Australian Army Veterinary Corps
John BURRELL
Private
Died 21 October 1918 · Age uncertain
Age discrepancy: The Australian attestation gives about 43½ at enlistment in March 1916; the July 1918 medical report gives 48. Earlier project research gives 46 and a retained obituary gives 42; the obituary’s publication reference still needs recovery. We have not been able to confirm the exact age.
His story
John Burrell worked as a labourer and was married to Margaret, whose address was recorded as Eurimbla, Cumnock. He was born at Spring Hill, near Orange, New South Wales. An obituary connects him with Curra Creek, where it reported that he had lived for more than thirty years.
Burrell enlisted at Cumnock on 18 March 1916. He entered infantry service and embarked from Sydney aboard Boorara on 19 August 1916 as a reinforcement for the 54th Battalion. The casualty record shows him joining that battalion in France on 24 December 1916.
After hospital treatment in March 1917 and a period at the base depot, Burrell transferred from the 54th Battalion to the Australian Veterinary Hospital at Calais on 12 May 1917. This posting placed him in the organisation caring for the army’s sick and injured animals. He remained on its strength into 1918.
He was admitted to hospital on 18 June 1918 and invalided to Britain on 20 June. A July medical report diagnosed valvular heart disease with aortic insufficiency. It recorded a history of rheumatic fever in youth and considered the condition much aggravated by active service. The medical board assessed his disability at 100 per cent and found him permanently unfit for all service.
Burrell embarked at Devonport for return to Australia on 24 August 1918. He died at No. 11 Australian General Hospital, Caulfield, on 21 October 1918 at 9.30 a.m. The medical certificate lists myocarditis and pulmonary oedema as the causes of death. These are the recorded causes of his final illness; the earlier invaliding diagnosis was valvular heart disease.
He was buried at Coburg Pine Ridge Cemetery. His service records include a correction directing that an entry for discharge be read as death.
Before the war
- Nationality
- Australian
- Place of birth
- Spring Hill, near Orange, New South Wales
- Occupation
- Labourer on attestation; farmer in July 1918 medical report
- Residence recorded
- Eurimbla, Cumnock, New South Wales (AIF address); local obituary says he lived at Curra Creek for over 30 years
- Family
- Wife Margaret BURRELL, Eurimbla, Cumnock, New South Wales; parents William and Catherine
Military service
- Rank recorded
- Private
- Service number
- 2134
- Corps or service
- Australian Army Veterinary Corps
- Unit
- Australian Veterinary Hospital, Calais (from 12 May 1917)
- Earlier service
- 54th Battalion, AIF
- Service status
- Invalided to Britain in June 1918; embarked for return to Australia on 24 August 1918
Death and burial
- Date of death
- 21 October 1918
- Age
- Uncertain
- Place of death
- No. 11 Australian General Hospital, Caulfield, Victoria
- Recorded cause
- Myocarditis and pulmonary oedema (medical certificate of death)
- Cemetery or memorial
- Coburg Pine Ridge Cemetery
His life in dates
- 18 March 1916Enlisted at Cumnock.
- 19 August 1916Embarked for infantry service with the 54th Battalion.
- 12 May 1917Transferred to the Australian Veterinary Hospital at Calais.
- June–July 1918His medical treatmentInvalided to Britain; a medical board found him permanently unfit for service.
- 24 August 1918Embarked at Devonport for return to Australia.
- 21 October 1918His medical treatmentDied at No. 11 Australian General Hospital, Caulfield.
Selected dated events from the evidence identified below.
Where he worked
- Australian Veterinary Hospital
Transferred from the 54th Battalion on 12 May 1917 and remained on the hospital's strength into 1918.
A recorded posting supplies context for his service. Exact duties and presence during a particular incident require their own evidence.
Connected men
- Edwin ABRAHAMAlso recorded with Australian Veterinary Hospital
- John Russell DICKSONAlso recorded with Australian Veterinary Hospital
- Ernest William Henry REINMUTHAlso recorded with Australian Veterinary Hospital
Sources and further reading
- UNSW AIF PROJECT — BURRELL
- AUSTRALIAN VIRTUAL WAR MEMORIAL
- CWGC casualty and commemoration record
- Find a Grave memorial
Cite this biography
Graham Hodgkins and Pete Matthews, “John Burrell”, Veterinary Virtual War Memorial, https://vetsremembered.org/people/john_burrell/.
Contribute information
Can you identify the full local obituary or supply a family photograph of John and Margaret?