Clifford Alexander Bridges (1911 - 1993)

Born 18 Dec 1911 in Wanganui, Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand

Ancestors

Died 23 Jul 1993 at age 81 in New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Clifford Alexander Bridges was born on 18 December 1911 at Wanganui, New Zealand. He was the son of Gordon Francis Bridges (who died in 1915) and Mary Campbell Quinlan.

He was a pianist and musical director. He formed the Bridges Trio with his two sisters, and they performed in Wanganui, and later Sydney when his mother resided at Rose Bay.

In WW2, he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 9 November 1941, serial number 420796. He had been residing at 23 Balfour Road, Rose Bay. After training in Australia and Canada, he was sent to the United Kingdom. He was in the 70 squadron. He flew Tiger, Howard, Oxford and Wellington aircraft, on bombing missions, chiefly on oil distilleries and storages, in S. France, N. Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, etc. There was frequent combat with night fighters.

On 10 November 1943, at the Catholic Church, Kensington, London, he married Margaret Mitchell Davidson, from Scotland, and they had a son.

On 18 August 1944, he was piloting a Wellington Mk X bomber with 4 other crew, flying from Foggia, Italy, to bomb Ploesti, Romania. They were attacked by two night fighters, and their aircraft was damaged; they flew on one engine and crash landed in Turkey without injury. They were interned in Turkey from 19 August until 1 September while they were interrogated by the Turkish authorities; they subsequently returned to Italy via the Middle East.

He was promoted from Pilot Officer to Flying Officer on 9 May 1946, after holding the rank on probation.

He was discharged on 25 July 1946. In England, he attended the Trinity College of Music in London for piano studies under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme.

On 7 January 1947, he was back in Australia, and appeared in the Bridges Trio in a Harry Wren show at the Hobart Theatre Royal.

He passed away on 23 July 1993 in New South Wales, aged 81. He was cremated, with interment of ashes on 30 July at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, Matraville, NSW.

