Bushell, Archie Ernest by Central Coast Council

Gosford District Casualties of World War One Bragg, Edmund Allen Bushell, Archie Ernest

Service Service Number Number 1494 2526 Killed in Action 19th May 1915 Killed in Action 11th June 1917 Gallipoli Peninsula Battle of Messines, Belgium

Gosford City Council gratefully acknowledges the voluntary efforts of Benalyn Campbell And Vivienne Tranter in compiling this resource

The information in this file has been extracted from official records held in the The Australian War Memorial and National Archives of Australia (ÂŠ Commonwealth of Australia [National Archives of Australia] 2013) Further information on this soldier may be found online at: Commonwealth War Graves The AIF project Content advisory: This file may potentially contain disturbing accounts of service-related injury and death, disease and family grief. Adult supervision is recommended for children using these resources. Individual files should be viewed within the context provided by wider research on service conditions in the 1 st AIF. This resource is presented by Gosford City Council for research purposes only. Please note that copyright for resources contained within remains with the original copyright owners.

NAME

Bushell, Archie Ernest

SERVICE NO

2526

UNIT

36th Battalion, 4th Rienf.

RANK

Private

AGE at Enlistment

26 yrs 6 mths

PLACE OF BIRTH

Petrie Creek, QLD

ADDRESS

Popran Park, via Gosford

OCCUPATION

Engineer

DATE OF ENLISTMENT PLACE OF ENLISTMENT PREVIOUS SERVICE

26 Apr 1916

NEXT OF KIN

Parents Jacob & Maria Bushell, Popran Park, Peats Ridge.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Height-5’9”.Weight-158lbs. Chest-35-37 Complexion-Fair. Eyes-Blue. Hair-Reddish.

RELIGION

C/E

EMBARKED

Sydney-9 Nov 1916 HMAT A 24 “Benalla”

DISEMBARKED

Devonport 9 Jan 1917

NOTES

AWOL midnight 3/3/17 –midnight 4/3/17

WOUNDED/ILLNESS

28 Sep 1916- Influenza 25 Nov 1916-Sick to ships hosp. VD. KIA 11 Jun 1917- Belgium in battle of Messines

DIED

Gosford, NSW nil

BURIED MEDALS

British War Medal-53165, Victory Medal-52405. Memorial Plaque & Scroll326448

DEPENDANTS PERSONAL EFFECTS WILL

Yes

CORRESPONDENCE REMARKS RED CROSS REPORT

Yes – killed while manning Lewis gun, killed outright by shell fire.

Sc Ancestry Tree Birth c1890 parents Jacob Bushell & Maria Reynolds Died 11/6/1917- Leper, West Vlaanderen, Belgium

Gosford Times 29.3.1917. Sergeant Major A.E. bushel, of Popran, is now in camp at Salisbury Plains, England. giving his experiences, he says – “There is absolutely no waste in this camp. All the waste tea and crumbs of bread &c, are sold to the farmers, waste fat is sent to the munitions factory and turned into nitroglycerine, while tins and bottles are used up for shrapnel. But the limited rations do not permit of very much being left over after the meal”.

Gosford Times 12.7.1917. KILLED IN ACTION Sergeant Major “Archie Bushell” The sad news was received on Friday, last that Sergeant Major A. E. Bushell, 5th Reinforcements 36th Battalion, had been killed in action on 11th June. The news came as a shock, seeing that this gallant young son of Mangrove Mountain had only recently gone into the fighting line, after having been instructing at Salisbury Plains, England, for some time, and having gained some commendation for success and practice. He was the second son of Cr. Jacob Bushell, of “Popran Park”, Gosford, and 26 years of age. The late Sergeant Major Bushell received his first training in military evolutions under Major Cowlishaw and Lieutenant Winterbottom in the Mangrove Mt. Volunteer Corps, 50 per cent of whom enlisted. He was a fine type of young Australian, a worthy son of worthy parents, and his untimely end is sincerely regretted. The news was broken to the family on Friday evening by Canon McDonnell, and on Sunday the Canon held service with the family. A number of neighbours called to express their sympathy to the bereaved, Rev. C.B. Elwin being among them. Mrs Bushell is away in Brisbane, with family friends, endeavoring to recuperate failing health, and the shock will be a severe one to the mother who idolized her soldier son. We join with the people of the Shire in the general sympathy expressed for the bereaved relatives.

