Harry Nairn BUTLER DSO, MID

Harry Nairn BUTLER DSO, MID Update Details

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BUTLER, Harry Nairn

Service Numbers:	Not yet discovered
Enlisted:	20 July 1914
Last Rank:	Lieutenant Colonel
Last Unit:	3rd Field Ambulance
Born:	Hobart, Tasmania, 31 March 1886
Home Town:	Sandy Bay, Hobart, Tasmania
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Surgeon
Died:	22 February 1955, aged 68 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Cornelian Bay Cemetery and Crematorium, Tasmania Derwent Gardens; Section 1South; No.3, F
Memorials:	Hobart Roll of Honour, Tasmanian Club Honour Roll

World War 1 Service

20 Jul 1914:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Major
20 Oct 1914:	Involvement Major, 3rd Field Ambulance, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: Hobart embarkation_ship: HMAT Katuna embarkation_ship_number: A13 public_note: ''
20 Oct 1914:	Embarked Major, 3rd Field Ambulance, HMAT Katuna, Hobart
3 Mar 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Major, 3rd Field Ambulance, ANZAC / Gallipoli
8 Aug 1915:	Wounded AIF WW1, Major, 3rd Field Ambulance, ANZAC / Gallipoli, shell wound to abdomen, Dardanelles
17 Oct 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Major, 3rd Field Ambulance, ANZAC / Gallipoli, rejoined unit - took over command
1 Jan 1916:	Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant Colonel, 3rd Field Ambulance
4 Jan 1917:	Honoured Mention in Dispatches
4 May 1917:	Embarked AIF WW1, Lieutenant Colonel, 3rd Field Ambulance, embarked from Devonport, England for return to Australia onboard HT Thermistocles
4 Jun 1917:	Honoured Distinguished Service Medal

Help us honour Harry Nairn Butler's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Julianne Ryan

Great-great-great nephew James Dance stated:

'Great-great-great uncle Harry was a medic, working alongside John Simpson Kirkpatrick."

“Following his service … he brought back to Australia the armband which Duffy, the donkey found accompanying Simpson, wore around his muzzle.”

Biography contributed by Julianne Ryan

Lte Colonel Harry Nairn Butler DSO MID - Australian Army Medical Corps

21/08/1914 enlisted (28 years of age) - b. 31/03/1886

02/11/1914 embarked Hobart, TAS onboard HMAT A13 Katuna
as a Major with 3rd Field Ambulance C Squadron

04/05/1917 Returned to Australia

22/02/1955 passed away

cemated in: Cornelian Bay Cemetery & Crematorium, TAS
Derwent Gardens

Brother:
1590 2nd Lieutenant Brian Nairn Butler – 12th Infantry Battalion
14/12/1914 enlisted (22 years of age)
19/02/1915 embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A54 Runic
                   as a Private with 12th Infantry Battalion, 3rd reinforcements
18/09/1918 killed in action
buried in:     Jeancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France
                   Plot III, Row B, Grave 5

Relatives in service (cousins):
2nd Lieutenant Edward Lionel Austin Butler – 12th Australian Infantry Battalion
Father Edward Henry Butler and Fanny BUTLER, lived at Sandy Bay, Tasmania
02/08/1915 enlisted (32 years of age)
29/03/1916 embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard RMS Orontes
                   as a 2nd Lieutenant with 12th Infantry Battalion, 16th reinforcements
23/08/1916 Multiple shell wounds to legs, lost right leg, received in action - died of wounds
                   at Mouquet Farm, France
buried in:     Puchevillers British Cemetery, France
   Plot III, Row A, Grave 10

4922 2nd Lieutenant Colin Edmund Alleyne Chalmers – 52nd Infantry Battalion
23/08/1915 enlisted (33 years of age)
18/02/1916 embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A70 Ballarat
                   as a 2nd Lieutenant with 12th Infantry Battalion, 15th reinforcements
07/06/1917 killed in action, Messines, Belgium
buried in:     Derry House Cemetery No.2, Belgium
                   Plot I, Row B, Grave 22

Major John Willoughby Butler Bean – Australian Army Medical Corps
20/06/1914 enlisted (34 years of age) – b. 01/01/1881
20/10/1914 embarked Sydney, NSW onboard HMAT A14 Euripides
as Captain with 3rd Infantry Battalion, Headquarters
05/09/1915 promoted to Major
23/10/1918 Returned to Australia
30/04/1919 discharged from service
1969 passed away in St Leonards, NSW

