Service Person Details

SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH

SERVICE PERSON DETAILS

Service Person’s William Joseph Bourke Name Rank Private Service Number 5347

Regiment/Unit or 12th Australian Infantry Battalion Ship or Squadron Date of Birth 1890

Place of Birth Mareeba, Queensland Mother: Mrs E Bourke Family Details Age at Enlistment Thursday, 20 January 1916 (26) Place of Enlistment Sydney Date of Death Friday, 2 November 1917 Place of Death Belgium

Cemetery or Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial Name Grave or Memorial Number Panel 7 -17 – 23 – 25 – 27 – 29 – 31 PHOTO:

Source: WWI Pictorial Honour Role of Queenslanders 2015, William Joseph Bourke, http://qld.ww1anzac.com/bo.html (accessed 1 February 2015)

SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY: Prepared by Jacob Cookson

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” ― G.K. Chesterton

Private William Joseph Bourke knew from the second he enlisted in the First World War what he was risking; more than anything he could have managed to comprehend prior to the war, more than his own life.

He enlisted in the Australian war efforts in Sydney, and later appointed to the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion, in order to protect what he was leaving behind - his mother Mrs E Bourke, his rural birth and hometown of Mareeba and Cairns.

For many the thought of signing yourself up for a fate unknown was and is incomprehensible. The courage and valour shown as soon as men such as Private Bourke enlisted is ever-present.

On 20 April 1916, after several weeks of drills and preparation, William Joseph Bourke travelled to a world unknown in the form of the Western Front via the SS Hawkes Bay.

After over a year of service to the war efforts of Australia, Private William Joseph Bourke was killed in action on the battlefields of Belgium on the 2 November 1917. He is honoured at Menin Gate, Ypres, Panel 7 -17 – 23 – 25 – 27 – 29 – 31.

The legacy of many Anzac soldiers, including Private William Joseph Bourke, laid to rest protecting what they love is an attribute that can only be seem as admirable. This legacy lives on. Lest we forget.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

ACT Memorial 2015, Murray, Ernest http://www.memorial.act.gov.au/person.php?id=3044 (accessed 9 February2015)

Australian War Memorial 2015, Exhibitions – Ernest Murray https://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/salute/community/murray/ (accessed 29 January 2015)

Australian War Memorial 2015, Roll of Honour: William Joseph Bourke https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1660652/ (accessed 1 February 2015)

Good Reads 2015, Quotes on War: G.K. Chesterton http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/war (accessed 12 February 2015)

Murray, J 2008, Active Service Diaries of Sergt. Murray, Ernest, Fyshwick, Canberra, Australia.

National Archives of Australia 2015, Bourke William Joseph : SERN 5347, http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3101476 (accessed 1 February 2015)

The AIF Project 2015, William Joseph Bourke https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=28057 (accessed 1 February 2015)