Gosford Times 20.9.1917. ROLL OF HONOR BUSHELL – Killed in action in France Sergeant-Major A. E. (Archie) Bushell 11th June 1917. Aged 27 years. Somewhere in France he lies, rolled in a Union Jack; Tears may flow, but still we know, We can never bring him back. His fame it will live in story, Wherever our flag is unfurled; He died for his King and Country, And the freedom of the world. Inserted by his loving father and Mother, J. and M. Bushell, and brothers and sisters.

Gosford Times 1.11.1917. Late Sergeant-Major Bushell Mrs A. Franklin of Namba, via Nowra, writes to Mrs Bushell, of her son Sergeant-Major A. E. Bushell, who was killed recently in France:Dear Mrs Bushell, - We were all sorry to hear of your son’s death. I am sending you a letter received by my daughter from France, I thought if you did not already have particulars it would be a comfort for you to know that he did not suffer, and that he was buried in God’s Acre. I lost my son just a year ago. Our dear ones have only gone before. They are safe and at rest – they were both good pure boys, and it is good to think they are waiting for us. Some time, some day, our eyes shall see that dear face we hold in memory; and Christ shall link their broken chain still closer when we meet again. You all have our deep sympathy and prayers in your sad trouble”. “Somewhere in France, 1st July, 1917. – Miss Jessie M. Franklin. – A parcel arrived today for a Sergeant-Major A.E. Bushell, and under the circumstances I opened it and shared it with some of the boys in same Platoon. I regret to say he is not with us to enjoy your gift. He was not with us very long. He came in the Battalion with two more friends, who were both wounded before he was killed. He passed me in the trench about five minutes before it happened, and a shell lanced close to the trench, a flying fragment from it killing him instantly. He was buried in a military cemetery, but I do not know which one, as we are always moving – hardly in the same place twice. As you will guess, it happened in the Messines battle. Although only with us only but a short time he had made many friends, and was very much liked. But such is the price of war. We have lost a large number of comrades, but we have to carry on just the same with deepest sympathy from all Sergeant Bushell’s comrades, I remain, (157) SERGT. S. J. REEVES, A Coy, 36 Battalion.

Gosford Times 13.6.1918 ROLL OF HONOR BUSHELL – In loving memory of our dear son, A. E. (Archie) Bushell, 36th Battalion, who was killed in action in Messines Battle, 1th June, 1917. Aged 27 years. Into the field of battle, he bravely took his place, And fought and for England and the honour of his race; He sleeps not in his native land, but neath a foreign sky, Far from those that love hime dearly, but in a hero’s grave he lies’ Somewhere in France they have laid him, our dear son so young and so brave, Far from the land of the wattle, no loved ones to weep o’er his grave. Inserted by his loving father and mother, J. and M. Bushell.

BUSHELL – In loving memory of our dear brother and my dear comrade, A. E. (Archie) Bushell, 36 th Battalion, who was killed in action in Messines Battle, 11th June, 1917. Aged 27 years. Gone is our brother and my comrade so dear, silent the voice we loved to hear; In our hearts we will always miss him, Though we know he is only at rest. We mourn his loss, but his actions, Sweet balm to his loved ones bring, For he is ever a hero. Who dies for his Country, God, and King. Inserted by his loving sisters and brothers, Alice, Edie, Frank and Walter, and comrade, A.C. Murdith, (returned).

Gosford Times 27.6.1918. ROLL OF HONOR BUSHELL – In loving memory of our dear brother, Archie, killed in action in France, between 11th and 17th June, 1917. There came a day when the roll was called that he did no answer here; He fell in the awful battle, We know that he fought brave and true; Fought for his home and country, and the flag of the red, white and blue. Inserted by his loving brother and sister-in-law, J. R. and E. Bushell.

Gosford Times 5.6.1919 BUSHELL – In loving memory of our dear son and our dear brother, Sergt-Major A.E. (Archie) Bushell, 36th Battalion, who was killed in action in France in Messines Battle , 11 th June, 1917. Aged 27 years. When you hear of brave boys dying, You may not care, they’re not your own; But when you lose a loved one, That is the time when it strikes home. And now this war is over, And the heroes come marching home; O, God, have pity for the watching ones, Whose loved ones can never come home. O, darling, how we pray that, When life’s cares are o’er, Your loving smile may greet The broken hearts you have left behind. Inserted by his sorrowing parents M and J Bushell, and brothers Josh, Frank, and Walter, and sisters, Alice and Edie.

Gosford Times 12.6.1919. ROLL OF HONOR BUSHELL – In loving memory of dear Archie, who died for us in France, between 11th and 17th June, 1917. Our Thoughts often wander to a grave in a far off land. Inserted by his loving brother and sister-In law, J.R. and E. Bushell.

Abridged record/s courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA) Series No: B2455 Item Barcode: 3175382