Captain Charles Edwin Wodrow Bean (Official WWI Correspondent)
-- brother of Major John Willoughby Butler Bean --
28/09/1914 enlisted in 1st Division Headquarters
21/10/1914 embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A3 Oriveto
as Press Corresonpdent, 1st Australian Division, Headquarters
01/04/1919 Returned to Australia onboard HT Kildonian Castle
30/06/1919 discharged from service
January 1921 Bean married Ethel Clara Young
Worked as Official Historian, writing the Official History of Australia at War 1914-1918 at
Tuggeranong Homestead
30/08/1968 Passed away at the Concord Repat Hospital, Concord, NSW

59/546 Captain Arthur Mainwaring Maxwell, MID, DSO MC – 52nd Infantry Battalion
24/09/1914    enlisted in Sydney, NSW (26 years of age) – b. 8/6/1888 Hobart, TAS
21/12/1914    embarked Sydney, NSW onboard HMAT A29 Suevic
       as a Corporal with 6th Light Horse Regiment, A Squadron
09/05/1915    proceeded to Gallipoli
20/05/1915    promoted to Corporal – 3rd Light Horse Regiment
14/03/1916    taken on strength 52nd Infantry Battalion
17/03/1916    promoted to 2nd Lieutenant 52nd Infantry Battalion
17/06/1916    promoted to Lieutenant
14/11/1916    Awarded MILITARY CROSS
18/04/1917    promoted to Captain 52nd Infantry Battalion
25/08/1917    Awarded DSO
28/12/1917    Awarded MID – London Gazette
16/05/1918    taken on strength to 51st Infantry Battalion
25/05/1918    attached to 12th Inf Brigade, HQ
19/08/1918    attached to 1st Div, HQ
16/06/1919    Returned to Australia onboard HT Ormonde
11/07/1919    Awarded MID – London Gazette
Married:        Marion Grey Wemyss Maxwell (d. 4/11/1970)
Children:       Sally, Meg and Bill Maxwell
17/06/1966    passed away
Cremated –   St Simon and St Judes Cemetery, Bowral NSW
                    Columbarium 1 section

447 Captain Duncan Struan Maxwell MC – 51st Infantry Battalion
-- brother of Captain Arthur Mainwaring Maxwell --
19/08/1914 enlisted (22 years of age) - b. 08/01/1892
20/10/1914 embarked Tasmania onboard HMAT A2 Geelong
as a Private with 3rd Light Horse Regiment, C Squadron
09/05/1915 proceeded to Gallipoli, ANZAC
03/12/1915 promoted to Lance Corporal – 3rd Light Horse Regiment
17/03/1916 promoted to 2nd Lieutenant – 52nd Infantry Battalion
17/06/1916 promoted to Lieutenant
14/11/1916 Awarded MILITARY CROSS – London Gazette
01/04/1917 taken on strength 4th Div, HQ
21/06/1917 promoted to Captain – 52nd Infantry Battalion
16/05/1918 transferred to 51st Infantry Battalion
31/07/1918 Returned to Australia onboard HT D17 Malta
02/12/1919 discharged from service

1921 Bachelor of Medicine – University of Sydney, NSW

Interwar Service
09/07/1927 Captain – Reserve of Officers
14/08/1939 Major – Reserve of Officers – 56th Infantry Battalion
25/11/1939 Commanding Officer – 56th Infantry Battalion

Married: Marion Wistie Sly (b.30/06/1888 Torrington Rd, Strathfield, NSW)
Marion's parents - Richard Meares Sly and Constance Adelaide Sly (nee Mullens)
25/03/1969 Marion passed away in Sydney, New South Wales

WWII - NX12610 Brigadier Duncan Struan Maxwell MC - 27th Inf Brigade, HQ
01/06/1940 re-enlisted into WWII at Cootamundra, NSW (48 yrs 5mths)
01/07/1940 promoted to Lte-Colonel - 2/19th Infantry Battalion
26/07/1940 taken on strength 2/19th Infantry Battalion
03/02/1941 embarked HMT Queen Mary
18/02/1941 disembarked into Singapore
01/08/1941 promoted to Brigadier – HQ AIF Malaya
01/08/1941 appointed to Command 27th Australian Infantry Brigade
21/11/1941   promoted to Colonel
15/02/1942 taken POW – Singapore Island
18/03/1942   admitted to Australian General Hospital
28/11/1942   embarked Singapore for Japan
28/04/1943   POW – Taiwan Camp
14/10/1944   POW – now interned in Hoten Camp, China
27/09/1945   Returned to Australia – Brigadier 27th Inf Brigade, HQ
03/09/1946 discharged from service
04/09/1946 Retired – honourary Brigadier

21/12/1969 passed away in Chatswood, NSW

Submitted by Julianne T Ryan. 06/03/2017. Lest we forget.

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