Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Born at Ballarat, Victoria on 12 August 1884, Norman Buley was the son of Arthur Alfred and Laura Adeline (nee Osborne) Buley

His father was a Schoolmaster at Ballarat 1903 to 1909 and Electoral Rolls record him as a teacher in the years 1912 thru 1931. He was also an Officer in the 3rd Battalion Infantry from September 1885 and was promoted to Captain in April 1895, a rank he held until transferred to the Retired List in September 1907

Norm attended the School of Mines int Ballarat

The 1914 / 1915 Electoral Rolls record Norman Buley, Mining Engineer, living at The Avenue Malvern East, Victoria, with his parents

Norm signed his Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad on 8 February 1916, although records show he had been appointed a 2nd Lieutenant in the Mining Corps on 11 December 1915

He stated he was born at Ballarat and was a Mining Engineer and Surveyor by occupation. He recorded 10 years as a Volunteer Cadet in Victoria and one year as a Provisional Lieutenant at Waratah, Tasmania as his previous military service

At a civic parade in the Domain, Sydney on Saturday February 19, 1916, a large crowd of relations and friends of the departing Miners lined the four sides of the parade ground. Sixty police and 100 Garrison Military Police were on hand to keep the crowds within bounds. The scene was an inspiriting one. On the extreme right flank, facing the saluting base, were companies of the Rifle Club School; next came a detachment of the 4th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, then the bands of the Light Horse, Liverpool Depot, and the Miners’ on the left, rank upon rank, the Miners’ Battalion.

Following the farewell parade in the Domain, Sydney, the Australian Mining Corps embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on 20 February 1916 on board HMAT A38 Ulysses

The Mining Corps comprised 1303 members at the time they embarked with a Headquarters of 40; No.1 Company – 390; No.2 Company – 380; No.3 Company – 392, and 101 members of the 1st Reinforcements

Ulysses arrived in Melbourne, Victoria on 22 February and the Miners were camped at Broadmeadows while additional stores and equipment were loaded onto Ulysses. Another parade was held at the Broadmeadows camp on March 1, the Miners’ Corps being inspected by the Governor-General, as Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth military forces

Departing Melbourne on 1 March, Ulysses sailed to Fremantle, Western Australia where a further 53 members of the Corps were embarked. The ship hit a reef when leaving Fremantle harbour, stripping the plates for 40 feet and, although there was a gap in the outside plate, the inner bilge plates were not punctured. The men on board nicknamed her ‘Useless’. The Miners were off-loaded and sent to the Blackboy Hill Camp where further training was conducted. After a delay of about a month for repairs, The Mining Corps sailed for the European Theatre on 1 April 1916.

The ship arrived at Suez, Egypt on 22 April, departing for Port Said the next day; then on to Alexandria

The Captain of the ship was reluctant to take Ulysses out of the Suez Canal because he felt the weight of the ship made it impossible to manoeuvre in the situation of a submarine attack. The Mining Corps was transhipped to B1 Ansonia for the final legs to Marseilles, France via Valetta, Malta. Arriving at Marseilles on 5 May, most of the men entrained for Hazebrouck where they arrived to set up their first camp on 8 May 1916

A ‘Mining Corps’ did not fit in the British Expeditionary Force, and the Corps was disbanded and three Australian Tunnelling Companies were formed. The Technical Staff of the Corps Headquarters, plus some technically qualified men from the individual companies, was formed into the entirely new Australian Electrical and Mechanical Mining and Boring Company (AEMMBC), better known as the ‘Alphabetical Company’

3ATC End-of-War Report records that at Embarkation No.4 Section was commanded by Lt B. Priestman, 2/Lt G.T. Crawshaw and 2/Lt N. Buley. From 17 to 26 July 1916 he attended a Mine Rescue course conducted by the Company. On 26 September 1916 he was transferred to No.1 Section

