John Arthur Butcher

John Arthur Butcher

Personal Information
Date of Birth	c1895
Place of Birth	West Perth, Western Australia
Death	4 Aug 1979, aged 84
Place of Death	Bassendean, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	20 years, 8 months
Description	5'8¾" (1.75m) tall ; 126 lbs 57.153 kg ; dark complexion ; brown eyes ; black hair
Occupation	Bush carpenter
Religion	Church of Christ
Address	NOK Maida Vale, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father , Mr John Robert Butcher
Military Information
Reg Number	5062
Date of Enlistment	10 Jan 1916
Rank	Driver
Unit/Formation	16th Battalion, 16th Reinforcement transferred to the Imperial Camel Corps and later to 2nd Field Squadron Engineers
Date of Embarkation	31 Mar 1916 ‒ 24 Apr 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A9 Shropshire Fremantle to Egypt
Date of Return	26 Jul 1919 ‒ 22 Aug 1919
Ship Returned On	HMT Burma
Fate	Returned to Australia
Monument	Kelmscott Congregational Church Honour Board
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

After about 10 weeks of basic training in the 42nd Depot Company at Blackboy Hill camp, John was allocated to the 16th reinforcement draft for the 16th Battalion and travelled with them to Egypt, where on 24 Apr 1916 he entered the 4th Training Battalion.

On 5 May 1916 he was transferred to the 4th (Anzac) Battalion of the Imperial Camel Corps at Tel-el-Kebir, and a fortnight later he was allocated to their 2nd Company, and embarked in Alexandria for El Salloum on the western border of Egypt where his unit were dealing with pro Turkish Senussi tribesmen. In late 1916 they were transferred to operations in the Sinai Desert. John remained with them until 17 Jun 1918 when he returned to Moascar and in July joined the Central Training Depot before being re-assigned to the Engineers 2nd Field Squadron.

He spent a week with the Engineer's training unit from 17 - 23 Jul 1918 before joining the 2nd Field Squadron proper on 25 Jul 1918 at Jericho where it was repairing bridges and constructing defensive positions. On 3 Sep 1918 he was appointed a Driver, before a short stay in hospital with malaria from 10 - 18 Oct 1918.

Back in Australia his only blemish was an AWOL charge from 10:30pm on 20 Sep 1919 until 10:30 pm 21 Sep 1919, for which he forfeited a day's pay. Discharged by 5th Military District on 12 Aug 1919.

Post War

During 1922 John married Annie Elizabeth Winch. Annie died on 1 Oct 1968 in Bassendean.

Electoral Roll entries - 1921 - 1977 at 51 Ida street West Guildford, trainee carpenter and then from 1925 a joiner

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial