BURNEY, Edward Nason
| Service Number: | 1226 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 July 1915, Blackboy Hill Camp |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Port Melbourne, Port Phillip - Victoria, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Yarloop, Harvey, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | State School, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Fromelles, Departement du Nord - Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France, 20 July 1916, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery Plot IV, Row D, Grave No 2, Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery, Fromelles, Lille, Nord Pas de Calais, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Burekup War Memorial, Waroona Wagerup Great War Honour Roll, Waroona War Memorial, Yarloop War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1226, 32nd Infantry Battalion, Blackboy Hill Camp | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1226, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1226, 32nd Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), 'Prisoner of War German list dated 4/11/16 recvd by Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau, Australian Branch, British Red Cross Society', 24 November 1916, show that 'identification marks found on the Prisoner of War are inspected by the General War Bureau and shown in the lists as under:- DEAD' 'Identification disc received from Germany', 13 March 1917, 'no particulars afforded except that soldier is deceased. To be reported KILLED IN ACTION, 20/7/16' on the authority of Assistant Adjutant General, ANZAC Section, War Office. |
Red Cross Investigation file
Translation of German message, 2 October 1919, 'Iden: Disc handed over by Intell: Off: with 6th Army H.Q. through Central Office for Deceased Estates 12/10/16[,] Austral: Pte. A.E.N. Burney, 1226, 2nd Btn. fell in the neighbourhood of Fromelles on 19/7/16'.
Submitted 10 September 2017 by Steve Larkins
Biography contributed by Steve Larkins
1226 Private Edward Nason Burney
Born to William and Frances M. Burney, of Morwell, Victoria, by the time of the outbreak of war in 1914, Edward Burney was a 22 year old Labourer living in Yarloop Western Australia.
He enlisted in July 1915, in Perth and trained at Blackboy Hill camp before travelling across the Nullabor to Adelaide to join the rest of the 32nd Battalion, a composite SA / WA unit.
He embarked in November 1915, too late to see service at Gallipoli. The 32nd Battalion was never designated to go to Gallipoli. Not long after disembarking in Egypt the AIF was reforming and 'doubling' in size prior to embarkation for Marseilles in France and then a long train journey north to the Armentieres sector near the Belgian border.
The 32nd Battalion was part of the newly raised 5th Division. Its baptism of fire on the Western Front was to be the AIF's first major action on a large scale and it occurred at Fromelles on 19/20th July 1916.
795 or nearly 90% of the fighting strength of the 32nd Battalion became casualties during the ill-fated attack at Fromelles, the single worst day in the history of the Australian Army.
Previously listed as Missing in Action, Private Edward Burney was one of many soldiers killed at Fromelles who had fallen inside the German positions and whose fate was only revealed in 2008-10 when the Pheasant Wood mass grave was discovered and opened. The remains of Australian and British soldiers, killed behind the German lines during the battle of Fromelles, were buried there by the Germans following the battle on 19/20th July 1916. The discovery of the grave led to a forensic study and many of the soldiers have subsequently been identified by DNA analysis.
Pheasant Wood Cemetery is the newest CWGC site on the Western Front having been constructed to accommodate the remains of Australian and British soldiers recovered from a Mass Grave nearby. The soldiers interred there were buried behind the German lines immediately following the battle of Fromelles.
Edward Burney was 23 years old when he died.
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