On 14 November he reported sick and was admitted to hospital, re-joining his unit on 1 December 1916 and on 2 February 1917 was promoted to Lieutenant

He again reported sick on 23 February 1917 and was admitted to No.50 Field Ambulance with German measles. On 24 February he was transferred to the 7th Stationary Hospital at St Omer and admitted with a mild case of German measles. Discharged to duty on 7 March, he re-joined his unit in the Field the next day and during that month undertook Proto (Mine Rescue) re-training

On 17 December 1917, Lieut N. Buley was transferred from No.1 Section to No.2 Section, and on 15 January 1918 he was transferred from No.2 Section to Headquarters

He reported sick on 1 June 1918 and admitted to 34th Field Ambulance with ‘not-yet-diagnosed’ mental problems. He was transferred to the 6th Casualty Clearing Station the same day and then by Ambulance Train 24 to the 32nd Stationary Hospital at Wimereux on 3 June

He was transferred to England on 9 June with exhaustion and admitted to the Special Hospital for Officers at 10 Palace Green, Kensington

On 1 August 1918 the Special Hospital for Officers advised that special mental accommodation and attendance would not be necessary for his voyage to Australia

Norman embarked for return to Australia on 24 August on board the City of Karachi. On 30 August he was struck off strength of 3ATC

On 24 October 1918 his Next-of-Kins’ address was amended to 48 Hawkesburn Road, Hawkesburn, Victoria

Disembarking at Melbourne on 24 October 1918, his appointment as an officer in the A.I.F. was terminated on 22 November 1918

For two years, 1919-20, Norm led a Returned Soldiers' exploration and prospecting expedition in the Northern Territory, accompanied by Charles Widdy (later of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate)

THE TERRIORITY, DARWIN'S MIXED RACES, AN INVERELLITES IMPRESSIONS:
Mr. E. E. Singleton, who is a member of the Government prospecting party in the Northern Territory, writes from Pine Creek to the Editor: — 'We had a splendid trip up on the Montora, Mr. Norman Buley was waiting for us with a motor car at the pier when we arrived at Darwin, and took us all to the Victoria State Hotel
…….
Mr. Buley, the Geologist and Superintendent took two men and a black boy and pushed on with riding and pack horses to the head of the Katherine, and will come back by the Alligator, and Mary Rivers

Norm was placed on the Retired List, Reserve of Officers (Engineers), on 1 October 1920. The 1922 Electoral Roll records Norman Buley, Engineer, living at ‘Rhepwick’, Wattletree Road Malvern East, Victoria, with his parents and sister Mary Frances Buley. On 24 August 1923 his father signed as receiving Normans’ British War Medal and Victory Medal

In 1925 at the first meeting of the Tunnellers Old Comrades Association in England, Norman Buley is recorded as ‘Living - working at Golden Gate Consolidated N. L., Mathinna, Tas’

In November 1926 he was an applicant for a temporary employment with the Commonwealth Public Service and in December his service history was provided to the Commonwealth Public Service Inspector, Adelaide, South Australia

The 1930 Electoral Roll records Norman Buley, Engineer, living at Captain’s Flat, Queanbeyan, NSW

The 1931 Electoral Roll records Norman Buley, Surveyor, living at Monarch Gold Mine, Omeo Road, Harrietville, Victoria

In September 1932 his medical and service records were provided to the Repatriation Commission, Melbourne, Victoria

The 1934/1936/1937 Electoral Rolls record Norman Buley, Engineer, living at 3 Erica Avenue, Gardiner, Victoria, with his mother

The 1942 Electoral Roll records Norman Buley, Draughtsman, living at Tatura, Victoria

The 1943 Electoral Roll records Norman Buley, Mining Engineer, living at Dittman, outside Proserpine, Queensland

Norman Buley died at Tatura, Victoria aged 60 years

He was buried with his parents at St Kilda Cemetery, Melbourne, Victoria, at Presbyterian, Compartment C, Grave 291