BURN, Thomas Archibald
(Service number 25/1666)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 23 April 1870 | Place of Birth | Ballcutha |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 15 December 1915 | Age | 45 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Timaru Hotel, Timaru | ||
| Occupation | Cook | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Latatia BURN (mother), Spencer Street, Milton, Otago | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 2nd Reinforcements, 3rd Battaion, G Company | ||
| Date | 1 April 1916 | ||
| Transport | Tahiti or Maunganui | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 4 July 1919 | Age | 49 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Timaru Hospital, Timaru | ||
| Cause | Accute bronchitis | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Fairfax Cemetery, Milton | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Thomas Archibald Burn was born on 23 April 1870 at Balclutha, the second son of Archibald and Letitia (née Roe) Burn. He was educated at Milburn School, leaving at the age of 14½ for a “situation”. His father died in 1892 at Milburn. Thomas A. Burn was one of the South Canterbury recruits for the eleventh reinforcements (Infantry), who left Timaru for Trentham on 15 December 1915. He had been living at Timaru for some years, and when he enlisted on 15 December 1915 at Trentham, he gave his address as Timaru Hotel, Timaru. A cook, single, and Wesleyan, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Latatia Burn, Spencer Street, Milton.
Rifleman T. A. Burn embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade of the 2nd Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Suez, Egypt, on 1 April 1916. He was discharged on 19 November 1916, being no longer physically fit for war service on account of illness contracted on active service. He died on 5 July 1919 at Timaru Hospital, aged 49 years, and was buried at Fairfax Cemetery, Milton, with his father and his youngest brother, Robert, who had died in 1907. His medals – British War Medal and Victory Medal – were sent to his mother in 1923. Letitia Burn had died, however, in October 1922, and was buried at Milton, too.
“The death occurred at Timaru Hospital on Friday night of a former resident of this district in the person of Mr Thomas Burn. The deceased, who was the second son of Mrs L. Burn, was 49 years of age. He joined the 11th Reinforcements, and saw service in Egypt and afterwards in France, up to the Battle of Armentieres. He was invalided some months ago. The cause of his sudden death was acute bronchitis. The funeral takes place at Fairfax Cemetery tomorrow morning, and a squad of returned soldiers will act as pall-bearers and as a firing party.” [Bruce Herald. 7 July 1919.]
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [01 August 2022]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [01 August 2022]; School Admission record (Balcutha Branch NZSG) [01 August 2022]; Timaru Herald, 9 December 1915, 7 July 1919, Bruce Herald, 7 July 1919 [x 2], Otago Witness, 9 July 1919 (Papers Past) [01 August 2022]; Fairfax Cemetery burial records [01 August 2022]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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