One hundred British soldiers died on this single day in 1918. 73903 Private William John Tanner Burrows of the Labour Corps was one of those men. He died of nephritis on the 21st January 1918 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
William was born in Buckingham and enlisted at Hitchin in Hertfordshire. He originally joined The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt) on the 26th February 1917 and went to France almost immediately. His surviving papers note that he was in England for just twelve days before he sailed for France. William was 32 years old when he joined up; a married man with three young children aged four, three and one. His occupation is noted as packer and warehouseman and he was medically classified as C2.
William was given the number 47268 and was sent to a labour battalion before transferring to the 124th Company, Labour Corps in May 1917. His papers indicate that he was granted leave between the 23rd December 1917 and the 6th January 1918 and presumably he returned to England to see his wife and children. Little would they realise of course, that it would be their last Christmas and New Year together and that just over a fortnight after he left them, he would die in a Belgian hospital.
Three months after his death, May Burrows received her husband's effects. These are itemised as: disc, wallet, letters, razor, scissors, photos, strop, cap badge, lock of hair, three religious books, purse, and a defaced 50 cent note.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
Sources:
Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, WO 363)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War
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