Burton, William Edwin

180 Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant William Edwin Burton - 10th Light Horse Regiment

William Edwin Burton was born in Strathalbyn South Australia on the 2nd December 1884 to Walter and Martha Burton. He was one of six siblings born into the family.

William was educated in South Australia and had his early years there. After leaving school he did further study in the Veterinary field. He moved to WA in 1912.

In 1914 in Fremantle William married Sarah Braden. They would have a son called John Gillies Burton born in Fremantle in 1914.

Prior to the Great War William was working as a Veterinary Surgeon and living with his wife at 119 Attfield Street Fremantle. (later renumbered to 85 Attfield). They also lived for a time in Mandurah Road South Fremantle.

On the 26th October 1914 William enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was passed as fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;

Height - 6 feet 1 inch tall;

Weight - 14 stone 3;

Chest Measurement - 39-41 inches;

Complexion - Fresh,

Eyes - Hazel;

Hair - Fair.

Upon his successful enlistment, William was sent to Guildford Camp and assigned to "A" Squadron of the 10th Light Horse Regiment with the service number 180. He was given the rank of Farrier Sergeant. His job was to look after the horses of the Regiment.

William saw further training with the 10^th Light Horse trained through Guildford, Claremont and Rockingham Camps. The orders to embark eventually came through and on the 8^th February 1915 William boarded the transport ship HMAT “Mashobra” in Fremantle Harbour, with the ship setting off for the journey to Egypt.

Arriving in Egypt in March 1915, the 10^th Light Horse were sent to the recently vacated infantry lines at Mena near Cairo where they were soon joined by the 8^th & 9^th Light Horse Regiments and so formed the full complement of the Third Light Horse Brigade. Training occurred for the Light Horse through March and April 1915 and soon word came back about the Australian and New Zealand Infantry landing at Anzac Cove. Wounded soldiers brought back the tales of the campaign and no doubt the Light Horse was eager to be done training to have a crack at the Turk.

In May 1915, the Light Horse Regiments were sent to the Gallipoli battlefield, minus their horses, as they would go into the lines as infantry. The majority of the 10^th Light Horse sailed for the Dardanelles, reaching there on the 19^th May. However William, being the farrier Sergeant, was one of those allotted to remain behind in Egypt. Some members of the transport section stowed away to Gallipoli, but when discovered they were soon returned.

It appears that William spent the 1915 Gallipoli campaign in Egypt looking after the unit's horses. It does not appear that he went to Gallipoli.

The 10th Light Horse Regiment returned to Egypt in January 1916 and William would have noticed a much changed Regiment to what had left Egypt in May 1915.

William continued his Farrier work for the 10th Light Horse Regiment through 1916. The harsh conditions of the Egyptian desert would have made his job a very busy one in keeping up the health of the horses.

William had a few bouts of illness through 1916 to 1918 but helped keep up the health of the horses. William would have seen action at Romani and Maghdaba in 1916, and Rafa, Gaza, Beersheba and Jerusalem in 1917, then through to Jericho, the Jordan Valley, Es Salt and Damascus in 1918.

The most persistent illness William had was Malaria which he was first hospitalised for in 1917. It would be a recurrent illness for him for the remainder of the war.

William applied for some Non Military employment early in 1919. He was sent to England aboard the transport ship Malwa an upon arrival he took up employment with a Veterinarian Surgeon Dr Williams and Chippenham Wiltshire.

On the 30th October 1919 William left England aboard the transport ship Wahehe and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 6th December 1919.

After arriving home William continued with his Veterinary practice at 48 Mandurah Road South Fremantle. In the early 1920's they then moved to 24 Lilly Street Fremantle (later renumbered to 12 Lilly).

In the Supreme Court today former Fremantle veterinary surgeon William Edward Burton claimed general damages and £1142/7/9 special damages from the Commonwealth in respect of a road accident in 1942.

Burton claims damages for negligence. Commonwealth denies liability, It is contesting the claim. Case was not brought on earlier because Burton had not been well enough to attend court, said his counsel, Mr. C. B. Gibson. Dr MacKellar-Hall said he had been attending Burton for some time.

Burton came to him suffering from a compound fracture of the right forearm, fractured right elbow, fractured right shoulder and six fractured ribs. All the fractures had how been overcome, but Burton had limited use of the wrist and shoulder, and still had pain in these areas. 
The elbow was operated on 11 months after the accident. 
LOST GRIP
Burton had lost the power of his grip in the right hand. All these disabilities were approximately permanent. Loss of use to his right arm was approximately 50 per cent.
Middle-aged William Edward Burton, of 68 Hampton Road, Fremantle said that about 8.30 p.m. on December 2, 1942, he was driving his car from Naval Base to Fremantle. His car was fitted with regulation masked headlamps, which were lighted. He was travelling at not more than 25 miles an hour on his correct side of the road. Passing the Naval Base camp, he saw some large military trucks approaching. They had no headlights burning. 'When we were about 15 yards apart they put on their headlights, but only one on their right-hand side,' Burton said.
'BLINDED ME'
'It blinded me. There was a crash. I was semiconscious after the crash.'
Before the collision his car was worth £200, Burton said. After the crash it was not worth having done up. The police gave it to a car wrecker.
Apart from medical, hospital and chemist's expenses, he had lost through the accident a suit, which had had to be cut off him, the car, his false, teeth and glasses, and a quantity of veterinary tools which had disappeared from the car after the smash.
Although he had given up veterinary work, he still did cases occasionally for friends. Before the smash he had been working as a tally clerk on the Fremantle wharf.
Burton told Mr. Durack, K.C. (for the Commonwealth) that he had had two drinks that day. The convoy of military trucks was travelling along the road on the way from Claremont station to Rockingham, said Mr. Durack, K.C, opening the case for the Commonwealth.
Trucks were moving at the regulation speed of 20 miles an hour, with 50 yards between each vehicle. The trucks were American style left-hand drive. 
Commonwealth claimed that the car was travelling in an erratic fashion, moving to the centre of the road, and back again, he said.
 
 
William Burton died in Fremantle in 1958 aged 74. He was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery plot Anglican ZK 0233

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