William BURTON (1)

18 May 1917

BURTON - May 3rd 1917, killed in action in France, Private William Burton, Durham Light Infantry, formerly gardener at Moorfield, Silsden, aged 30 years.

18 May 1917

SILSDEN GARDENER KILLED - PRIVATE WILLIAM BURTON

Enlisting from Silsden in the Durham Light Infantry on August 9th 1916, Private William Burton has fallen a victim to the Huns, at the age of 30. A gardener by occupation, he filled situations at Gargrave House, Scale House, near Rylstone, and latterly at Moorfield, Silsden (the residence of Mr. Frank Driver, J.P.) and went out to France on November 21st last. He leaves a widow (a Gargrave woman) and two children. No official news has yet reached Mrs. Burton from the War Office, but she has received the following letter from a war pal, a Bradford man:-

"Dear Mrs. Burton, - It is with deep and heartfelt sympathy I write to tell you that Will was killed in action on Thursday, May 3rd by a shell, on his way to the trenches, and the same shell also killed Fred Murphy and Tom Mitchell. We have all been pals together since coming out here, and we feel the loss of all of them as if they were brothers. This is the saddest task I have ever undertaken to write you, but I feel we would rather we told you. May God be with you in your hour of trial, comfort you, and strengthen you to face the future. Your grief is shared to a smaller extent by his sorrowing pals who have proved his worth out here in all circumstances.

"Sincerely your friends, W. E. INGHAM and Wm. MEARES."

[Private William Edgar Ingham (37720) survived the war. Private William Meares (37712) was killed in action on the 10 May 1917 and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial to the Missing (Bay 8).]

15 June 1917

IN MEMORY OF SEVEN SILSDEN FALLEN HEROES

There was a large congregation at the Parish Church on Sunday morning last, when a service was held in memory of seven young men from Silsden who have recently paid the great sacrifice for King and Country.

The service was conducted by the Vicar (Rev. E. E. Peters, M.A.,) who said they were met that morning, when all nature seemed to speak of joy and gladness, under very solemn and sad circumstances to pay their tribute of respect and affection to the memory of seven gallant men who had given their lives for their country. They were:- Private Fred Hardy, Private Edgar Raw, Private Harry Wade, Private William Burton, Private Willie Saddington, Private John William Baldwin, and Private Charles Henry Gill.

By their presence and by taking part in that service, they gave some expression of the heartfelt sympathy which they felt with the sorrowing relatives.

Private Fred Hardy had not been resident a great many years in Silsden, but he had gained many friends by reason of his cheerful disposition and his pleasant and amiable manners. When the call came he left his wife and his happy and comfortable home to go forth in order to do his duty. They knew how he was wounded, brought to a Casualty Clearing Station, and how for some days there was terrible anxiety as to how the balance would turn. During that time he either wrote himself, or dictated to the good and sympathetic chaplain, most brave and cheerful letters in which he thought of his wife, not at all of himself. He derived great comfort from the consolation of religion, and the chaplain was able to write to his wife and assure her how he died in the faith and fear of Jesus Christ.

Private Edgar Raw was one who gave an early answer when the call first came. He had not the pleasure of knowing him personally, but everyone spoke in the very highest terms of him. He was a most excellent young man, active in religious work, and left behind him a fragrant memory.

He then came to one whose loss had been a peculiarly intimate one to him as well as a personal sorrow, for he knew him well, and like everyone else who knew him, he had a great regard for him. He referred to Private Harry Wade, a young man of great promise and blameless character, a true simple-hearted Christian and loyal Churchman, and a regular communicant to whom he had had the great privilege of administering on more than one occasion since he joined the Army the Holy Sacrament. He was a young man, home loving and home keeping; yet, one who felt it his duty to volunteer to defend his country. Although he had no taste for military life, he nevertheless made a thoroughly good soldier, and one of whom his officer spoke in the very highest terms. His officer said he showed great capability, was always reliable and trustworthy, and one whom he could chose to do important work and knew it would be carried out well. Now he had gone to the home above and left them a very heavy loss indeed.

Private William Burton, who was probably not known to a great many of them, was held in high esteem by those who knew him. He was the gardener at Moorfield, and a man who was thoroughly efficient in his work and took a great delight in it. He, too, was very comfortable in his home with his wife and two children, and had gained the confidence and esteem of his employer. He and three other men were killed going to the trenches by a German shell.

Then he came to one who was well known to all of them - Private Willie Saddington - a young man who was brought up in their Sunday School. He had the distinction, as was generally known, of being one of the five soldiers in Silsden who, at mobilisation, was called up to the Colours at the very beginning of the war. He believed his father was also one of the original five. He had honourable military traditions in his family, and since the war broke out - he was a Territorial, as they knew - he at once volunteered for active service. He was kept back in England for some time on account of being a member of a military band, and at last he went out and had not been long at the Front before he fell doing his duty honourably and gallantly.

Private John Wm. Baldwin was a man much older than those of whom he had spoken. He was a soldier of that grand Army - the old original regular Army. He had served his country in South Africa, served his time in the reserves; a man time expired when the war broke out, and well above age, but still he volunteered to join the Colours again. He was one of those who during the first terrible months of the war maintained our cause against desperate odds. He was wounded at Hill 60 of bloody memory, the scene last week of our great and glorious victory. He never recovered entirely from his wounds, his health having been grievously affected, and he died at the military hospital at Derby, where he had gained the affection of the staff. He was laid to rest in that Parish Churchyard with military honours in the presence of a large and sympathetic congregation.

It was only the previous week that they heard of the death of Private Charles Henry Gill, one whom the stern necessity of cruel war had made into a soldier. He was a young man of retiring disposition, reserved in his manners to the general public, but one full of family affection, and devoted to his home. He had fallen a victim to the monster, called into being by the Prussian lust of conquest.

He wished to speak of three more of their young men who were in a somewhat different category to those he had already mentioned. He hoped they would not have to mourn them as gone, and prayed that good news might come concerning them. They had all been reported missing:- Sergeant Charles W. Newns, Private Norman Phillip, and Private Jack Riley.

They were all intimately connected with that place of worship, having been taught in their Sunday School. Sergeant Newns was one of the most promising young men they had. He was a splendid young man, a good Sunday School teacher, and a gymnast and athlete. He naturally made a very fine soldier and gained the highest testimony from his officers and also from the men he commanded. The last they had heard of him was that he was seen risking his life for a wounded man. They prayed that it might be the will of Almighty God to restore those men to them, as they could ill afford to lose them. He wished on his own behalf, and on behalf of all of those present, to express deep sympathy with those in great sorrow and affliction. It was hard to express in anything like adequate terms what they felt. They all realised that the inequality of sacrifice was one of the sad things of their life - that some had to sacrifice so much while others, whether they were willing or unwilling, were not called upon to make sacrifices of like character. But he assured them that they appreciated in the most complete manner the offerings of their sons and the husbands and of those so near and dear to them, which had been made in the cause of righteousness and truth.

During the service the hymns, 'The saints on earth and those above', 'On the resurrection morning', and 'O God our help in ages past', were sung.

There was a company of Girl Guides present at the service, in charge of the vicar's wife.

The bells were also muffled as a token of respect to the fallen.

03 May 1918

BURTON - In loving memory of my dear husband, Private William Burton, Durham Light Infantry, Gargrave, who was killed in action May 3rd, 1917.

A loving husband and father kind,
Only beautiful memories left behind;
God will link the broken chain
Closer when we meet again.

From his loving Wife and Children.