Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History Bookaction off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =BULMAN, THOMAS=, Carpenter's Crew, M. 4701, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =BULPITT, WILLIAM ARTHUR=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 6089), S.S. 682 (Chat.), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =BUNCE, CHARLES HENRY=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 1123), 158786, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._ =BUNCE, CHARLES RALPH THOMAS=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 7195), S.S. 102156, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914. =BUNCE, EDWARD=, Chief Stoker (R.F.R., A. 1987), 163524, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =BUNCE, JOHN HENRY=, Private, No. 2418, 15th Battn. (P.W.O. Civil Service Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), 2nd _s._ of Samuel Bunce, of 21, Dyson Road, Leytonstone, by his wife, Alice Amilia, dau. of Henry Allen; _b._ Forest Gate, co. Essex, 24 Aug. 1894; educ. Swaffield Road and Wadsworth Technical Institute; joined the Civil Service Rifles in Aug. after the outbreak of war and died of wounds received accidentally at a bomb instruction near Bethune, 24 July, 1915. He was buried in the cemetery Noeux des Mines; _unm._ His Capt. wrote: "Your son was a universal favourite--cheerful, willing, and a hard worker, and a very promising soldier"; and his platoon sergt.: "In the Army the best that can be said of any man is that 'he is a good soldier.' Without any hesitation I can say that your son had fully qualified for this high standard. He was well disciplined, obedient, and always ready to do anything he was called on to undertake; the mere fact that he was selected for instruction in bomb throwing shows that his superiors had a thorough confidence in his abilities." [Illustration: =John Henry Bunce.=] =BUNN, GEORGE=, Seaman, R.N.R., 5222B, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =BUNYAN, BENJAMIN JAMES=, Ship's Steward, 340125, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914. =BURBRIDGE, WALTER=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 794), S.S. 103586, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914. =BURCH, ARTHUR THOMAS=, Private, No. 27, 8th Battn. (90th Rifles) Canadian Expeditionary Force, _s._ of George Burch, of Woodnesborough, co. Kent, Agricultural Labourer, by his wife, Mary Jane, dau. of the late William Oldfield; _b._ Woodnesborough, 20 Dec. 1887; educ. there; emigrated to Canada in July, 1910; enlisted on the outbreak of the war, Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Ypres between 24-30 April, 1915; _unm._ He was at first reported missing, then in Aug. to have died, and finally (2 Dec. 1915) was officially stated to have been killed between the dates given above. =BURCH, WILLIAM JOHN=, Petty Officer, 2nd Class (R.F.R., B. 229), 153490, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =BURCHELL, FRED=, Private, R.M.L.I. (Ports.), 11716, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =BURCHELL, FREDERICK HUGH=, A.B., J. 9672, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =BURCHETT, ARTHUR=, Sergt., No. 7882, 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of the late William Burchett, Labourer, by his wife, Eliza (Peal Common, Elstead), dau. of George Pullen, Farmer; _b._ Peal Common, Elstead, co. Surrey, 3 March, 1890; educ. National School there; enlisted 10 June, 1908, and served in Egypt 1909-11, and afterwards became a postman at Elstead. On the outbreak of war he was called up, went to France 12 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at the Battle of the Aisne, 14 Sept. following, being buried at Soupir; _unm._ His brother, Private Thomas Burchett, No. 7285 (sometime a postman at Godalming), was officially reported missing, 30 Aug. 1914, and is (1916) a prisoner in Germany. =BURCHILL, THOMAS=, Leading Stoker, 276152 (Dev.), H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =BURDEKIN, GEOFFREY ERIC=, 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. Notts and Derby Regt. (Sherwood Foresters), attd. 1st Loyal North Lancashires; yst. _s._ of Benjamin Thomas Burdekin, of Sheffield and Baslow, co. Derby, Solicitor, by his wife, Emily Jane, dau. of the Rev. Jeremiah Stockdale, Vicar of Baslow; _b._ Sheffield, 29 March, 1893; educ. Bramcote, Scarborough, Rugby and Woolwich. He was gazetted to the 2nd Battn. Dorsetshire Regt. 20 Sept. 1911, and served with it in India for two years. In 1913 he resigned his commission owing to ill-health, and was articled to his father as a solicitor. At the outbreak of the European War he applied for a commission, and was given one in the 3rd Reserve Battn. of the Sherwood Foresters, and was afterwards attached to the 1st Loyal North Lancashire Regt. with which he was serving when he was killed in action at Beuvry, 26 Jan. 1915. He was buried at a farm near Beuvry; _unm._ His Capt. wrote: "The circumstances under which your boy and many other valuable men lost their lives were perhaps the most unfortunate that can be imagined. We were some four miles distant from the firing line at the time, and it was one of three shells that happened to strike us when the battn. orderly room was being held in the morning. Being in temporary command, I was taking orderly room myself and was only some six or seven yards distant from the spot where the shell burst, and how I and the Adjutant, who was standing beside me, escaped I really don't know, for men within a couple of yards of us were killed instantaneously. What I remember was a deafening crash, a blackness, and the noise of broken glass falling. As soon as the air had cleared of débris we saw the fearful havoc that had been caused. You have one great consolation, however. Your son was spared all pain and suffering, for death was absolutely instantaneous; also that he was buried. The inability to bury one's dead owing to their having been killed on the ground between the opposing trenches has, I think, been one of the most horrible features of the war. It is, I think, unnecessary for me to assure you that your son maintained to the end the high traditions of a British officer and gentleman. We were together during the night attack on 31 Dec., and his coolness under a heavy fire was very marked. Although he did not belong to the Loyal North Lancashires but to his own county regt., yet he always took an interest in his men and was a zealous officer. On the very morning that he was killed, I had picked him out to take command of a company because I had the greatest confidence in him. He was always cheerful, and had endeared himself to us all. We feel the loss greatly." [Illustration: =Geoffrey E. Burdekin.=] =BURDISS, WILLIAM=, Stoker, R.N.R., 2985T. H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =BURDON, EDWARD=, Pioneer. No. 110982, Royal Engineers, 3rd _s._ of Edward Burdon, of Southwick-on-Wear, Joiner, by his wife, Margaret, dau. of Richard Wake |