Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

09/09/1915

Place of Enlistment

Town Hall, Sydney NSW

Gender

Male

Other Name(s)

Known as 'Ted'

Date of Birth

17/10/1893

Place of Birth

Kingswood NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Henry Street, Penrith NSW (previously Acton ACT)

School(s) Attended

Penrith Superior School

Occupation

Cook

Next of Kin

Son of James Edward Ausburn and Hannah M. Ausburn of Henry Street, Penrith NSW. Brother of (571) Harold Joseph Ausburn and (703) Albert Charles Ausburn.

Burial Place

Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery (plot 1, row K, grave 14) Fleurbaix, France

Service Number

4128 A

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

54 Battalion AIF

Died on 19 July 1916, Fromelles, France

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 158, Canberra ACT
Penrith City Memory Park, corner Woodriff Street and High Street, Penrith NSW

According to the Roll of Honour circular Ausburn was a cook and not a painter (as stated on his attestation form). He worked as a cook at Acton during 1912-13 at the Kangaroo Café and, according to The Nepean Times, he was a cook at the "officer's mess, Canberra, and later at the Cotter River Camp". His family was initially advised that he was wounded and it wasn't until late August 1916, just after his mother wrote to the OIC Base Records, that they learnt that he was killed in action at Fromelles in France on 19 July 1916. An 'H. Ausburn' is referred to as playing cricket for the Yarralumla Rabbit Hands against the Yarralumla Station Hands. Ausburn's brothers Harry and Charlie also served in World War 1.

Ted Ausburn was farewelled at Penrith on 7 December 1915 before embarking in Sydney as a Private with the 13th reinforcements to the 2nd Battalion and arriving in Egypt on 20 January 1916. After the Gallipoli campaign the AIF was re-organised and half of the 2nd Battalion reinforcements (including Ausburn) joined its sister battalion, the 54th Battalion, in February 1916. In June 1916 the 54th Battalion arrived in Marseilles, France and a few weeks later reached the frontline near Fleurbaix in northern France with other units of the 5th Division of the AIF. A plan was devised by the British to divert German reinforcements from the Somme battleground by attacking their positions near Fromelles (opposite Fleurbaix) on 19 July 1916 using the 5th Division. The plan failed and the 5th Division incurred heavy casualties, including Ausburn. He was initially buried in Eaton Hall Cemetery near Armentières but the family was later advised that he was buried in Rue Petillon Military Cemetery near Fleurbaix, France.

Description - height 5 feet 6 inches, weight 142 pounds, chest 34-36 inches, dark complexion, brown eyes, brown hair, Church of England.

WWI Nominal Roll http://www.awm.gov.au/nominalrolls/ww1
AWM Roll of Honour Database
AWM Roll of Honour Circular
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
NAA RecordSearch - Series A110 ("Acton" Federal Territory. Cook for Workmen.)
Ross St. Claire, 'Our Gift to the Empire : 54th Australian Infantry Battalion, 1916-1919', 2006
Queanbeyan Age - 10 January 1910
The Nepean Times - 11 September 1915, 11 December 1915, 25 March 1916, 12 August 1916, 2 September 1916 (obituary), 23 December 1916
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'Hell Opened at Fromelles', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial