BUTTERWORTH, Robert Charles
| Service Number: | 1510 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 August 1914, An original member of H Company, enlisted Sydney NSW |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Norton Summit, South Australia, Australia, 21 March 1893 |
| Home Town: | Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Bendigo North State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, Bullecourt, France, 5 May 1917, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1510, 3rd Infantry Battalion, An original member of H Company, enlisted Sydney NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 1510, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 1510, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 5 May 1917: | Involvement Sergeant, 1510, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1510 awm_unit: 3 Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-05-05 |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
No railway employment record card can be located for Robert BUTTERWORTH, (Service Number 1510). The only entry in the Government Gazette listings shows him a man of that name as supernumerary staff working on the Picton to Mittagong deviation in 1917. He had been born at Norton Summit, Adelaide about March 1892.On his Attestation Papers, signed 30 August 1914, he gave his calling as labourer and the address of his father, also named Robert, as ’14-mile camp, Bargo P.O. via Picton.’
He left Australia through Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Euripides’ on 20 October 1914. In November 1914 he was promoted to Lance-Corporal, then temporary Corporal, Corporal, Lance-Sergeant and then Sergeant on 20 April 1917. He had served on Gallipoli, embarking from Alexandria on 5 April, and therefore probably landing at Anzac on, or soon after. Anzac Day. He was wounded there in July and evacuated to Malta, returning to Gallipoli in September.
After the Gallipoli evacuation he left Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, reaching Marseilles on 28 March 1916. In July he suffered a sprained ankle, an injury for which he was in no way to blame, but which required evacuation to England. Two months later he was fit and proceeded overseas to France. Here he served with 3rd Battalion and then the 45th Battalion
He was killed in action on 5 May 1917 and buried in the vicinity of Maricourt Wood, though the location was lost, and his name is recorded on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Picardie, France.
Robert Butterworth enlisted in 1914 and was dead before 31 December 1917 when the entry was made in the Government Gazette for a Robert Butterworth working on the Picton Mittagong deviation. Robert Butterworth Senior was certainly involved in that work as the several addresses which are included in his son’s military file attest – 14-mile camp, 7-mile camp and c/o Deviation Works Office, Meany’s Gang, Mittagong NSW. Did the younger man – the soldier – ever work for the NSW Railways?
(NAA B2455-3177275)
Submitted 13 May 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Robert Charles Butterworth was the son of Robert and Charlotte Butterworth who were living in Mittagong, New South Wales when he enlisted in the original 3rd Battalion during August 1914.
Robert took part in the Anzac landing on 25 April 1915 and was evacuated to Malta in July 1915 after he was wounded. He returned to Gallipoli towards the end of the campaign and was promoted to Lance Corporal. He sprained his ankle not long after arriving in France and missed the Pozieres battle. He returned to the front in September 1916 and was promoted to Sergeant a few weeks before he was killed in action during the heavy fighting at Second Bullecourt.
His younger brother, 7587 Pte. Philip Paul Butterworth 14th Battalion AIF, enlisted not long after Robert’s death and was awarded a Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry in September 1918.
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