BURT, William Henry
| Service Number: | 1435 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 34th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Belgium, 14 October 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Lijssenthoek, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Martins Creek Public School Memorial Gardens |
World War 1 Service
| 2 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 1435, 34th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 1435, 34th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Sydney |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
No railway employment record card can be located for William Henry BURT (Service Number 1435). According to the 1921 Honour Roll Burt was employed in the Traffic Branch of the Tramways, but this seems to be an error as the Government Gazette listings for 1911 and 1914 show no man named William Burt, as a tramway employee and only one as a railway employee as a labourer at Eveleigh.
His Attestation Papers, signed on 20 February 1916 at West Maitland, give his calling as ‘Railway Porter’ and this is the only link to the NSWGR&T.
He had been born at Martins Creek about September 1893.
He left Australia aboard HMAT ‘Honorata’ through Sydney on 2 May 1916 and arrived in Plymouth on 23 June. He proceeded overseas to France in November and underwent further training as a signaller, re-joining the 34th Australian Infantry Battalion in June.
At Passchendaele on the night of 11 October as the Battalion was moving into line for the next day’s attack a shell fell among the men as they were sitting in a cutting for a spell. Several were killed, and Burt was badly wounded. Though he was evacuated to a dressing station he died of his wounds on 14 October 1917 and is buried a Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Flanders, Belgium, 1¾ miles S.W of Poperinghe.
(NAA B2455-3174275)
Submitted 13 May 2023 by John Oakes