John Butler was a boilermaker from Toowoomba who enlisted at the age of 33 in 1917. On the other hand, he was not John Butler, a 39-year-old miner who enlisted in Western Australia two years earlier. And yet the war history of this western Butler appears in the records of the Butler from Toowoomba. Unfortunately, the Toowoomba Butler’s war history was not nearly as well documented as his older counterpart.
What is known is that soon after he arrived in Sydney following his enlistment, Butler was charged with deserting his majesty’s forces whilst on active service and was subsequently detained for three days. This incident did not deter him from being absent without leave twice more that year.
Butler finally arrived in France with the 25th Battalion in January 1918, during a period in which they were wintering. He was admitted to hospital the next month with sickness, taking several weeks to recover. By this time the 25th Battalion was involved in countering the German Spring Offensive. Butler instead was moved around behind the lines, including the Allies base at Etaples, before finally arriving at the Australian General Base Depot in Le Havre in June. By August he was back in England and returned to Australia soon after the war ended.
Butler was added to the Toowoomba British Football Association honour board in May 1918, though the specifics of his participation in soccer remain similarly unclear. The only known Butler to play in the Toowoomba competition before the war did so for Gowrie Ferns in 1914, but no initial was given, while the game was underreported before 1911.