Mark D'Esterre Brady

Personal Information
Date of Birth	not known
Place of Birth	Albany, Western Australia
Date of Death	15 Aug 1917
Place of Death	Dickiebusche, Belgium
Age at Enlistment	18 years, 2 months
Description	5'8" (1.73m) tall; weight 128 lbs (58.1 kg); fresh complexion, dark brown eyes, fair hair.
Occupation	student
Religion	Church of England
Address	Jarrahdale, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father Mr Francis Lyndon Brady
Military Information
Reg Number	26985
Date of Enlistment	5 Feb 1916
Rank	Gunner
Unit/Formation	10th Field Artillery Brigade, 5th Reinforcement, posted to 4th Division Ammunition Column, transferred to 2nd Battery, 1st FAB
Date of Embarkation	7 Sep 1916 - 29 Oct 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A15 Port Sydney
Fate	Killed in Action 15 Aug 1917
Monument	Jarrahdale
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

Student

War Service

On entering camp he was identified for artillery reinforcements and thus sent to Maribyrnong in Victoria to train. In August 1916 he was allocated to the 10th FAB reinforcements and travelled to England with them.

On arrival in England he went to the Park House camp for a week before moving to Fort Wallington for advanced artillery training.

On 2 Jan 1917 Mark proceeded overseas to Étaples in France from Folkestone aboard SS Princess Henriette. Taken on strength of the 4th Division Artillery Column on 14 Feb 1917, and then transferred to the 2nd Battery on 27 Mar 1917.

His records list him as Killed in Action, Belgium on 15 Aug 1917, in the lead up to the series of battles known as 3rd Ypres.

Mark's Red Cross File contains a number of statements made by soldiers who knew him. One claimed that he was gassed in August 1917 and rejoined the unit in December 1917; another witnessed the construction of his headstone and believed he had been KIA at Zillebeke and buried at Benenghelst Cemetery; another that he was KIA at Zillebeke and buried at Dormihouse; and perhaps the most believable version is one that says he was killed instantly - accidentally - by an explosion in a piece of pipe that was being used for boiling eggs in the horse lines at Dickiebusche, and buried in the military cemetery there.

Regardless his body was later exhumed and reburied at the Perth Cemetery (China Wall) 3 kms east of Ieper (Ypres) on the Maaldestedestraat.

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  Perth (China Wall) Cemetery
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  Commonwealth War Graves Commission