin Bradshaw was killed on 7th November 1917 in Belgium with the 23rd Battalion A.I.F during “The Second Battle of Passchendaele” which took place between 26 October and 10 November 1917.
With thanks: Sally Bertram, RSL Military History Library. Contact Sally at sj.bertram@hotmail.com or call 0409 351 940.