BUDGEN, William Ernest
| Service Number: | 2391 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 47th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Darwin, Darwin, Northern Territory |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 11 April 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Darwin Northern Territory Soldiers Roll of Honour, Darwin War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2391, 47th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Choon embarkation_ship_number: A49 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 2391, 47th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Choon, Brisbane |
William Ernest Budgen
William Ernest Budgen was born in Darwin on the 14 April 1895. Budgen was the son of Sydney and Florence Budgen. William enlisted to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the 8th March 1916 and he had enlisted as a private at the age of 21, at the height of 167.64cm weighing 64.4kg. Before he joined to fight for King and country he worked on the Darwin Railways as a fitter and a turner. Budgen never married or had children, he was single at the time of enlistment. His religion was the church of England which is a catholic church
Budgen left Darwin and headed to Brisbane to embark on HMAT A49 'Seang Choon' from Brisbane QLD to Plymouth UK on 19th September 1916. During the voyage Budgen was placed under quaternate for reason unknown. While he was in quaternate he broke out and for doing so the plentily for his actions was fourteen days with no pay, awarded by LT. Col Anderson
When Budgen disembarked at Plymouth he went to NO.13 camp Codford UK to enhance his training to be deployed to where he was needed. When at the camp Budgen went absent without leave (A.W.L) on the 1 January 1917 until 8;30pm on the 4th January 1971. For doing so he was given seven days with no pay, awarded by Major W.J Rowlands on the 5th January 1917.
He proceeded to France on SS 'Victoria' via Folkestone on 4th February 1917. When Budgen got to France he was taken to the 47th Battalion to fight. Budgen went on to fight at Bullecourt France and on the 11th April 1917 Budgen was reported missing. His body was never found or identified so in a court hearing on the 7th August 1917 he was officially pronounced “killed in action” Fellow soldiers have reported seeing him wounded and heading to the dressing station on the evening of the 11th April and that was the last know sighting of William Budgen. Budgen has an unknown grave at the Australian Cemetery at Villers Bretonneux.
In Moil Darwin Nt, there is a street named after the Budgen family and in particular Private William Ernest Budgen. The Budgen family was a well known during early 1900s in Darwin where his mother has a hotel in Cavenagh St.
Budgen, W. (2018). William Budgen. [online] Territorystories.nt.gov.au.
Available at: http://www.territorystories.nt.gov.au/jspui/handle/10070/214547 [Accessed 11 Feb. 2018].
Anon, (2018). [online] Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ListingReports/ItemsListing.aspx [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].
Contributed by Akiesha Brown as part of the 2018 Northern Territory Chief Minister’s Anzac Spirit Study Tour
Submitted 12 March 2018 by Akiesha Brown
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