Born at Perth WA, CoE. Enlisted 30 May 1916 age 30, pastoral station overseer. Nok father, Septimus Burt, Strawberry Hill, Adelaide Tce. Perth. Embarked at Melbourne per A38 Ulysses on 25 October 1916. Served in England 1917 and then to France where he was transferred to the 13th Australian Machine Gun Company. A note on file reads, ‘The above mentioned officer was killed in action on night 24-25 April 1918 by enemy machine gun fire. Death was instantaneous and he was unofficially buried by a padre in a little cemetery NE of Hangard Wood Signed by Lieut. R.F. Tuckett for the Commanding Officer. The body was later reinterred at Adelaide British Cemetery Villers-Brettonneux 2.5 miles south of Corby, Plot 111 Row M Grave 15. His mother, Julia Burt visited his grave in 1921 and 1923. Her letter dated 30 July 1923 reads, ‘Dear Sir, I thank you for the notice I have received with regard to my dear son’s grave at the Adelaide British Cemetery. In 1921 I visited the grave twice and was very pleased to see what a beautiful spot it was and the care which was then being given to the grave.” Three Burt brothers served in the war, Theodore, in the British army was killed in action in 1916 and Frederick (file not found), who returned to Australia. Apart from Strawberry Hill in the city, the Burt’s had a 21 room beach house on the corner of Salvado St, and Marine Parade and Cadoux, at the Coombe, a much desired section of Mosman Park overlooking the Swan River. The Burt Memorial Hall in the grounds of the Anglican St Georges Cathedral Perth, was still under construction when Septimus died. For a good coverage of the deaths of Francis and Theodore see Malcolm Quekett, Weekend West. July 12-13, 2004, pp. 20-21.
