Studio portrait of 2226 Private (Pte) Ambrose Joseph "Amby" Radburn, 53rd Battalion, of Neville, ...

Studio portrait of 2226 Private (Pte) Ambrose Joseph "Amby" Radburn, 53rd Battalion, of Neville, NSW. Pte Radburn and his brother 2227 Private Thomas William Radburn, also 53rd Battalion, enlisted on 6 March 1916. The brothers embarked from Sydney with the 4th Reinforcements on board HMAT Vestalia (A44) on 11 July 1916. They arrived in England in September and after further training joined their unit in France on 23 December 1916. The 53rd Battalion, known colloquially as The Whale Oil Guards, spent the winter of 1916 in the trenches of the Somme, France. In March 1917 they followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and fought at Polygon Wood, Ypres, Belgium in September 1917. The German forces launched a major offensive in March 1918, and captured the French town of Villers-Bretonneux. Pte Ambrose Joseph Radburn was killed in action near Villliers-Bretonneux on 7 April 1918. He was 21 years of age. During the term of his service Thomas William Radburn was promoted to Corporal. He survived the war and returned to Australia in January 1919.