BURT, Cecil Elijah Roy
| Service Number: | 22 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Division Cyclist Company |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Port Pirie Fathers of Sailors and Soldiers Association Port Pirie District Roll of Honor WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 18 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 22, 3rd Division Cyclist Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 22, 3rd Division Cyclist Company, HMAT Demosthenes, Sydney |
The Burt Brothers
William Arthur Burt and his younger brother Cecil Elijah Roy Burt were born to Elijah and Martha Amelia Burt (nee Mann) of 29 Three Chain Road, Solomontown, Port Pirie. They had eight siblings. They joined up together to fight in the Great War on the 7th April 1916.
Both were very popular in football circles; Cecil played football for the Solomontown Football Club and he was also an accomplished boxer.
When they joined, William was a 28 year old labourer employed at the Broken Hill Associated Smelter and Cecil was one month shy of 22, also a labourer.
Lance Corporal William Arthur Burt of the 50th Battalion, was killed in action in the counter-attack that captured Villers-Bretonneux, France on the 25th April 1918; just one day after the Germans had taken the village.
Lance Corporal Cecil Burt a Lewis Gunner of the 51st Battalion, was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry and distinguished service in the field. Ironically this brave action also occurred at Villers-Bretonneux at the same time brother William was killed.
4th MILITARY DISTRICT.
NO. 22A Corporal C. E. R. BURT, 51st Battalion.
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When his platoon came under very heavy machine-gun and rifle fire from an enemy strong point during an attack on the enemy's positions, Corporal Burt and a comrade advanced with a Lewis gun in front of their platoon, and directed such an accurate demoralizing fire on the enemy that forty of them, with four machine guns, surrendered to these two men, to whose courage and unhesitating action this valuable success was due.
Cecil was given a commission at the signing of the Armistice. Lieutenant Cecil Burt returned to Australia on the 16th June 1919. He married Helen Mackay in Port Pirie in 1920 and died in Cowra, New South Wales on the 21st February 1968 aged 73.
Lance Corporal William Burt was buried on the Somme, Villers-Bretonneux, France in Adelaide Cemetery. He is commemorated on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the 50th Battalion Commemorative Cross, the Adelaide National War Memorial and the World War 1 Gates in Port Pirie.
Submitted 11 July 2020 by Gary Fradd