Henry BRUNSTON

BRUNSTON, Henry

Service Number: 4745
Enlisted: 18 July 1915
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 59th Infantry Battalion
Born: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1892
Home Town: Clunes, Hepburn, Victoria
Schooling: Clunes State School, Victoria, Australia
Occupation: Labourer
Died: Killed in Action, France, 19 July 1916
Cemetery: Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois-Grenier
Row C, Grave No. 2,
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Clunes War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

18 Jul 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4745, Depot Battalion
7 Mar 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4745, 8th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: ''
7 Mar 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4745, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne
20 Apr 1916: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 59th Infantry Battalion, Egypt
19 Jul 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4745, 59th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4745 awm_unit: 59th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-19

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Biography contributed by Robert Wight

Henry Brunston enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne on 18 July 1915, aged almost 23. He embarked overseas on 7 March 1916.

Almost immediately upon arrival in Egypt, on 20 April 1916 he was transferred to the 59th Battalion.

After a further two months training, he left Egypt on 18 June and disembarked at Marseilles, France on 29 June 1916.

Within weeks the battalion was in action in the Fromelles/Fleurbaix region of France and on 19 July 1916, during the AIF’s first major engagement on the Western Front, Pte Henry Brunston was pronounced missing, later declared killed, in action.

His identity disc and remains were later found about 1 ¼ miles north-west of Fromelles, during work by the Imperial War Graves Commission in April 1923, and he was re-interred at “Y” Farm Military Cemetery at Bois-Grenier, France (above) at the same time.

Source: Extract from "Clunes War Memorial WW1" by Robert Wight, June 2022.

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