BURGOYNE, George William
| Service Number: | 365 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, 28 October 1892 |
| Home Town: | Rockhampton, Rockhampton, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Carter |
| Died: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 October 1923, aged 30 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Coburg Pine Ridge Cemetery, Victoria, Australia Baptist, Section A, Grave 194 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Sep 1914: | Involvement Private, 365, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Omrah embarkation_ship_number: A5 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep 1914: | Embarked Private, 365, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Omrah, Brisbane |
Help us honour George William Burgoyne's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Lorraine McMahon
George William was the son of Frederick and Caroline Burgoyne and was born in Rockhampton on 28 October 1892 [1] He was part of the contingent that attacked the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April 1915. In a letter to his mother, George recounts the first time he encountered the enemy
We left our little nest, Lemnos Island on Saturday, April 24, and had a lovely trip up. In the early hours of Sunday morning, left for the shore (Gallipoli Peninsula) in lifeboats. Things went very smooth until a few of us were on the beach and then, ping, pong, smack. The enemy had opened fire on us and there were bullets flying all round us just like hailstones. They could not have been thicker if it had rained bullets………….
The enemy's machine guns were going about 150 shots a minute, and the bullets take some dodging at that pace....we took cover behind a small bit of cover and the bullets were whistling…. made our way down a very steep bank…. stood on a stone and it rolled, and down I came with a broken foot. (The letter can be read in full in the attached link).
The severity of his injuries necessitated him being evacuated to Malta where he developed acute Nephritis from which he never recovered. As a result, he was considered medically unfit for active service and he returned to Australia on board the Star of Victoria where he was discharged from the Army on 19 April 1916.[2]
Electoral rolls for 1919 and 1921 indicate that he was working as motor driver.[3]
At the age of 30, he married Dorothy Ethel Purdie in Brisbane on 20 December 1922[4] The couple had been living at Campbell Street, Paddington in Brisbane just prior to his death in the Melbourne Hospital on 23 October 1923. He was buried in Coburg Cemetery in Victoria.[5]
[1] Birth Registration of George William Burgoyne 28 October 1892, Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages BDM 1892/C/12600
[2] Attestation Papers, George William Burgoyne, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3168772. (
[3] Electoral rolls for George William Burgoyne as found in Ancestry.com.
[4] Marriage Registration of George William Burgoyne and Dorothy Ethel Purdie, 20 December 1922, Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages 1923/B/31478.
[5] ‘Family Notices’, The Age (Melbourne) 24 October 1923, pp 1, 20, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206253084
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