BURNS, James William
| Service Number: | 3015 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 55th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Moss Vale, Wingecarribee, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 18 April 1918, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Aubigny British Cemetery Aubigny British Cemetery, Aubigny, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3015, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3015, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Warilda, Sydney | |
| 18 Apr 1918: | Involvement Private, 3015, 55th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3015 awm_unit: 55th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-04-18 |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
James BURNS, (Service Number 3015A) was born on 7 Dec 1897 at Bowral. He began working for the NSW Railways as a temporary wool checker at Darling Harbour in November 1912 when he would have been 15-years-old. He became a permanent employee six months later, now classed as a junior porter. Although his card is stamped for the entry of the dates of joining the AIF, being discharged from the military and resuming duty, there are no dates entered. In fact, routine pay increments until December 1921, and appointment as an adult porter on his 21st birthday in 1918, are entered on his card, though these have been ruled through and replaced with the entry that he died on active service on 18 April 1918. He had enlisted on 7 September 1915 and left Australia through Sydney on 8 October 1915 aboard HMAT ‘Warilda’.
On reaching Egypt in late November he was hospitalised at Abbassia with Diphtheria, transferred to a camp at Helouan to convalesce and taken on the strength of the 3rd Battalion on 5 February 1916 at Tel-el-Kebir. A week later he was transferred to the 55th Battalion.
Travelling through Alexandria and Marseilles he joined the British Expeditionary Force in France late in June, but received a gunshot wound to his scalp on 20 July. He was thus evacuated to England, where he was passed through a series of hospitals. He apparently was well recovered for he went Absent Without Leave from 27 December 1916 until 5 January 1917 for which crime he was given ten days detention and lost 20 days pay.
By February 1917 he was back in France and re-joined the 55th Battalion in March. He was again wounded on 12 May with a shell wound to his left leg, but by September this had apparently healed, but tonsillitis had developed. Eventually fit, he re-joined the 55th Battalion in November.
In January 1918 he was again Absent Without Leave, losing another seven days pay. He was wounded, for a third time, on this occasion with machine gun bullets on 18 April 1918 and succumbed on the same day.
He is buried in the Aubigny British Cemetey, Picardie, France
(NAA B2455-3171966)
Submitted 12 May 2023 by John Oakes