Alfred Norman Bradford (14 August 1894 – 4 August 1916) was an

Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

footballer who played with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

Family

Son of Alfred David Bradford (1858-1941), and Margaret Mary Bradford (1865-1946), née Thompson, Alfred Norman Bradford was born at

Ascot Vale, Victoria Ascot Vale is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Ascot Vale recorded a population of 15,197 at the 202 ...

on 14 August 1894.

Football

Recruited from

Yarraville Football Club Yarraville Football Club was an Australian rules football club founded in 1903 and played in the VJFA until 1927. In 1928, the club joined the Victorian Football Association where it played until 1984 when the club went into recess. In 1996 ...

in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (MJFA), he played 7 senior games with South Melbourne in 1915. His first match for the South Melbourne First XVIII was against St Kilda on 24 April 1915, and his seventh and last match, prior to his enlistment was against Fitzroy on 24 July 1915.

Military service

He enlisted in the First AIF in July 1915; and, leaving Australia on the ''HMAT Ulysses (A38)'' on 27 October 1915, he served overseas in the Australian Imperial Force as a Corporal in the 23rd Battalion of the Australian Infantry.

Death

Bradford was killed in action while in charge of a section of his battalion's bomb throwers, at

Pozières Pozières (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D929 road, northeast of Amiens between Albert and Bapaume, on the Pozières ridge. Southwest of the village on ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, on 4 August 1916. His name is engraved on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, a memorial to all Australian soldiers who fought in France and Belgium during the First World War whose graves are not known.''Commonwealth War Graves Commission''.

Footnotes

References

* Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. * Main, J. & Allen, D., "Bradford, Norman", pp. 23–25 in Main, J. & Allen, D., ''Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War'', Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002.
First World War Nominal Roll: Corporal Alfred Norman Bradford (2577)
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
First World War Embarkation Roll: Private Alfred Norman Bradford (2577)
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
World War One Service Record: Corporal Alfred Norman Bradford (2577)
''National Archives of Australia''.
Roll of Honour Circular: Corporal Alfred Norman Bradford (2577)
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
Roll of Honour: Corporal Alfred Norman Bradford (2577), ''Australian War Memorial''

Corporal Alfred Norman Bradford (2577)
''Commonwealth War Graves Commission''.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Norman 1894 births 1916 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Sydney Swans players Yarraville Football Club players Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel killed in World War I