Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

David Ormond BUTLER #761 2nd Light Horse Regiment

David Butler was born at Kilcoy on 22nd November 1887, one of ten children of William and Jean Butler. After progressing through the primary school grades, he was enrolled as a day boarder at Brisbane Grammar School from 1902 to 1905 where he was a member of the senior cadets and also represented the school in the rugby Ist XV. David enlisted in the AIF at Charleville on 16th December 1914. He was 27 years old and employed as a clerk. David was allocated to the third reinforcements of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment. He travelled from Charleville to Enoggera where he was promoted to Sergeant on 5th February 1915; and 4 days later embarked on the transport “Itria”. Upon arrival in Egypt the reinforcements were taken to the Light Horse depot at Moascar where David was taken on strength by the 2nd LHR as sergeant in “B” squadron.

The Light Horse in early 1915 was mainly tasked with defending the Suez Canal and patrolling into the Sinai Desert. After the Australian landings at Gallipoli on 25th April had not achieved the desired result, it was decided to land the light horsemen as reinforcements for the hard pressed infantry. The Light Horse were technically mounted infantry but had received precious little training in trench warfare.

On 5th May 1915, the 2nd LHR boarded transports at Alexandria and sailed directly to the Dardenelles. The troopers disembarked at Anzac Cove during the night of 7th May and went into bivouac in a gully which would later be named Monash Gully. In the first three or four weeks at Anzac, the hottest position was at the head of Monash Gully which had been held since the first day by the 15th Battalion and was named Quinn’s Post after a company commander of the 15th. The Anzacs were dug in on the edge of a cliff with the Turks less than 25 metres away. On 12th May, the 2nd LHR moved up to Quinn’s to relieve the 15th Battalion.

Almost as soon as David and his platoon had taken up their positions, David was wounded. He was swiftly taken from the heights down to the beach where he was evacuated onto the Hospital Ship Gascon. David’s elder brother; Captain A. Graham Butler was also on the peninsula as medical officer of the 9th Battalion and may well have been advised of his brother’s injury. David had sustained a bullet wound which resulted in a compound fracture of the skull as well as a less severe wound to his upper arm.

The head wound was extremely serious and surgeons on the Gascon operated on David to remove a bullet and some damaged brain tissue while the ship was proceeding to Egypt. David was taken to a military hospital to recover and it may have been at that time that David’s sister, Staff Nurse Ethel Butler, who was attached to the #1 Australian General Hospital in Cairo, became aware of his wounding. It is probable that Ethel cabled David’s family as enquiries were soon made of the authorities in Melbourne from William Butler in Sandgate. Unfortunately the Butler family had more information than Base Records.

Once David’s condition had stabilised, he was put onto the Hospital Ship Delta bound for Manchester. He arrived at the Australian General Hospital at Harefield on 1st June for further treatment before being discharged into the care of his sister, Mrs Addison who lived at Harrisford on Thames. David was close enough to Harefield that his sister could drive him to Harefield by car for his fortnightly appointments. David reported that he was often plagued by headaches and found the noise of a train journey to London tiring but his condition began to improve with rest and attention by his sister.

David went before a Medical Board in late 1915 where he was classed as unfit for overseas service (France and Belgium) but was fit for home service (England). As a result of this classification, David was employed as a clerk at the Australian Headquarters in Horseferry Road, London.

In August of 1916, David contracted occipital encephalitis. He was in a coma for a month and when he regained consciousness was blind for a further week. His severe headaches returned. Appearing before another Medical Board in October 1916, the surgeons determined that the encephalitis was exacerbated by his head injury and that therefore his illness was an indirect result of war service. This determination was important as it opened the door to repatriation payments. The Board also determined that David was unfit for both overseas service and home service and therefore should be returned to Australia for medical discharge. Helpfully, David’s brother, Colonel (Dr) A.G. Butler DSO who had probably been guiding the progress of David’s case from his office in London wrote a summary of his case which he provided to David, perhaps to provide some clarity for the vast army bureaucracy which David would have to face. A copy of the summary is contained in David’s military file.

David boarded the “Kanowna” in Southampton on 14th January 1917 and landed in Melbourne. He was formally discharged from the AIF on 30th May. The next day David was granted a pension of 69 shillings a fortnight. It is possible that David returned to the family home at Kilcoy as he continued to recover.

The last entry in David’s file is a letter from 1923, postmarked MacPhie and Co of Toowoomba, advising the authorities that he had not received his three service medals, 1914/15 Star, Empire medal and Victory Medal. The decorations were despatched later that year.