Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Raymond Hercules THORBURN was born in Budgong, New South Wlaes on 1st September, 1894

His parents were William THORBURN & Mary Puxty Louisa Georgina Yeoman FAULKS

Father William Thorburn and Mother Mary Thorburn  (nee _____),
prior to embarking he lived with his parents at Merro Meadow, near Nowra, NSW.

Described on enlisting 22 years 1 month old; single; 5' 9" tall; fair complexion;
grey eyes; fair hair; Presbyterian

14/10/1916     Enlisted at Kiama, NSW

8/11/1916       Embarked from Sydney, on board SS Port Nicholson
                      as a Private in the 23rd reinforcements, 13th Infantry Battalion
10/1/1917       disembarked into Plymouth, England

10/1/1917       marched in to 4th Training Battalion, Codford

13/2/1917       admitted ti Sutton Veny Hospital, sick

19/2/1917       Raymond died of pneumonia, at Isolation Hospital, Salisbury
buried in:        St Lawrence Church graveyard

In 1911 the Salisbury District Joint Isolation Hospital was erected,
where the Sarum Centre now stands. It closed in 1951.
In the burial register in February 1915 is recorded the first deaths from that hospital
and during that year, in March, the death of the first soldier from there is recorded -
the first of a number during the year.
Most of these men were from Australia and New Zealand and most of the burials took
place in a particularly wet season "when the springs were up" thus, as the entry in the
register tells us, they were buried in the north-west corner of the churchyard, which
was rather higher than the rest of the ground.
Cemetery at St Lawrence Church graveyard less than 1 km from Old Sarum.

Medals:
British War medal (526714); Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll (308111).

Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan.   18/5/2015.  Lest we forget.

The summary below was completed by Cathy Sedgwick (OAM) – Facebook “WW1 Australian War Graves in England/UK/Scotland/Ireland”

Died on this date – 19th February … Raymond Hercules Thorburn was born at Budgong, NSW on 10th September, 1894 to parents William and Mary Puxty Louisa Boxsell Georgina Yeoman Thorburn (nee Faulks).

He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) on 14th October, 1916 at Kiama, NSW as a 22 year old, single, Farmer from Meroo Meadow via Nowra, NSW.

Private Raymond Hercules Thorburn, Service number 6830, embarked from Sydney, NSW on SS Port Nicholson on 8th November, 1916 with the 13th Infantry Battalion, 22nd Reinforcements & disembarked at Devonport, England on 10th January, 1917.

Reinforcements were only given basic training in Australia. Training was completed in training units in England. Some of these were located in the Salisbury Plain & surrounding areas in the county of Wiltshire.

On 10th January, 1917 Private Thorburn was marched in to 4th Training Battalion at Codford, Wiltshire from Overseas.

He was sent sick to Salisbury Isolation Hospital from 4th Training Battalion at Codford on 11th February, 1917 with Influenza. Private Thorburn was admitted to Sutton Veny Hospital, Wiltshire on 13th February, 1917 sick (slight).

(Note: The Hospital Admissions form in the Service Record file of Private Thorburn recorded that he was admitted to Salisbury Isolation Hospital on 10th February, 1917 & died on 20th February, 1917 from Broncho Pneumonia & Heart failure. The Hospital Admissions form does not record any names (so may not be his form ?) . It also does not list Sutton Veny Hospital)

Private Raymond Hercules Thorburn died at 3.30 pm on 19th February, 1917 at Isolation Hospital, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England from Pneumonia.

He was buried in St Lawrence’s Churchyard, Stratford-sub-Castle, Wiltshire, England where 25 other WW1 Australian War Graves are located.

(The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below)

https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/stratford-sub-castle.html