Date de naissance: 25/07/1895

Lieu de naissance: Henry Hill, Victoria, Australia

Profession: Clerk

Pays: Australia

Force armée: Australian Imperial Force

Rang: Gunner

Numéro de service: 1674

Incorporation date: 17/5/1915

Incorporation nom de lieu: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Unités:  —  Australian Field Artillery, 53rd Bty. 14th Bde.  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 04/10/1917

Lieu de décès: Polygoneveld, Belgique

Cause du décès: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Âge: 22

1914-15 Star Médaille

British War Medal Médaille

Victory Medal Médaille

Gunner Eric Burgess served in the 53rd Battery, part of the 14th Field Artillery Brigade of the 5th Australian Division. He previously served in the 23rd Bn. Australian Infantry in Gallipoli. He was wounded in 1915 and again in 1916 in Pozières, France. After his second evacuation Eric was transferred to the 14th Australian Field Artillery Brigade. Eric was "claimed" by his brother, Joseph Bird Burgess, and transferred to the 53rd Battery of the 14th Field Artillery Brigade. Joseph probably wanted his little brother by his side.

On October 4 1917, the 14th Field Artillery Brigade took part in the Battle of Broodseinde, a phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. His artillery Brigade, along with the 13th, set up their guns between the hamlets of Polygoneveld and Westhoek. Both brothers, served at the same gun. They had to provide artillery support for the 2nd Australian Infantry Division. The attack started in the early morning with a heavy artillery barrage on the German positions.

At about 7 am, both the 13th and 14th artillery brigades were targeted by the German artillery. A German shell hit the ammunition stack of the gun of Eric and Joseph Burgess. The explosion killed the entire crew of four soldiers, together with a soldier and an officer of another battery close by. Joseph and his brother died side-by-side and were buried next to each other at The Huts Cemetery.

Joseph Bird Burgess  Brother

Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/ Sources utilisées

Bean C. E. W., Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 Vol. IV The A.I.F. in France 1917, (Sydney, Angus and Robertson Ltd., 1943), p 839. Sources utilisées

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, BURGESS E). https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx. Sources utilisées

Headquarters, 14th Australian Field Artillery Brigade, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 13/41/16). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources utilisées

Headquarters, 5th Australian Field Artillery Brigade, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 13/33/23). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources utilisées

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 99. Sources utilisées

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/156033

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=1a657bbf-dab8-4f4c-aabb-2133da940536

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7375430

The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=39141