Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Victor Roy Bryant was born on July 8th 1894 in Broken Hill, New South Wales and he moved to Adelaide and lived on 84 Beulah Road. His religion was Church of Christ and his Next of Kin was his father, James Henry Bryant, who lived in Chapel Street, North Broken Hill, New South Wales.
 
Victor enlisted in the army on the 12th November 1917 and he embarked from Australia on the 6th March 1918. His job before joining the army was as a Motor Mechanic. He was twenty years old and 4 months when he embarked. He had brown eyes and brown hair, he was 5 feet 8 and weighed 58kg. 
 
His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board the RMS Ormonde on 7th March 1918. His journey to France took 6 months in total after leaving Melbourne and heading west towards Africa. The route took them through the Suez Canal which is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. This part of the journey alone took one month. The Ormonde then took a month to get through to the Mediterranean to Port Tewfik from the Suez Canal.  From Port Tewfik they sailed to Southampton which is a port city on England’s south coast. From Southampton they took 17 days to get to the small village of Fovant which a civil parish in southwest Wiltshire in, England. This area was used for training and medical treatment of soldiers. Eventually Victor Roy Bryant arrived in France on the 6th September. 
 
The unit that Victor was in was the 43rd Battalion and 8th reinforcement. Raised in early 1916, the battalion subsequently fought in the trenches of the Western Front from late 1916 until the end of the war in November 1918. After the war, the 43rd was re-raised as a part-time unit in South Australia, when it was merged with the 48th Battalion existing until 1960 when they became part of the Royal South Australia Regiment.
 
His main job in the Army was with the 5th Motor Transport Company. He would help fix and/or drive the cars/ tractors and may have played a part in the battles. His service was over when the war concluded on the 11th November 1918. Victor got back home to Australia on the 22nd September 1919. 

After his discharge he returned to Broken Hill. He joined the local RSL and was a member until 1951. He married and had 2 children. He died on 1 April 1958.
 
Victor displayed the Anzac spirit as he had the bravery to enlist at such a young age,  something so dangerous and not knowing if he would make it home. All because he wanted to protect his country and his mates. I think Victor had a lot of bravery and courage leaving his loved ones and everything he knew behind in order to serve his country. It would have taken a lot to leave your family and friends behind and not knowing if you will ever see them again and still have the faith to go half way across the world. I think that their generation was a lot braver than ours because I don’t think half the men would have the courage or bravery to enlist like these men did.  

bibliography: http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/search/.  First website https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=49474. Second website http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/defence/abbreviations .aspx. third website

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51483