BUTLER, Norman Thomas
| Service Number: | 5333 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Machine Gun Company |
| Born: | Port Adelaide South Australia, 1889 |
| Home Town: | North Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 29 August 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Fremantle 849 Memorial, Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial, North Fremantle Cenotaph, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 5333, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 5333, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Aeneas, Fremantle | |
| 15 Aug 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 4th Machine Gun Company, Transferred to 4th MGC 15th August 1916. | |
| 29 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 5333, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 5333 awm_unit: 4th Machine Gun Corps awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-08-29 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoff Tilley
Norman Thomas Butler was born at Port Adelaide, South Australia, in 1889. He married Fanny Needle in Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1913, and they had one son, Alfred.
The family lived in Swan Street, North Fremantle. Norman worked as a fitter's labourer and had previously served for two years with the Western Australian Infantry Regiment.
Norman enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1916. Initially allotted to the 17th Reinforcements for the 16th Battalion, Norman embarked from Fremantle aboard HMAT Aeneas on 17 April 1916.
After arriving in Egypt, he was transferred to the Machine Gun Reinforcements, where he trained before leaving for France on 7 June 1916.
Arriving at Marseilles, he proceeded to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples and then attended the Machine Gun School at Camiers. On 15 August 1916, during the Battle of Pozières, he was taken on strength with the 4th Machine Gun Company.
On 29 August 1916, the 4th Brigade advanced against German positions at Mouquet Farm. Although Australian troops briefly captured the farm, determined German counterattacks forced them to withdraw. During this action Norman was killed in action.
With no eyewitness accounts of his death, his exact fate remains unknown, his body was never recovered from the battlefield.
Private Norman Thomas Butler, No. 5333 of 4th Machine Gun Company was killed in action on 29 August 1916 at Mouquet farm, Pozieres. He was 27 years of age.
With no known grave Norman is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial where he is remembered with honour.
In 1918 Norman’s wife, Fanny placed the following tribute in The West Australian:
In proud and loving memory of my dear husband, Corporal Norman Thomas Butler, killed in action, Pozieres, August 29, 1916, aged 27 years.
Days of sadness still come o'er me,
Sweet tears do often flow,
For memory keeps my loved one near me,
Though he was killed two years ago.
Inserted by his sorrowing wife, Fanny Butler, and his dear children.
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