Aubrey Turner

Aubrey Turner

Personal Information
Date of Birth	not known "not known" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Place of Birth	Barraba, New South Wales
Death	unknown "unknown" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Place of Death	unknown
Age at Enlistment	26 years, 11 months
Description	5'8¼" (1.m) tall ; 131 lbs 59.421 kg ; fresh complexion ; brown eyes ; black hair
Occupation	Sleeper cutter
Religion	Church of England
Address	c/- Singleton, Wellington street, Northam, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs Elizabeth Turner
Military Information
Reg Number	8071
Date of Enlistment	24 Jul 1916
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	16th Battalion, 27th Reinforcement / 4th Brigade, 4th Division
Date of Embarkation	23 Nov 1917 ‒ 21 Dec 1917
Ship Embarked On	SS Canberra Port Said
Date of Embarkation	9 Jan 1918 ‒ 30 Jan 1918
Ship Embarked On	SS Kashgar via Taranto Italy
Date of Return	1 May 1919 ‒ 1 Jun 1919
Ship Returned On	SS China
Fate	Returned to Australia
Monument	Jarrahdale Honour Roll ANZAC Memorial Park (Byford)
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

Entered Blackboy Hill camp on 24 Jul 1916 and on 1 Aug 1916 he was allocated to the 6th reinforcement draft for the 44th Battalion, which was changed on 4 Sep 1916 to the 5th draft for the 44th Battalion, before being sent to the Rockingham camp from 24 Oct 1916 until 20 Feb 1917. From there he was transferred to the Details Camp at Karrakatta until 1 Mar 1917 when he was reallocated to the 25th draft for the 11th Battalion. On 7 Apr 1917 he was declared to be AWOL and a warrant issued for his arrest on the 17th. On 30 Jun 1917 he was declared to be a deserter and again a warrant was issued for his arrest on 29 Jun 1917. The warrant was cancelled after his arrest by Military Police on 5 Jul 1917. Returned to the Rockingham Camp on 6 Jul 1917 where he remained until 10 Aug 1917. After a period back with the Details Camp, he was made a member of the 11th reinforcement draft for the 51st Battalion. However, on 5 Oct 1917 a warrant for his arrest was again issued, and cancelled on 27 Oct 1917 after his arrest, this time by civil police.

On 22 Nov 1917 he embarked on the SS Canberra which sailed two days later for Southampton. However, Aubrey was transshipped in Port Said, arriving in England on 30 Jan 1918. On his arrival in England, Aubrey was sent to the 12th Training Battalion at Codford where he first had to answer for his misdemeanors during the trip - Charged with 'Being out of Bounds in that he was seen in the streets of Colombo about 3:00pm on 6 Dec 1917.' Found guilty he was awarded 14 days Field Punishment No. 2.

Training completed, he proceeded overseas to France on 15 Apr 1918, and was taken on strength by the 16th Battalion on 30 Apr 1918 which at the time was in the front line near Villers-Bretonneux. Out of the line on 15 Jul 1918, 50 soldiers were granted leave to visit adjacent towns for the day. However, Aubrey did not return promptly and was charged with being AWOL from 9:00pm on 15 Jul 1918 until 7:00pm on the 19th. Total cost to him was 14 day's pay. He was again AWOL in October 1918 and awarded 16 day's loss of pay. On 2 Nov 1918 he reported to the 4th Field Ambulance with influenza, and was admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Abbeville with trench fever the same day.

Transferred to the UK on 8 Nov 1918 aboard HMHS Grantully Castle, he was admitted to the 4th Southern General Hospital in Plymouth, which on his release granted him furlough from 13 Dec 1918 until 28 Dec 1918, when he was to report to Hurdcott. He did not do this as he was again AWOL, this time from 10:00am on 28 Dec 1918 until 9:30am on 1 Jan 1919. His penalty was the loss of 20 day's pay. Not content, he went AWOL again, this time from 10:00am 3 Jan 1919 until 2:30pm on 19 Jan 1919. Found guilty, he was sentenced to 20 days in detention, to be served in the Lewes Detention Barracks. Admitted to detention on 22 Jan 1919, he had part of his sentence remitted, being released on 15 Feb 1919. On 18 Feb 1919 he was admitted to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital at Codford, before being discharged on 20 Feb 1919. One last AWOL charge was laid against him in Mar 1919 at Sutton Veny when he was absent from 7 - 12 Mar 1919, and as a result was docked 10 day's pay.

Sent back to Australia, he was discharged by the 5th Military District on 16 Jun 1919.

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial