To commemorate the signing of the armistice 100 years ago on 11 November 1918 we will be remembering the soldiers and sailors from Osmington Parish who did not return.
Research has been undertaken by Osmington History
Each day in the run up to 11 November we will remember an individual serviceman.
In St Osmund’s church in Osmington Dorset, there is a
framed tapestry that commemorates the soldiers from the parish who fought in
the Great war between 1914 and 1918.
It lists all those who took part in the conflict,
including those who were killed and those who survived. It records young men
from the village of Osmington and the surrounding hamlets that come under the
parish boundary; Osmington village, Osmington Mills, Poxwell, Ringstead, Upton,
Holsworthy.
Were it not for the careful production of this tapestry
by a member of the local community, we may not have remembered all of these men
and the sacrifices that they made during this war. It states,
“To the Glory of God and in memory of those men from the Parish of
Osmington who served in the Great War 1914-1918”.
The village church has a brass wall plaque that lists
those who paid the ultimate sacrifice stating,
“To the Glory of God in memory of the men from this parish who gave
their lives in the Great War 1914-1918
Rest eternal grant unto them O Lord and let light perpetual shine upon
them”.
The First World war ended officially on 28 June 1919 with
the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, although fighting ceased once the
Germans surrendered on 11 November 1918. As the centenary of the signing of the
armistice approaches, we look back at each of the stories of those from our
local community who played a vital role in the war and paid the ultimate
sacrifice.
Foreword
World War 1 was a catastrophe. It began with horses, infantry and rifles and
ended with tanks, machine guns and fighter planes. There were no winners. Even those states who were nominally the
victors were exhausted and their economies were in ruins. The excuse for the war was self-defence but
in reality, it was about empires and expansion, greed and the settling of old
scores.
It was the first ‘total’ war and it affected everyone in
Great Britain. For the first time, ariel
bombardment from the skies took place on our homeland. Millions of men were mobilised and millions
of women were put to work on 12 hour shifts to work in the armaments factories
and on the land. No county and no class
were spared. Sadly, the war sowed the
seed of an even more dreadful conflict which began only 20 years later.
We must learn the lessons of this tragedy and we must never
forget those who were embroiled in its carnage.
Those who went off to war so proudly and in good faith, who suffered in
the trenches and died in their thousands.
These were ordinary men who were living in ordinary towns and villages
like Osmington, working hard to better their lives and those of their
families. A whole generation of young
men lost. This booklet is one of the
ways that their sacrifice will be preserved forever in our memories and their
histories will be retained forever in the conscience of our nation. It is a record of men who bravely and
willingly offered their safety and their lives to defend freedom and our way of
life, to support our allies and to do what they felt was right for their
beliefs.
As those immortal words written by Laurence Binyon said,
‘Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun,
and in the morning, we will remember them.’
Brigadier Jeff Little OBE MBA CGIA FSyl FRSAPatron Osmington History
Name
|
Wilfred
George Burden
|
Address
|
Poxwell
|
Date of
Birth
Place
|
1897
Osmington
|
Date of
Death
Place
|
14/04/1917
Bradford War Hospital
|
Family
Info
|
Son of John and Elizabeth Burden, of Osmington.
He had two sisters Eva and Annie, and an elder and two
younger brothers Alfred and Maurice
|
Military
Information: Died 14 April 1917
1st
Wiltshire Regiment Service Number 29753
Wilf died of acute bronchitis in the Battle of Arras
when troops were shelled by tanks. He was evacuated back to England where he
died in Bradford war hospital.
Wilfred was the only soldier killed in World war One
that is buried in the churchyard in Osmington and his grave is marked with a
family headstone and a Commonwealth war graves headstone.
|
|
Further
Information:
Born in
Osmington but he lived in Poxwell, he was the second eldest son and worked as
a domestic servant. His father a farm labourer died in 1913 and his mother
remarried into the Baggs family, living in Osmington until her death in 1955.
The family headstone dedication reads,
“ Wilfred
George Burden son of above (John Burden) who died in Bradford War Hospital
April 14 1917 aged 20 years.
Greater
love hath no man than this: that he lay down his life for his friends”.
|
Wilf was buried with full military honours and the
village turned out in force at his funeral. The following news clipping from
the Western Gazette on 27 April 1917 describes the event in detail.
His mother received a message of sympathy from the King
and Queen.
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