RUSHTON, Percival
| Service Number: | 55A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 April 1915, Bendigo, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Field Ambulance |
| Born: | Epsom, Victoria, Australia, 1897 |
| Home Town: | Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Bendigo School of Mines, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Assayer |
| Memorials: | Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Eaglehawk Loyal Darling Lodge Honor Roll WW1, Epsom School No 2367 Honor Roll, Huntly Memorial Hall Honor Roll, North Bendigo State School No 1267 Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 55A, 1st Australian General Hospital, Bendigo, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 55A, 1st Australian General Hospital, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Mooltan embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 18 May 1915: | Embarked Private, 55A, 1st Australian General Hospital, RMS Mooltan, Melbourne | |
| 7 Jul 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 2nd Field Ambulance, Mudros | |
| 28 Jul 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 55A, 2nd Field Ambulance, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 55A, 2nd Field Ambulance, Battle for Pozières | |
| 14 Aug 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 55A, 2nd Field Ambulance, Mouquet Farm | |
| 14 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 55A, 2nd Field Ambulance, German Spring Offensive 1918 | |
| 17 Dec 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 55A, 2nd Field Ambulance, RTA 23 August 1918 and discharged (family reasons). | |
| Date unknown: | Embarked Private, 55A, 1st Australian General Hospital | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Private, 55A, 1st Australian General Hospital, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: '' embarkation_ship: '' embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' |
Help us honour Percival Rushton's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
In 1914, Percival Rushton was an intelligent, fit young 17-year-old working as an assayer at Leggo’s Metallurgical Works in Bendigo, where he tested the composition and purity of metals and ores. He was also studying chemistry at the Bendigo School of Mines.
His hopes and dreams changed with the events of the First World War. Percival enlisted at Bendigo in the Australian Army Medical Corps on April 9, 1915, aged 18 and within six weeks he was aboard RMS Mooltan headed for Egypt.
The following excerpt from his diary shows the perspective of a stretcher bearer at the frontline:
“August 6. We have orders to sew white patches on our backs and sleeves so as our artillery can place us in the dark. We have been carting empty stretchers up to the firing line today, ready in case of emergency, very quiet. At 4.30pm the attack started. It was a splendid sight to see. This charge was a general one along the line stretching from Cape Suvia to Gaba Tepe.
Many brave lads fell in this charge and hundreds, more or less, were seriously wounded. We were working at high pressure all the time. We also lost some of our best stretcher bearers. The attack lasted for about three days but it was a week or so before we had all of the men in and fixed up. I saw men die fast and also heaps of the dead, so you will guess how we must be used to it by now."
“September 8. I finally left the Peninsula, the 2nd Brigade being taken to Lemnos for a well-earned rest. I might say I was not feeling at all well.”
Source: Bendigo Advertiser
Click images to start slideshow.