BUTLER, Norman Roach
| Service Number: | 1943 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Pine Forest, Victoria, Australia, 13 October 1894 |
| Home Town: | Butler Tanks, Tumby Bay, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Tuberculosis, Myrtle Bank, South Australia, 13 October 1928, aged 34 years |
| Cemetery: |
West Terrace Cemetery (AIF Section) Section: LO, Road: 2N, Site No: 16 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 1943, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 1943, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ballarat, Adelaide | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 1943, 43rd Infantry Battalion |
Uncle Norman
Private Norman Roach BUTLER, SN 1943A was born on the 13 Oct 1894 to parents David Boyd Butler and Harriett Grillett BUTLER (nee Roach). He was 21 years and 5 months, when he enlisted in the 43rd Infantry in Adelaide 11/3/1916.
He worked on the family farm at Butler, near Ungarra, near Tumby Bay, SA.
Siblings - Samuel (Len), Lizzie, Donald, Evelyn, Gordon (Johnny)
He disembarked on the HMAT Ballarat from Adelaide on 12/8/2016 for the UK arriving 30/9/1916. It was common for soldiers to then attend training camp at Bulford/ Salisbury Plains/ UK
After a bout of illness, he was eventually declared fit and left from Folkstone/ England to France of 28/3/1917.
He fought in north western Belgium and north eastern France and was reported as wounded (gunshot wound to the thigh) 20/10/2017. On 21/10/2017 a Red Cross report also notes he had a wounded eye.
Norman was sent to a field hospital and eventually for rehab to Llansteffan Castle/ Wales. He was discharged medically unfit due to defective vision and repatriated back to Australia 16/2/1918, by ship from Plymouth/ England. He arrived home 16/4/2018 and formally discharged 13/1/1918.
It is family lore that he was never the same when he returned home, probably suffering from shell shock (PTSD), as many did.
He died 13/10/1928 (aged 34) probably from TB, after spending months in hospital in Myrtle Bank/ Adelaide.
(compiled by Norman's great grand niece - Julianne Butler (dau of Des/ son of Norman's brother - Paul).
Submitted 12 March 2025 by Julianne Butler
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