Veteran Story: James McBride was working as a labourer in Brisbane in September 1917 when he volunteered. Born in Sydney in 1895, he had a close association with the Woodburn / Swan Bay region of northern New South Wales. He trained at Rifle Range Camp, Enoggera and was assigned to the 20th Reinforcements for the 11th Light Horse Regiment. This unit included many other Indigenous servicemen and later became known as the 'Queensland Black Watch'. They embarked in December 1917, arriving at Port Suez early January 1918. McBride joined the Regiment in the field 12 April 1918, where it was deployed at Selmeh near Jaffa. Just a few weeks later, during the Second Battle of the Jordan, McBride was wounded in action, hit by a bullet in the thigh above his right knee. Evacuated for treatment to military hospitals in Gaza, Kantara and Port Said, he spent three months away from his unit, before rejoining them in July at Auja, north of Jericho. McBride remained with the Regiment until they were returned to Australia, via the troopship ‘Morvada’ and disembarked in August 1919.
