BURFORD, Eric Leon Carr
| Service Number: | 847 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Parkside, SA, 17 March 1895 |
| Home Town: | Unley, Unley, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Motor Driver |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Gilles Street Primary School WW1 Honour Roll (New), Unley Museum Honour Board, Unley Town Hall WW1 Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Apr 1915: | Involvement Private, 847, 9th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1915: | Embarked Private, 847, 9th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Port Lincoln, Adelaide | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 847, 9th Light Horse Regiment |
ALIAS
Appears in Police Gazettes for 1922, 1923, 1925 and 1932
Aliases of Leonard Eric BURFORD, Charles MURRAY, Clement NIMMO, Frank GASKIN, Eric DEAN and COLLINGWOOD
Submitted 28 January 2016 by Faithe Jones
Biography
Son of William Henville BURFORD and Alice Louisa nee CARR
Biography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
Eric Burford was born in Parkside Adelaide on March 17th 1895. He worked as a motorcar driver before enlisting with the army on the 20th of November 1914 when he was 20. Burford was given the service number 847.
He was set to serve as a private in the 9th Light Horse Regiment. He trained in Melbourne before embarking for Egypt.
He fought in the Gallipoli campaign and his first engagement was on August 7 at the battle of the Nek first as a reserve force but towards the end of the landing he was sent to the frontlines. His unit suffered almost 50 percent casualties including its commanding officer. Burford was wounded and sent to a hospital in Malta on the 21st of August.
He left the Gallipoli peninsula with his unit on the 20th of December that year. In march 1916 Burford aided in the defense of the Suez Canal from Ottoman invaders and their cavalry were vital in the pursuit of the fleeing Turks across the Sinai Desert.
Burford often found it difficult to comply with his superiors and was regularly disciplined for insubordination. On the 3rd of November he went AWL for 6 days. He was punished with losing 12 days of salary and given 144 hours of detention. Later he was given detention again for insolence to a warrant officer and refusing to comply with a direct order.
Three months after defending the Suez Canal he was fined for damage to barracks. The next year he used insulting language to a superior officer and was sentenced to 168 hours of detention. A week later he was fined 58 days pay for editing official documentation in order to increase their pay. The next year he lost a years worth of pay and was sentenced to 7 months detention and five months in prison for using false documentation, impersonating a corporal and assault.
After finishing his detention, he served in the invasion of Palestine and capturing of Gaza from late 1916 to the end of the war and was returned to Australia in early December 1918.
Not much is known about Burford after his time in the war.
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