Francis Walter Bertie Firth, one of the three sons of Katherine and Patrick, was born on the 3rd of July 1888. Francis, was most commonly known as ‘Bertie’. Prior to the war, Bertie and Ernest both had employment in the bush as stockmen and shearers; whereas Charles had travelled to New Zealand and was working as a shearer at the time war broke out (Hutchinson, 2017). There is no record of the boys having received a formal education, or for that matter any of them getting married before the war. It can only be assumed that like many young men at that time, they were keen to serve their country and do their bit (BBC New, 2017).

On the 24th of February 1915, Bertie enlisted and joined the 2nd Light Horse Regiment. When Bertie embarked on his journey, he travelled on the ship the ‘HMAT Kyarra’ (A55). It is recorded that while Bertie and Ernest served in the AIF (Australian Imperial Force), their brother Charles, who had been shearing in New Zealand, enlisted as a member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (UNSW, 2016; Australian War Memorial, 2017).  The three brothers served with the Light Horse, Machine Gun and Transport units respectively while in the Middle East. Sadly Ernest was later killed in action (KIA) on the 3rd of November 1917 at Tel Khuwaileh; he is buried in Grave 66 in Beersheba, Israel (Hutchinson, 2017). During Bertie’s time, he served in the Middle East mainly in Palestine, and then also in France. He was fortunate not to suffer from any serious injuries or illnesses, and returned home relatively unscathed (Hutchinson, 2017).