Burdon, Henry

No.3284 – Private Henry Ernest Burdon – 11^th Battalion AIF

Henry Ernest Burdon was born in Sturt South Australia in 1891 to Henry and Susannah Burdon. He was one of 13 siblings, though only he and his sister Susie were born in South Australia. The family moved to Western Australia soon after Henry’s birth and initially took up residence in Fremantle. Six more children were born in Fremantle from 1896 to 1903 and Henry attended Fremantle Boys School though later transferred to Midland Junction central school when the family moved to Bellevue. After the family moved to Bellevue Henry’s final five siblings were born between 1904 and 1914. After leaving school he took up work as a Telegraph Linesman and a General Labourer. In 1914 he was working in Wickepin as a Horse Driver.

On the 5^th August 1915, Henry offered his services to the AIF and was given a medical examination in Perth. He was found to be 5 feet & 9 ½ inches in height; weight of 148 lbs; chest measurement of 34-38 inches; dark complexion; grey eyes and dark brown hair. His religious denomination was Church of England.

On the 9^th August 1915 Henry was allotted to No.21 Depot and stayed there till the 27^th September 1915 when he was allotted to the 11^th Reinforcements to the 11^th Battalion AIF. This group trained in Western Australia for the next few months and embarked from Fremantle on the H.M.A.T. “Ulysses” on the 2^nd November 1915. After Henry arrived in Egypt his group was not sent on to Gallipoli to join the 11^th as plans were afoot to evacuate Gallipoli, therefore he was sent to the 3^rd Training Battalion in Egypt.

The 11^th Battalion arrived back in Egypt in early January 1916, though for the time being Henry was kept in the reinforcement camp. With the large amount of reinforcements then in Egypt it was decided to expand the AIF from two divisions to five. The 11^th Battalion was split into two with one half going to form the 51^st Battalion. The 11^th Battalion had therefore lost half it’s number and reinforcements such as Henry were sent to fill the Battalion up to it’s full complement. Henry officially joined C Company of the 11^th battalion on the 2^nd March 1916. On the 29^th March 1916 Henry embarked from Alexandria with his battalion bound for France, arriving at Marseilles on the 6^th April 1916. The 11^th Battalion was sent to the region around Armentieres & Fleurbaix to gain experience of front-line conditions.

Though he had spent nearly four months in France, Henry’s first major trial was to be in the Battle of the Somme. This battle had started on the 1^st July 1916 though the Australian infantry only came involved on the 21^st July when the 1^st Division attacked and captured Pozieres village.

The 11^th Battalion took their objectives though casualties were immense. Henry survived the first few days of battle though on the 25^{th of} July was killed in action. A Private H.E. Jones later wrote that;

“I saw him first wounded in the head by a sniper, and afterwards hit and killed by shell after we had dressed his head. This was at Pozieres the last day of the first push. There were four of us together, three of whom were killed; the other two were Vincent and a man in “B”. He was not brought in and buried. He was completely buried with several others by a shell.”

Henry’s body could not be located after the war and he is therefore commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.