The AIF Project

Herbert John Charles BURBIDGE

Regimental number411
Date of birth13 May 1887
Place of birthSingapore
Age on arrival in Australia23
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationClerk
Addressc/o Mr John Curtin, Dunn Street, Semaphore, South Australia
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation29
Height5' 8.5"
Weight138 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs Margaret Agatha Burbidge, Light Street, Exeter, South Australia
Previous military serviceServed for 4 years in the King Edward's Horse, Territorial Force, London, England.
Enlistment date12 July 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll28 June 1915
Place of enlistmentKeswick, South Australia
Rank on enlistmentCorporal
Unit name32nd Battalion, B Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/49/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A2 Geelong on 18 November 1915
The 32nd Bn (Headquarters, Signallers, A, B, C, and D Companies) embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on two ships, HMAT A2 'Geelong', on 18 November 1915, and HMAT A13 'Katuna', on 24 November 1915. The Embarkation Roll does not distinguish between these ships, and it is therefore not possible from the Embarkation Roll to ascertain on which ship an individual embarked.
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll32nd Battalion
FateKilled in Action 20 July 1916
Place of death or woundingFrance
Age at death28
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsV.C. Corner (Panel No 4), Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
120
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 73459 Pte Eric Malcolm BURBIDGE, 2nd Bn, Durham Light Infantry, killed in action, 24 September 1918; 56 Pte Maurice Norman BURBIDGE, 32nd Bn, died of influenza, England, 25 February 1919.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Disembarked Suez, ex-HMAT 'Geelong', 18 December 1915.

Found guilty, 19 December 1915, of neglect of duty: reprimanded.

Admitted to No 15 Field Ambulance, Ferry Post, 15 May 1916 (influenza); discharged to unit, 18 May 1916; rejoined 32nd Bn, Moascar, 20 May 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 17 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 23 June 1916.

Posted missing, 20 July 1916.

Posted as missing for 3 months and struck off strength, 20 October 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 12 August 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in Action, 20 July 1916'.

Note on Red Cross File No 621205: 'No trace Germany. Cert. by Capt. Mills, 10.10.19.'

Statement, Red Cross File No 621205, 344A Pte R.C. HARRINGTON, 27th Bn (ex-32nd Bn) (patient, War Hospital, Dunston, Northants, England), 13 February 1917: 'Burbridge was killed at Fleurbaix on the 19th July. He is buried in the cemetery at Fleurbaix. I have seen his grave.'

Second statement, 665 Pte G. ADAMSON, 32nd Bn (patient, 3rd Southern General Hospital, Cowley Section, Oxford, England), 29 May 1917: 'I saw Sgt. Burbidge ... hit by something just as we were going over the parapet at Fleurbaix. on July 19th. He was right on top of the parapet, and he fell down the other side into a hole in No Mans (sic) Land. We went straight on and left him. I enquired for him after the attack was over, and reported what I had seen. I do not think he was ever found.'

Third statement, 665 Pte G.M. ADAMSON, 32nd Bn, 29 July 1917: 'On the night of July 19th 1916 I was next to No. 411 Sgt Burbidge[,] we were getting over the parapet of our own trench proceeding to attack a German trench in front. I saw Sgt. Burbidge hit by something which appeared to strike him about the neck. He immediately fell. As far as I know nothing further was heard about this N.C.O.'

Fourth statement, 1280 Pte R. HARBORT, 32nd Bn, 7 April 1919: 'We advanced at Fleurbaix on the night of the 19th, but had to withdraw on the morning of the 20th. During the withdrawal witness saw Burbidge's body in "No Man's Land". On going right up to him he noticed he had been hit in the chest. He was lying on his back with a peaceful look on his face and it would appear he was killed outright. They were being pressed at the time and could not pick up the body. They subsequently held their original front line and some of the bodies were picked up by the Pioneers from "No Man's Land", but Witness could not say whether Burbidge's body was recovered.'

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsSurname incorrectly entered on Embarkation Roll as BURBRIDGE; place of birth stated to be London, England.
SourcesNAA: B2455, BURBIDGE Herbert John Charles
Red Cross file 0621205

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