Enlistment Details

Date of Enlistment	09/07/1915
Birthplace
Next of kin
Occupation	Agent & Pearler
Age on Enlistment	33
Servce Number	Officer
Rank	Captain
Unit	16th Battalion, 9th Reinforcement 48th Australian Infantry Battalion
Fate	INV
Date of Fate Event	17/05/1917
Returned to Broome post WWI	Yes
Other Information

 

About Bernard Bardwell

Bernard was the eldest son born to Everett and Fanny Bardwell of Victoria. Bernard served in the Boer War as an Lieutenant in the 1st and 6th (Western Australian Mounted Infantry) Contingent in South Africa from 1900-1903. Bernard Bardwell moved to Broome in the mid 1900s to try his luck in the pearling industry. His brother Beresford Bardwell followed his brother to Broome and the pair brought the luggers Hebe & Phyllis (named for their sister) and began what was to become a prosperous pearling business.

 

War Service

Bernard enlisted as a Lieutenant on 7th July 1915 and was assigned to the 16th Battalion, 9th Reinforcement. The unit embarked from Fremantle on October 1915 to . In March 1916 he was transferred to the 48th Battalion as Captain. In November 1916 he was admitted to hospital with V.D.R. (Valvular Disease of the Heart). Bardwell was placed on the secondary list and returned to Australia in July 1917.

 

Life after the Great War

Soon after his return from the war Bernard rejoined his brother in the pearling industry and the pair landed a pearl shell in 1920 that contained a pearl that sold for £4000 (which would equate to about $700,000 today), and remains one of the most valuable pearls ever discovered on the north west coast. Bernard took a position as Fisheries Inspector in 1935. Bernard, along with his brother Beresford and their sister Phyllis McDaniel were avid conchologists (shell collectors). Bernard died in 1955 in Broome. 

Other Online Resources

View Bernard Bardwell’s Service Records at NAA