Australian Victoria Cross Recipient
Corporal Alexander Stewart Burton
Unit
7th Battalion
Born
20 January 1893 at Kyneton, Victoria
Date of action
9 August 1915
Place
Lone Pine trenches, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey
Details
It was during the Turkish counter-attack on the Lone Pine trenches on 9 August that Burton performed the actions for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The Turks advanced up a sap and blew in a sandbag barricade which Burton, Tubb (also a VC winner) and Dunstan (also a VC winner) quickly re-erected after they had repulsed the attackers. The enemy attacked twice more and destroyed the barricade. This was rebuilt when the enemy were driven off. Burton was killed by one of several bombs which exploded as he was attempting to rebuild the parapet. His body was never recovered.
Died
9 August 1915
Buried or Commemorated
Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing, Gallipoli. A bridge over Seven Creeks near Euroa, Victoria, was officially renamed Burton Bridge.
Current location of the VC
Australian War Memorial