[citation needed] Bracegirdle then served as a lieutenant in the South African Irregular Horse in the final year of the Boer War.

He married Lillian Saunders in 1910 and in 1911 joined the Royal Australian Navy as a lieutenant, serving as District Officer in Newcastle until the beginning of the First World War.

That month he was appointed commander of the 1st Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train and was sent to Gallipoli to prepare for the British landings at Suvla Bay in August 1915.

The bridging train remained in the Middle East, assisting with the Allied advance across the Sinai by landing stores on the Mediterranean coast, but was disbanded at the beginning of 1917.

He remained at his post, however, to assist the Administrator of the Commonwealth Sir Winston Dugan while a replacement Official Secretary was found.