Arthur Henry PURTON MM

Arthur Henry PURTON MM Update Details

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PURTON, Arthur Henry

Other Name:	Burns, Arthur Warren
Service Number:	267
Enlisted:	21 August 1914, Brighton, Tas.
Last Rank:	Lance Sergeant
Last Unit:	40th Infantry Battalion
Born:	West Gawler, Tasmania, Australia, 6 August 1893
Home Town:	Launceston, Launceston, Tasmania
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Labourer
Died:	Natural causes, Perth, Tasmania, Australia, 15 March 1963, aged 69 years
Cemetery:	Perth Cemetery, Tasmania Row New 2, Plot A17
Memorials:

World War 1 Service

21 Aug 1914:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 267, 46th Infantry Battalion, Brighton, Tas.
20 Oct 1914:	Involvement Private, 267, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Hobart embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: ''
20 Oct 1914:	Embarked Private, 267, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Hobart
2 May 1915:	Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 267, Dardanelles - 12th Battalion 3 IB Australian Expeditionary Force
24 Jul 1916:	Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 267, 40th Infantry Battalion
28 Jul 1916:	Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal
11 Apr 1918:	Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 40th Infantry Battalion
26 May 1918:	Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 267, 40th Infantry Battalion
7 Jun 1918:	Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 267, 40th Infantry Battalion
24 Aug 1918:	Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 267, 40th Infantry Battalion
24 Aug 1918:	Honoured Military Medal, 13 May 1919 London Gazette 2nd Supplement No 31338 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No 109 - 15 September 1919
11 Apr 1919:	Discharged AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 267, 40th Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Arthur Henry Purton (also known as Arthur Warren Burns) was the eldest of ten children of Shadrack Purton III (born 1867 in Westbury, Tasmania) and Sarah Ann Bamfiled (born 1877 in Ulverstone, Tasmania).

Arthur was a Labourer when he enlisted in the AIF in 1914 as a Private (Service no: 267A) and served initially with 12th Battalion, then 46th Infantry Battalion and 40th Infantry Battalion. He was WIA for the first time in the Dardanelles in 1915, and a further 3 times in France. The severity of these wounds impacted on his later life.

Arthur's brother John David Hazel Purton (Service No: 8038) served in WWI with 27/12th Infantry Battalion, and William Charles Purton (Service No: TX5780) served in WWII with C Squadron 9 Armed Regiment.

Arthur was awarded the Military Medal - "'At Bray' on the 24th August 1918, "This NCO displayed great courage and initiative during the attack. His Company encountered strong opposition, one Machine Gun in particular giving trouble and inflicting casualties on our men. T/Sergeant Purton although himself wounded immediately organised a party and rushed the post, dislodged it without loss to his men. He rendered very appreciable services on the consolidating line organising and disposing posts and materially aiding his Company Commander. His skill and leadership merit the highest praise". (J Gellibrand, Major General GOC 3rd Australian Division: National Archives Australia) "

In 1917 in Warwickshire in England, Arthur married Lily Elizabeth Charie (born 1895 in Birmingham, Warwickshire). Lily was working as a Chocolate Wrapper in Worcestershire.

Following his Discharge in 1919 Arthur returned to Tasmania and worked as a Labourer. He was living in Beaconsfield in 1922 when he lost all his belongings in a house fire, and in 1927 he was using the name Arthur Warren Burns and was living in Gippsland in Victoria when he married Gladys Victoria Greenwood (born 1908 in Bruthen, Victoria). Arthur and Gladys lived in Darriman, Yarram Yarram in Gippsland, Victoria where Arthur worked as a Labourer until they moved to Inglewood on the Darling Downs in QLd in 1935. Arthur worked as a Sleeper Hewer, and by 1949 the family had moved to Moonah in Franklin, Tasmania. By this time Arthur was unable to work as a result of his war injuries, He died in Launceston, Tasmania in 1963 and Gladys died in Hobart, Tasmania in 1986

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