BUNYAN, Irwin
| Service Number: | 4673 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 19th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Penrith, New South Wales, Australia, 22 June 1889 |
| Home Town: | Emu Plains, Penrith Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Emu Plains Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 11 May 1917, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
Boulogne Eastern Cemetery Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Boulogne, Nord Pas de Calais, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Emu Plains Public School HB1 |
World War 1 Service
| 31 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4673, 19th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4673, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 13 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4673, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
Help us honour Irwin Bunyan's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Irwin Bunyan was born at Emu Plains, the son of William and Sarah Ann (nee Poll) Bunyan and was known as "Mick." He attended the Emu Plains Public School. After leaving school, Irwin worked as a labourer. Prior to enlisting in the AIF, Irwin had been a member of the Light Horse unit at Penrith. Irwin’s brother, Edward enlisted at the same time and the pair had consecutive regimental numbers in the 19th Battalion.
On 3 May 1917, Irwin Bunyan suffered a gun shot wound to the chest during a charge at Bullecourt. He laid in a shell-hole for three days and sustained two further shrapnel wounds. He was eventually picked up and sent to No 3 Australian Casualty Clearing Station before being taken by Ambulance train to the 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital at Boulogne on 10 May. Although Irwin underwent surgery on admission, he died from his wounds at 7.55 pm on 11 May 1917.
His younger brother, 4672 Pte. Edward Bunyan 19th Battalion was killed in action near Ypres on 8 October 1917.
During November 1917, The Nepean Times of Penrith NSW published the following lines forwarded by the parents of the Bunyan brothers in connection with their two sons' deaths:
"Two brothers from our sunny shore -
Two brothers, young and brave -
Sailed to the stormy seat of war,
And one the other went before
To fill a hero's grave
Then the other, loyal and true
Cried out, 'Come clasp my hand,
I cannot return without you
To our sunny southern land’;
So he too, paid the hero's debt,
And so his valiant brother met
In God's Immortal Band."
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