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Reginald Ernest Burcher - Information

Reginald Ernest Burcher was born in Camden c1882. When the war began, Reginald was living near Hay with his family, where he supported himself working as a grazier. At the age of 33, he decided to enlist in the AIF, joining up on the 30th of August 1915 in Holsworthy. Reginald began his training, and was posted to the 5th Field Artillery Brigade as a Gunner. On the 1st of October, he was appointed Driver and was shipped out from Sydney on the HMAT Persic on the 18th of November 1915.

Reginald landed in Suez, Egypt in late December. He met his unit in the new year when they returned from Gallipoli. He then left Alexandria in mid March, arriving in Marseilles, France six days later. Reginald served throughout the war, providing artillery support to the troops. It was a stressful deployment; the lives of ground troops depended on your efficiency and they were constantly targeted by enemy fire. The noise sent many a gunner deaf, and you ran the risk of a hot shell blowing up your cannon. In early August 1918, Reginald reported sick to hospital with eczema. He was subsequently invalided to England and admitted to the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham. He was recuperating at Sutton Veny Camp in December, where he was charged with being absent without leave. However, at the time the war had been over for a few weeks. The following month, he returned to Australia, leaving England onboard the Karmala on the 2nd of January. He was discharged from military service in April 1919 and returned to his civilian life.