Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

1590 2nd Lieutenant Brian Nairn Butler – 12th Infantry Battalion

14/12/1914  enlisted (22 years of age)

19/02/1915  embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A54 Runic
                   as a Private with 12th Infantry Battalion, 3rd reinforcements

18/09/1918  killed in action

buried in:     Jeancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France
                   Plot III, Row B, Grave 5

Brother:
Lte Colonel  Harry Nairn Butler MID, DSO - Australian Army Medical Corps
21/08/1914  enlisted (28 years of age)  - b. 31/03/1886
02/11/1914  embarked Hobart, TAS onboard HMAT A13 Katuna
                   as a Major with 3rd Field Ambulance C Squadron
04/05/1917  Returned to Australia
22/02/1955  passed away
cemated in: Cornelian Bay Cemetery & Crematorium, TAS
                  Derwent Gardens   

Relatives in service (cousins):

2nd Lieutenant  Edward Lionel Austin Butler – 12th Australian Infantry Battalion
Father Edward Henry Butler and Fanny BUTLER, lived at Sandy Bay, Tasmania
02/08/1915  enlisted (32 years of age)
29/03/1916  embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard RMS Orontes
                   as a 2nd Lieutenant with 12th Infantry Battalion, 16th reinforcements
23/08/1916  Multiple shell wounds to legs, lost right leg, received in action - died of wounds
                   at Mouquet Farm, France
buried in:     Puchevillers British Cemetery, France
                   Plot III, Row A, Grave 10

4922  2nd Lieutenant Colin Edmund Alleyne Chalmers –  52nd Infantry Battalion
23/08/1915  enlisted  (33 years of age)
18/02/1916  embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A70 Ballarat
                   as a 2nd Lieutenant with 12th Infantry Battalion, 15th reinforcements
07/06/1917  killed in action, Messines, Belgium
buried in:     Derry House Cemetery No.2, Belgium
                   Plot I, Row B, Grave 22

Major  John Willoughby Butler Bean – Australian Army Medical Corps
20/06/1914  enlisted (34 years of age) – b. 01/01/1881
20/10/1914  embarked Sydney, NSW onboard HMAT A14 Euripides
                  as Captain with 3rd Infantry Battalion, Headquarters
05/09/1915  promoted to Major
23/10/1918  Returned to Australia
30/04/1919  discharged from service
1969            passed away in St Leonards, NSW

Captain Charles Edwin Wodrow Bean (Official WWI Correspondent)
-- brother of Major John Willoughby Butler Bean --
28/09/1914  enlisted in 1st Division Headquarters
21/10/1914  embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A3 Oriveto
                   as Press Corresonpdent, 1st Australian Division, Headquarters
01/04/1919  Returned to Australia onboard HT Kildonian Castle
30/06/1919  discharged from service
January 1921  Bean married Ethel Clara Young
Worked as Official Historian, writing the Official History of Australia at War 1914-1918 at
Tuggeranong Homestead
30/08/1968  Passed away at the Concord Repat Hospital, Concord, NSW

59/546 Captain Arthur Mainwaring Maxwell, MID, DSO MC – 52nd Infantry Battalion
24/09/1914    enlisted in Sydney, NSW (26 years of age) – b. 8/6/1888 Hobart, TAS
21/12/1914    embarked Sydney, NSW onboard HMAT A29 Suevic
                     as a Corporal with 6th Light Horse Regiment, A Squadron
09/05/1915    proceeded to Gallipoli
20/05/1915    promoted to Corporal – 3rd Light Horse Regiment
14/03/1916    taken on strength 52nd Infantry Battalion
17/03/1916    promoted to 2nd Lieutenant 52nd Infantry Battalion
17/06/1916    promoted to Lieutenant
14/11/1916    Awarded MILITARY CROSS
18/04/1917    promoted to Captain 52nd Infantry Battalion
25/08/1917    Awarded DSO
28/12/1917    Awarded MID – London Gazette
16/05/1918    taken on strength to 51st Infantry Battalion
25/05/1918    attached to 12th Inf Brigade, HQ
19/08/1918    attached to 1st Div, HQ
16/06/1919    Returned to Australia onboard HT Ormonde
11/07/1919    Awarded MID – London Gazette
Married:        Marion Grey Wemyss Maxwell  (d. 4/11/1970)
Children:       Sally, Meg and Bill Maxwell
17/06/1966    passed away
Cremated –   St Simon and St Judes Cemetery, Bowral NSW
                    Columbarium 1 section

447 Captain Duncan Struan Maxwell MC – 51st Infantry Battalion  
-- brother of Captain Arthur Mainwaring Maxwell --
19/08/1914  enlisted (22 years of age)  - b. 08/01/1892
20/10/1914  embarked Tasmania onboard HMAT A2 Geelong
                   as a Private with 3rd Light Horse Regiment, C Squadron
09/05/1915  proceeded to Gallipoli, ANZAC
03/12/1915  promoted to Lance Corporal – 3rd Light Horse Regiment
17/03/1916  promoted to 2nd Lieutenant – 52nd Infantry Battalion
17/06/1916  promoted to Lieutenant
14/11/1916  Awarded MILITARY CROSS – London Gazette
01/04/1917  taken on strength 4th Div, HQ
21/06/1917  promoted to Captain – 52nd Infantry Battalion
16/05/1918  transferred to 51st Infantry Battalion
31/07/1918  Returned to Australia onboard HT D17 Malta
02/12/1919  discharged from service

1921  Bachelor of Medicine – University of Sydney, NSW

Interwar Service
09/07/1927 Captain – Reserve of Officers
14/08/1939  Major  – Reserve of Officers – 56th Infantry Battalion
25/11/1939  Commanding Officer – 56th Infantry Battalion

Married:   Marion Wistie Sly   (b.30/06/1888 Torrington Rd, Strathfield, NSW)
Marion's parents - Richard Meares Sly and Constance Adelaide Sly (nee Mullens)
25/03/1969  Marion passed away in Sydney, New South Wales

WWII  -  NX12610 Brigadier Duncan Struan Maxwell MC - 27th Inf Brigade, HQ
01/06/1940  re-enlisted into WWII at Cootamundra, NSW (48 yrs 5mths)
01/07/1940  promoted to Lte-Colonel - 2/19th Infantry Battalion
26/07/1940  taken on strength 2/19th Infantry Battalion
03/02/1941  embarked HMT Queen Mary
18/02/1941  disembarked into Singapore
01/08/1941  promoted to Brigadier – HQ AIF Malaya
01/08/1941  appointed to Command 27th Australian Infantry Brigade
21/11/1941   promoted to Colonel
15/02/1942  taken POW – Singapore Island
18/03/1942   admitted to Australian General Hospital
28/11/1942   embarked Singapore for Japan
28/04/1943   POW – Taiwan Camp
14/10/1944   POW – now interned in  Hoten Camp, China
27/09/1945   Returned to Australia – Brigadier 27th Inf Brigade, HQ
03/09/1946  discharged from service
04/09/1946  Retired – honourary  Brigadier

21/12/1969  passed away in Chatswood, NSW

Submitted by Julianne T Ryan.  06/03/2017.  Lest we forget.

Brian Nairn BUTLER was born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1891

His parents were Hameliel BUTLER & Ethel Julia NAIRN