[4] Although tall, Bridges was of slight build and was not noted for his involvement in sport while at the college, spending most of his spare time reading; nevertheless, he became a keen canoeist as a cadet.

In June 1879, having received his Certificate of Military Qualifications, Bridges was permitted to leave the college, becoming its first drop out after his father paid a $100 fine to withdraw him.

[5][6] Travelling on the transport Zealandia, Bridges arrived in Sydney in August and joined his family who had settled in his mother's home town of Moss Vale, New South Wales.

Nevertheless, due to concerns about Russian intentions in Afghanistan, the Australian colonies began expanding their military forces, and on 19 May that year he was commissioned as a lieutenant into the New South Wales Artillery.

[12] In 1910 Bridges was promoted to brigadier general and, on the recommendation of Lord Kitchener, was recalled to Australia to become the first commandant of the Royal Military College at Duntroon.

[16] He chose the site of the old Campbell homestead and in line with Kitchener's recommendations, Bridges largely modelled Duntroon on the United States Military Academy at West Point.

On 25 April, as part the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, Bridges' command was among the first ashore at Anzac Cove, at the start of the Gallipoli campaign.

[12] After the initial landing, the Australian and New Zealand troops established a beachhead around Anzac Cove, but during early May a period of stalemate followed as the Turkish defenders prevented them from advancing inland.

[26] Bridges was survived by Edith and their four living children; one of his sons, William Francis, later followed in his footsteps, serving on the Western Front, achieving the rank of major in the AIF and receiving the Distinguished Service Order.

[27] Sir William Throsby Bridges is memorialised by a memorial tablet in the Anglican Church of St John the Baptist, in Canberra, where his wife is buried.

[30] The tablet was unveiled on 9 December 1930, on the final Duntroon graduation day before the college temporarily moved to Victoria Barracks, in Sydney, having been paid for by subscriptions from former AIF officers.

[31] His epitaph reads: "Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges KCB CMG died on 18 May 1915 from wounds received at Gallipoli peninsula whilst in command of the Australian Imperial Force.