Private Patrick Joseph Bugden VC
Private Patrick Bugden, VC
Image courtesy of Australian War Memorial, No. H12601 
Paddy Bugden and his family
Paddy Bugden about the time of his enlistment with (at rear) his stepfather James Kelly, his mother Anne Kelly, (front from left) his sister Rose Bugden, half-sister Bridget (Bridie) Kelly, half-brother William (on Paddy's knee), half-sister Ellen Kelly, sister Monica Bugden and behind her his brother Barney Bugden.
Bugden Papers, Queensland Museum
Unit: 31st Battalion
For Valour
On 26-28 September 1917, Private Patrick 'Paddy' Bugden, was fighting at Polygon Wood, Belgium. On two occasions, Bugden led small parties to attack strong points that were holding up the British advance. He successfully silenced these pillboxes with bombs and captured their garrisons. His most audacious act was his single-handed rescue of a corporal who was being escorted into the German lines by three enemy soldiers. On at least five other occasions he rescued wounded soldiers from No Man's Land under intense shell and machine gun fire.
Paddy Bugden was killed in action on 28 September 1917. He was 20 years of age.
Life before the war
Paddy Bugden was born on 17 March 1897, in Gunderimba, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales and was the eldest of four children. His father died when Paddy was six and his mother remarried. Paddy was working for his stepfather in the family's pubs at Billinudgel and Alstonville, leading to his description on his enlistment papers as a hotel keeper. Physically, he was a born athlete, was religious to the extent that many people were at that time and possessed a simple and direct sense of humour.
Bugden enlisted in Brisbane on 25 May 1916.
Life during the war
Letters written to the Bugden family by Paddy and Alex Thompson, whom Paddy rescued, describe life during the war and at the front.
Read extracts from these letters.
