Soldier profiles
Name : BURSTOW, THOMAS JAMES
Service Number : SX20692 (S77204)
Date of Birth : 20/06/1916
Place of Birth : TOOWOOMBA, QLD
Known as : TOM
Occupation on Enlistment : DRAFTSMAN (DARWIN LANDS DEPARTMENT)
Date of Enlistment : 24/07/1942
Locality on Enlistment : NEW FARM, QLD
Place of Enlistment : PUCKAPUNYAL, VIC
Next of Kin : BURSTOW, EILEEN
Rank (at time of discharge / death) : LIEUTENANT
Service : ARMY
Final Posting : 2/2 PIONEER BATTALION
Position / Platoon / Company (as 2/2 Pioneer) (date / details) : TRADE GROUP ENGINEER SURVEYOR
Unit Transfers / Promotions (date / details) :
Theatres of War :
Actions :
Wounded (date / details) :
Discharged : 04/06/1946
Date Died : 03/11/1988
Age at Death : 72
Community Roll of Honour : N/A
Buried Location / Memorial (P.O.W., D.O.W., K.I.A.) : N/A
K.I.A. (date / details) : N/A
D.O.W. (date / details) : N/A
M.I.A. (date / details) : N/A
P.O.W. (location/s) : NO
Died P.O.W. (date / details) : N/A
P.O.W. Camps (details) : N/A
Recovered P.O.W. (location/s) : N/A
Honours and Gallantry : None for display
Applicable Australian War Memorial circulars : NO
References found (entries & photos) : National Archives of Australia (Barcode 6403523 [NOT EXAMINED]), WW2 Nominal Roll, 2/2 Pioneers Newsletter 09/1989 p10
Background : Thomas moved to Darwin in 1940 to work as a draftsman with the Lands Department. When war broke out, he mapped air to ground bombing ranges and drafted plans for gun placements. He became an A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions) Warden in Darwin and assisted in evacuating civilians, clearing up debris and located undamaged goods, especially food. Thomas kept a diary from 19/02/1942 to 26/03/1942 describing 19 air bombing raids of Darwin by the Japanese including numbers of killed, missing and wounded, damage to ships, the harbour and buildings damaged or destroyed in the town. In July 1942, he joined the army and became a trade group engineer surveyor for 2/2 Australian Pioneer Battalion.