Sources

• New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages search for birth reg. no. 1912/1918, birth of Clifford Alexander Bridges, parents Mollie Campbell & Gordon Francis.
• Wanganui Chronicle, 5 April 1945, Page 2, Woman's World via Papers Past, Married in London; according to Mrs M. Ryan, of Wanganui East, her nephew Warrant-Officer Clifford Bridges, R.A.F., son of Mrs M. Bridges, Rose Bay, Sydney, was married at the Catholic Church, Kensington, London, on 10 November 1943 to Margaret Mitchell Davidson, second daughter of Alistair Davidson of Uphall, Scotland. Their son, Gordon Alexander, was born in Scotland on 24 August 1944, during the time that Clifford was posted missing whilst on an operation over Germany. Mrs Bridges was cared for by her sister and brother-in-law, both doctors. The baby was named after his grandfather, the late Gordon Bridges of Wanganui, and his uncle, Pilot-Officer Alex Ryan, of Wanganui, who was killed on operations during the Battle of Britain. Clifford has finished a tour of operations in Italy, has just spent leave in Scotland and is now flying in Wales. He is looking forward to taking his wife and child home to Sydney. Clifford and his two sisters were well known in Wanganui 10 years ago as the Bridges Trio on the concert platform. On going to Australia, they met with much success on the state and won generous acclaim from the critics. On the outbreak of war, Clifford enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force. At present his sisters are playing an eight weeks' session in Brisbane as part of a 3 year contract with the Tivoli Theatres. Clifford is an old boy of the Wanganui Marist Brothers School, while the sisters are old girls of the Sacred Heart Convent, Wanganui.
• England and Wales Marriage Registration Index via FamilySearch, marriage in 1943, Oct-Nov-Dec at Kensington, London, of Clifford A F Bridges and Margaret M Davidson; Page 257, Volume 1A.
• Virtual War Memorial Australia 1579962, Clifford Alexander Bridges, service number 420796, enlisted 9 November 1941, last rank Flying Officer, born Wanganui, New Zealand, 18 December 1911, memorials: Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial; Service History: 9 November 1941 enlisted, Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer; 25 July 1946, Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer.
• Australian War Memorial C2675973, AWM65 416 - [RAAF biographical files] BRIDGES Clifford Alexander 420796 [PDF scan of biographical file]; [page 1] Clifford Alexander Briges; Air Force Rank and Mustering Sgt / Pilot; degrees, decorations etc.: L.T.C.L, A.T.C.L. (Mus.); present appointment and location: R.A.A.F. P.R.C. Bournmouth; date of birth 18 December 1911, place Wanganui, New Zealand; educated at Wanganui; entered service 8 November 1941; no previous service experience; training at Bradfield, Narrandera (Aust), Ccamp Bordon, Canada; civilian career and activities: pianist & musical director; clubs, recreations etc.: golf, swimming; fathers name: deceased; mothers name: blank; children: blank; home address: 23 Balfour Rd., Rose Bay, Sydney (Aust); embarked Australia: July 1942, destination United Kingdom. [page 2] number I.T.S. course: 22; O.T.U. - A.F.U. etc., 16OTU July 1943; left Australian 29 July 1942, left Canada Jan 1943, arrived UK Feb 1943; squadron No 70; aircraft flown: Tiger, Howard, Oxford, Wellington; command & type of activity: bombing; details of operations: 203 op hours with attacks on S. France, N. Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, etc., mainly on oil distilleries & storages, frequent combats with night fighters, and as a result the last combat had to make for Turkey and force land: interned there. All British crew 35 sorties. [page 3] interrogation report on W. O. Bridges, Clifford Alexander, R.A.A.F., F/Sgt. (Temp) Gadbury, Peter Leonard, F/Sgt (Temp) Hanchett, George Philip, F/Sgt Samson, Ellis Warren, F/Sgt Hanrahan, Michael Joseph, R.N.Z.A.F., all of 70 Squadron (M.A.A.F.), all interrogated 2 October 1944. All 5 were neither escapers nor evaders, having been interned at Ankara, Turkey from 19 August to 1 September 1944. They were members of a crew of a Wellington Mk X aircraft piloted by W.O. Bridges, which left Foggia, Italy on 18 August 1944 to bomb Ploesti, Roumania; they were attacked over the river Danube by two night fighters and the aircraft was damaged; pilot altered course and flew on one engine to Turkey, making a crash landing in which they were uninjured; they destroyed the aircraft; were interrogated by the Turkish authorities who were chiefly concerned with 3 points: was the aircraft equipped with radar? had they destroyed it on purpose? and was their flight an operational one? Their onward journey to the Mid East was arranged for them and they were subsequently flown back to Italy. (dates of birth and enlistment for the 5 are included).
• Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 23 May 1946, issue 97, page 1434, Royal Australian Air Force via Trove, General Duties Branch, probationary appointments of the following Pilot Officers are confirmed and they are promoted to the rank of Flying Officer; includes C. A. Bridges (420796), effective 22 December 1945.
• Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 8 August 1946, issue 145, page 2143 via Trove, Citizen Air Force, General Duties Branch; the notification in issue 97 regarding C. A. Bridges is amended to read with effect from 9 May 1946.
• The Mercury (Hobart), 7 January 1947, Page 7, Bridges Trio in Wren Show via Trove, after 5 years, the Bridges trio, Cliff, Nancye, and Babe Bridges, resumed its pre-war billing, a feature of Harry Wren's "Meet the People" at the Hobart Theatre Royal; the trio was featured in ABC and J. C. Williamson shows before the war; [summary of Cliff's wartime service]; after the war, he remained in England and attended the Trinity College for Music in London for piano studies under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Scheme.
• New South Wales, Births, Deaths & Marriages search for death reg. no. 26314/1993, death of Clifford Alexander Bridges, father Gordon, mother Mary Ann.
• Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park search, Clifford Alexander Bridges, died 23 July 1993, interment 30 July 1993, cremated, Pavillion B Walls, Wall C, Position 0012.