OUR image this week is of Private Reardon taken by Albert Gregory of 'The Premier Studios', here in Bathurst in April 1916 just days before he was to board a troopship in Sydney bound for overseas service.
The First World War still remains the costliest conflict in terms of deaths and casualties.
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Australia had a population of fewer than five million people.
During the war 416,809 men volunteered and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), and of these more than 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.
Almost everyone in Australia were affected in some way.
The Australian Government launched the AIF in August of 1914 and immediately began recruiting men to serve the British Empire in what would be classed as 'The Great War.'
The men of the AIF went on to serve in the Middle East and on the Western Front during the war.
Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, but Australia had already offered unreserved help with Australia's Cabinet pledging an initial armed force of 20,000 troops and the Royal Australia Navy offering all its vessels and sailors.
Six days after Britain declared war the first of the AIF recruitment offices opened in army barracks, including Bathurst, around Australia on August 10, 1914.
Days later the first our AIF volunteers were in basic training camps preparing to fight for the British Empire.
By the November 1, 1914, the first of our troops departed from King George Sound, Albany, in Western Australia with the volunteers comprising artillery, light horse, engineers, field ambulance, but mostly infantry.
On board was a detachment of Australian and New Zealand Imperial Expeditionary Forces.
The convoy comprising 38 Australian transports or troopships and 10 New Zealand Transports as well as cruisers and other warships to guard the convoy which sailed across the Indian Ocean towards the Suez Canal.
The troops thought they were sailing to England and then across to France to fight the German army.
However, the convoy was diverted to Egypt with the AIF disembarking in Alexandria on December 3, 1914.
From here the men were moved to training camps near Cairo.
It turned out that the British military authorities were overwhelmed and that the overcrowded military camps in England were unsuitable for so many men over winter.
It was to be a change for the Australians as they trained in the desert beneath the pyramids and the Spinx near Cairo until March 2, 1915.
It wasn't long before they confronted the soldiers of the Ottoman Army whom the Australians called 'Turks'.
Then the Australian troops heard that they were to be part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force which came to a head on the afternoon of April 24, 1915, when the AIF men boarded troop transports, destroyers and battleships for the short overnight trip to land at Gallipoli.
However, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force failed to make any progress against Turkish defences on the Gallipoli peninsula but the details were later told to Private Reardon later as he hadn't arrived as yet.
Most of the Australians who served overseas were a fit and keen bunch who were eager to prove themselves worthy of the ANZAC title and their reputation for being brave and having initiative.
It was tough in the trenches and even behind the trenches life was often basic with the men living in barns, lofts or even a stable.
Life was hard in the trenches which were dirty and usually flooded.
Rats were a problem eating soldier's food.
Trench foot was a serious condition that saw the troop's feet being wet for too long, especially when the men fought in cold, wet conditions in trenches without the extra socks or boots to help keep their feet dry.
Many surviving troops came home with mental and physical scars that remained for the rest of their lives.
