Burns, Robert

1945 Private Robert Burns – 33rd Battalion AIF

Robert Burns was born in Belfast Ireland in 1887 to Mr. and Mrs. James Burns. He was educated in Belfast and after leaving school he claimed he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1900 as a 13 year old. He stated on his enlistment form that he served with the RGA for 12 years, until the 3^rd February 1912 when he was discharged as ‘time expired’ and was therefore released from service. It appears that after he was released from the RGA he travelled to Western Australia and took up residence with his parents who were living at 12 Essex Street Fremantle.

Robert soon left WA to seek employment elsewhere and it was in Newcastle NSW on the 10^th March 1916 that he enlisted in the AIF. He was given a medical examination and passed as fit for service with the medical officer recording his physical attributes as;

Height:                                     5 feet 8 & ¾ inches;

Weight:                                    151lbs;

Chest Measurement:               34-36 inches;

Complexion:                            Fair;

Eyes:                                       Blue;

Hair:                                        Brown;

Religious Denomination:         Church of England;

Distinctive Marks:                    Scar on left thigh & tattoo of flying fox on chest.

After his successful enlistment Robert was sent to Rutherford Camp where he was initially assigned to the 36^th Battalion with the regimental number 949. However it appears that he was withdrawn from the original 36^th Battalion and instead assigned to the 2^nd Reinforcements to the 36^th Battalion with the regimental number 1945. This group embarked from Sydney aboard the HMAT Port Sydney on the 4^th September 1916 and set sail for England, berthing at Plymouth on the 29^th October 1916. The men were then marched into the 9^th Training Battalion on the Salisbury Plains. On the 6^th November 1916 Robert spent a short time absent without leave but seems to have escaped punishment. This occurred again on the 20^th December 1916 but this time Robert went AWOL for twelve days. Any punishment he faced is not listed in the records. On the 4^th January 1917 Robert was based at No.1 Command Depot and from there went to Tidworth hospital with an undisclosed ailment. On the 11^th January 1917 he had returned to the 9^th Training Battalion. He again appears to have gone absent on the 2^nd February, though again no punishment was listed. It seems that military service did not agree with Robert as on the 20^th February he again went AWOL for a day and repeated this on the 25^th February. Finally the military had enough of Robert’s behaviour and he was given 14 days of Field Punishment No.2 and had to forfeit 4 days pay. The commanding officer of the 9^th Training Battalion would have been happy to see the back of him and on the 28^th February Robert arrived in Etaples France and was marched into the 3^rd Australian Division Base Depot. On the 4^th March 1917 Robert was taken on strength of the 36^th Battalion.

On the 20^th May 1917 after he had moved with his battalion to the Messines front, Robert reported sick and spent a day in hospital, returning to the 36^th Battalion the following day. The 36^th Battalion was now preparing to take part in the Messines offensive but Robert wanting to avoid this action, slipped away from his unit on the 6^th June and hung around the rear until he was arrested at Nieppe on the 11^th June. He was placed under arrest but on the 21^st June he was being escorted under guard to his unit in the front line when he escaped from his guard. He was soon recaptured but on the 10^th July while being escorted through Boulogne by a guard he escaped once again. Though Robert did not want to be a serving soldier he was clever enough to escape confinement for on the 22^nd July he again absconded, this time from a prison cell at Neuve Eglise. Robert made it all the way to Calais but was finally arrested by Military Police on the 29^th July. A court martial was hastily arranged and was presided over by Lt-Colonel Goddard of the 35^th Battalion. Robert was charged on three counts of desertion and absent without leave. Fortunately for Robert he was found not guilty of desertion but faced three charges of absenting himself from his unit without leave. Due to his repeated infractions Robert was sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour. This sentence was confirmed by Brigadier General Rosenthal on the 4^th September 1917.

Robert was sent to No.7 Military Prison at Vendroux France to complete his sentence. Being under guard did not stop Robert from trying to escape. While in a working party at Dunkirk on the 17^th January 1918 Robert slipped away from the Royal Naval Service guard and was only recaptured on the 12^th February. Over the next six months Robert had a few bouts of illness in Prison but he did not escape again. On the 10^th July 1918 he was transferred to No.10 Military Prison, where he was imprisoned for the remainder of the war. Robert was released from Military Prison on the 29^th January 1919 and the following day was taken on strength of the 33^rd Battalion. The next few months were free from trouble but on the 9^th April Robert again went AWOL, and though he returned the following day he was punished with seven days of Field Punishment No.2.

On the 17^th April 1919 Robert returned to England though he did not report to the base depot as ordered but had stolen another soldier’s leave pass. He was apprehended on the 12^th May and as a punishment was given 27 days of prison at Lewes detention barracks. On the 16^th June 1919 he was released and sent to No.3 Command Depot. On the 8^th July Robert was put aboard the ship Friedrichsruh and returned to Australia. The ship berthed at Adelaide on the 30^th August 1919 and no surprise that Robert left the ship without permission and was once again declared as absent without leave. He reported back on the 1^st September and was arrested. He was then embarked aboard the H.T. Delta and returned to Sydney. No doubt the AIF were glad to see the back of Robert and discharged him on the 19^th September 1919.

However the release from military service did not improve Robert’s behaviour. On the 26^th May 1920 the State Crown Solicitors Office in NSW wrote to AIF HQ in Melbourne;

“I should be glad if you will forward to me the military history and court martial papers for Private No.1945 Robert Burns 33^rd Battalion. Burns is now awaiting trial on a charge of false pretences and I understand that his military history is a bad one.”

Burns was fortunate in this instance as his conviction was quashed, however in 1923 he was arrested again for stealing a roll of serge and this time he was sentenced to six months hard labour. Further convictions followed in Queensland and NSW and in 1926 Robert wrote to the AIF HQ from prison in NSW requesting that he be sent another copy of his discharge papers as his originals had been lost in a bushfire at Wongan Prickly Pear Camp NSW while he was employed there on a returned soldier settlement scheme. In 1941 he again wrote for another copy of his discharge papers from Liverpool Hospital. This was granted but when another copy was requested in 1943, the Army headquarters refused.