Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Before the War
Herbert James Charlton Burton first enlisted in World War 1 as a labourer on the 1st of March 1916 in Adelaide, South Australia, two years after the war had broken out. He was born in Mount Bryan, South Australia in 1895, and was 20 years and 11 months old at the time of his enlistment - just about to turn 21. He was the son of Florence Emily Burton and brother to both Charles Stanley Burton and Alick August Burton who worked as a private and a driver in the army as a part of the 43rd and 27th Battalions between 1916 and 1919, (at around the same time Herbert enlisted). Before the war, Herbert worked as a labourer. Herbert was listed as single and lived with his mother and two brothers in Fairview, Mount Bryan - which is located 180km north of Adelaide. Being 5”7 just shorter than the average soldier, he was described as having a fresh complexion, completed with brown hair and blue eyes and was a member of the Church of England.
 
During the War
On the 9th of June 1916, three months after he enlisted, Herbert James Charlton Burton embarked from Australia as part of the 43rd Battalion, ranked as a private, on the HMAT Afric A19. The ship was a transport ship funded by the Commonwealth that was used to transport AIF formations to their destinations and journeyed to the Egypt Sea for the Battalion to start their training as a part of the AIF. After about 4 months, on the 25th of November, after the Battalion had completed their training, Herbert travelled from training in England to the war zone in France.
 
A year later on the 5th of June 1917, Herbert was promoted from a Private to Lance Corporal, during the battle of Messines. A month after that, on the 3rd of July, Herbert was dangerously injured by a gunshot just above his right ankle. Due to this injury, he was put into a military hospital called The Canadian Stationary Hospital located in Doullens, France, and almost a month later, on the 29th of July, was transferred to the Urmston Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital located in Eastbourne, East Sussex, to receive amputation surgery, 26 days after he had been injured. At this point, that was the end of his career as a soldier a part of World War 1. He was sent home in November 1917. 
 
After the War
On the 1st of November 1917, Herbert James Charlton Burton returned to Australia to recover from his amputations. This was about 3 months after he had his surgery, which in these few months, he had been staying in the hospital in East Sussex, receiving check-ups and recovering, while the AIF communicated back and forth with his mother back in Australia reassuring that ‘satisfactory progress’ was being maintained and that he was doing well.
 
After returning to Australia, there were no other records of his life after war, so I can only presume he returned safely to his mother, Florence, and continued to recover from surgery. For his service in the war, Herbert received the British War Medal as well as the Victory Medal for both serving in the imperial force and being a part of the common allied campaign. These were the two most common medals given to Australian soldiers during world war 1.  2 years after Herbert returned, on the 28th of February 1919, his brother, Alick, who had been serving as a driver in the 27th Battalion, returned to Australia, while his second brother, Charles, was unfortunately killed in action as a part of the 43rd Battalion, around the same time Herbert was recovering in the military hospital in East Sussex.
 
At the age of 77, on the 15th of September 1972, Herbert James Charlton Burton passed away due to old age. He was buried in the Angaston Cemetery, located in Barossa Valley, South Australia.