Contributed by Ron Inglis, October 2021:
Michael Ambrose Byrne, 24, was a labourer whose parents lived in Cumberland Road, Auburn. He enlisted in August 1915 at Warwick Farm and sailed on the Port Lincoln in October of that year. He was too late for Gallipoli and stayed in Egypt for seven months before sailing for the Western Front, disembarking at Marseilles on 8 June 1916.
Byrne fought in the fierce battles around Pozières for two months before receiving a gunshot wound to the leg. It must have been a severe wound for Byrne was taken back to the 1st Southern General Hospital, Birmingham in the United Kingdom, where he remained for over a year before returning to his unit, the 13th Battalion, on 24 October 1917.
Byrne served for another eight months on the front line before receiving a gunshot wound to the chest on 4 July 1918. He died the next day at a Casualty Clearing Station before he reached N°3 Australian General Hospital at Abbeville.
Byrne was buried in the Crouy British Cemetery in the village of Crouy-sur-Somme. For his gravestone his parents chose the inscription: WE LOVED HIM IN LIFE LET US NOT FORGET HIM IN DEATH RIP.
With almost three years in the AIF, Byrne was one of the longest serving of the Auburn Memorial men. Accounting for sea travel, troop training and reorganization in Egypt, plus recovery from wounds in the UK, his front line service was around 10 months. He was awarded the 1914-1915 Star so he must have arrived in Egypt before the cut-off date of 31 December 1915.
Auburn Memorial men Byrne E J and Byrne M A were not related.
Michael Byrne is honoured on the following memorials in Australia:
- Auburn War Memorial
- Municipality of Auburn 1914-1919 Honour Roll
- Roll of Honour Australian War Memorial Canberra
His decorations:
- British War Medal
- 1914-20 Victory Medal
