Memorial to Bertie Stibbard, Orange Cemetery.
Image courtesy Elizabeth Griffin.
Bert Stibbard was a labourer from Cadia who enlisted in Orange in February 1916. He arrived in England in August the same year and proceeded to France as a private in the 34th Battalion. In February 1917 he was appointed Lance Corporal.
According to an eyewitness report Stibbard was killed by a shell explosion whilst sleeping in a bay in the trenches at Ploegsteert, Belgium on the morning of 7 June 1917. He was 22.
Bertie Stibbard is commemorated on the Holy Trinity Church Orange Honour Roll and on the World War I Roll of Honour on the southern face of the Orange Cenotaph.
In 1923 the Anzac Memorial Avenue of trees was planted along Bathurst Road to commemorate fallen WWI soldiers. A tree was planted in honour of “Cpl Bert Stibbard”; it was donated by his mother, Frances. Very few of the trees are still standing today.
