REGINALD Raymond Wildman (formerly Bradney) was the nephew of the Bradney brothers.
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John Bradney was also Reginald’s guardian and he lived with him on the family farm Hevington (near Coolamon).
Prior to the war, his occupation is listed as a farm hand.
He joined the Army cadets before the outbreak of war and was advised to enlist under his assumed name of Wildman.
On May 31, 1915, Reginald joined the 2nd Battalion at Gallipoli.
Over the next six months, he transferred back and forth between the battlefield and various hospitals, suffering from ailments including influenza, diarrhoea and an abscess on the neck.
After being transferred to the 54th Battalion (and, briefly, the Brigade Police), he continued to suffer from ill health – gastritis, pneumonia and gastro-enteritis.
After rejoining the 54th Battalion in Alexandria (Egypt), he sailed for the battlefields of France on board the HT Caledonian, disembarking at Marseilles on June 29, 1916.
Less than a month after arriving, Reginald was reported missing during the Battle of Fromelles, on July 21. He was officially declared killed in action on August 4, although no remains were found at the time.
In 2006, an unmarked mass grave was found at Fromelles by a Melbourne-based art teacher and amateur historian Lambis Englezos and other researchers, situated at le bois au fond du village (known as Fasanenwäldchen (Pheasant Copse/Pheasant Wood) by the Germans.
The researchers believed that the pits had not been found after the war and gained support for an exploration of the site.
In 2007, a geophysical survey was commissioned by the Australian government, which indicated that the pits had been undisturbed since the war and contained the remains of approximately 337 soldiers.
In 2008, an exploratory dig found human remains, personal effects, webbing, brass filaments, uniform badges, buttons and British ammunition in five of the six pits excavated.
Exhumations took place in 2009, and the mortal remains of 250 Allied soldiers were found, approximately 173 of whom were Australian.
DNA samples were taken, and matches made.
Reginald’s remains were formally identified when his DNA was matched to that of his niece, Norma Staber.
His body was re-interred, with others from the original mass grave, in the new Fromelles Military Cemetery.
His name is also among those on the Memorial at VC Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles.
Information compiled by Michelle Maddison from the Museum of the Riverina for the exhibition He Belonged to Wagga – Our Anzac Story (1914-19), now on display at the Museum of the Riverina Botanic Gardens site.