BRUNTON, Arthur Alexander

Family name:

BRUNTON

Given names:

Arthur Alexander

Gender:

Male

Date of birth:

10 December 1878

Place of birth:

Birth Edinburgh

, United Kingdom

Military service:

WW1

Regimental number:

1665

Rank:

Private to CSM

Military units:

2/58 Reinforcements Battalion, subsumed into 57th Battalion

57th Battalion, later renamed 17th Light Railway Company

Military casualty:

Shell wound, resulting in loss of big toe in 1918

Date of death:

15 September 1966

Place of death:

Death

, Australia

Decorations and medallions:

Star Medal, British War Medal 40846,Victory Medal 40846

Biographical notes:

Arthur Alexander Brunton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in December 1878. He was from a family of 5 brothers and 5 sisters. His father, Thomas Brunton, was in the British Army and possibly fought at the relief of Lucknow in the Indian Mutiny in 1858. He is listed as a private in the 78th Foot Regiment in 1861. He was wounded at some point as he is listed as a Chelsea Pensioner in the 1881 British Census. He became the drill Sergeant at the famous Rossell School in the 1880s and died in 1896 aged 57.

Arthur Brunton worked on the Lancaster and Yorkshire Rail Company for 6 years where he qualified as an engineer.There is no record of when he arrived in Australia, but he was living in East Melbourne when he enlisted on the 24th January 1916 and was married to Edith Marie Brunton. Her address was given as 'Irymple', Albert St., East Melbourne, but she may have moved because of his enlistment. On the Embarkation Roll, they are listed at 159 Gipps Street.

Arthur Brunton trained at Broadmeadows and then embarked on the Euripides for Alexandria. Here he joined the 2/58 Reinforcements Battalion, based at Tel-al-Kebir. He was then transferred to France, disembarking at Marseilles, and served throughout the war in the 57th Battalion, formed from the 2/58th, at several railway terminals and depots.He was promoted to Sergeant on 12 December, 1916, and subsequently to Company Sergeant Major on 18/2/1917.

On 22 April, 1918, Brunton was reported as a casualty with a foot wound, caused by a shell. He was admitted to hospital in France, then shipped to the Southern General Hospital in Birmingham and subsequently had his big toe amputated. There is no claim for war casualty compensation, which perhaps indicates the wound may have been self inflicted.

He was discharged on 14 October, 1918, and returned to Australia on the HMT Malta on 31 July, 1918. There appear to be no records of his life after 1918, except for voting rolls. He seems to have moved regularly.He applied for benefits from Repatriation Department on 29 March 1966, but was not successful.

He died in 1966, aged 88.

References:

Peter Fielding

Acknowledgments:

National Archives of Australia WW1 Records