Grave of 2400 Private (Pte) Bernard James Doherty. A boundary rider from Wee Waa NSW, Pte Doherty ...

Accession Number P12183.001
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white - Print silver gelatin
Place made United Kingdom: England, Surrey, Pirbright, Brookwood Cemetery
Date made c 1919-22
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Grave of 2400 Private (Pte) Bernard James Doherty. A boundary rider from Wee Waa NSW, Pte Doherty embarked on 30 September 1916 with the 56th Battalion, 5th Reinforcements. Arriving in Etaples, France, in February 1917, he was admitted to hospital suffering from dysentery. He died of secondary infections (peritonitis and nephritis) on 8 July 1917 at the 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth, England.

Submitting Pte Doherty's Roll of Honour circular (AWM131) to the Australian War Memorial in the 1920s his mother revealed the hardship he endured to enlist: After offering his services three times for the A.I.F on each occasion being rejected. He underwent an operation for varicose veins at his own expense, at the Coast Hospital, which made him an invalid for eight weeks. Then offering himself again he was accepted, and allowed to proceed to France.

His cousin, 6791 Pte Harley James Doherty also served and was killed in action on 31 August 1918 at Mont St Quentin, France.