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Patrick William Burke - Information

When war commenced, Patrick William Burke was living in Campbelltown and working as a farrier. Patrick was born in Greenwich c1887, before moving to Broughton St in Campbelltown with his family. Patrick joined the AIF at Liverpool on the 18th of February 1915, aged 28.

During training, Patrick incurred some AWL charges. However, he was shipped out with his unit on the HMAT Ceramic on the 25th of June 1915, leaving Melbourne as part of the 19th Battalion. Once he arrived overseas, he quickly proved himself serving at Gallipoli. On the 2nd of September, Patrick was promoted to Temporary Corporal. After the Gallipoli Campaign ended, his unit returned to Egypt, where he was promoted to Corporal on the 8th of February 1916 and Sergeant on the 10th of March. Patrick was then transported to the trenches on the Western Front. Here, his unit was moved into position to participate in the grand Somme Offensive. During these operations, Patrick was wounded in action at Pozières. On the 28th of July, he received multiple gunshot wounds, hit in his thigh, arm and head. He was rushed to the 26th General Hospital in Etaples. Patrick quickly recovered, rejoining his unit in mid August. Patrick returned to the fighting during the Battle of the Somme. He was then wounded in action a second time. On the 14th of November at Flers, he received a shell wound to his right hand. It was a serious injury with Patrick being evacuated to England to the 4th Southern General Hospital.

After recovering, a medical review board found that Patrick was unsuitable for further active service. He was then invalided home to Australia on the 8th of April 1917. He arrived in Sydney in June and was subsequently discharged from military service in early July. Returning to civie life, Patrick sought change. In 1918, he moved to Springfield St in Guilford to start his post-war life.