BURCHELL, Frederick Vernon
| Service Number: | 888 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 October 1916, Sydney, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | No. 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps |
| Born: | Adelaide, SA, 2 September 1892 |
| Home Town: | Beachport, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Mount Gambier High School |
| Occupation: | Wireless Operator |
| Died: | Tuberculosis, Myrtle Bank, SA, 25 June 1927, aged 34 years |
| Cemetery: |
West Terrace Cemetery (AIF Section) Section: LO, Road: 4N, Site No: 7 |
| Memorials: | Beachport Public School Old Scholars Honour Roll, Beachport WW1 & WW2 Memorial Rotunda, Hackney St Peter's College Honour Board, Mount Gambier High School Great War Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Oct 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 888, Sydney, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Jan 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 888, No. 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Omrah embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 17 Jan 1917: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 888, No. 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, RMS Omrah, Melbourne |
Help us honour Frederick Vernon Burchell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Graeme Roulstone
888 Frederick Vernon BURCHELL was born in Adelaide on 2 September 1892. He had attended primary school at Kingston but on 5 August 1908 was enrolled at Mount Gambier High School by his father, Frederic Neuman Burchell, a civil engineer, of Kingston. He left school on 23 December 1909.
He enlisted in Sydney (where he had gone to complete his studies in wireless) on 5 October 1916 (24, wireless engineer, single, Church of England) naming his father, Frederick Newman Burchell of Beachport, South Australia, as his next of kin. He embarked from Melbourne on the ‘Omrah’ on 17 January 1917 attached to the 4th Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC). He disembarked at Plymouth on 27 March 1917 and was marched into the AFC Depot at Perham Downs. On 2 April he was transferred to the 71st Squadron AFC and from 16 April to 24 June 1917 he was completing a course of instruction at Wireless School in South Farnborough. On 1 July he was appointed to the 61st Squadron.
He was posted overseas to France on 8 March 1918 and transferred to the 3rd Squadron AFC on 14 March 1918 After the war ended he was discharged from the AIF in London on 13 February 1919 to take up a position as staff engineer at the Wandsworth Electrical Manufacturing Company, Birmingham (his uncle’s company). Following this he travelled independently, married during his travels, and returned to Beachport with a wife on Friday 1 August 1919.
Published in Ours: the origins and early years of Mount Gambier High School and Old Scholars who served in the Great European War by Graeme Roulstone
Biography contributed by Sharyn Roberts
Son of Frederick Newman BURCHELL and Alice Jane nee CRAMPTON
Of Beachport, SA
Discharged in England
Married Elizabeth PATERSON in Durban South Africa
Returned to Australia with wife and had 2 sons
Click images to start slideshow.