FOXTON SOLDIER’S DEATH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1789, 14 February 1918, Page 3

FOXTON SOLDIER’S DEATH.

THE LATE LANCE-CORPORAL BURR.

By the last mail, Mr and Mrs J. Burr, of Foxton, received the following letter from Palestine, dated December 27th, from Lance-Cor-poral C. A. Pease, giving details of the events in which their son, Lance-Corporal J. G, Burr, was fatally wounded:— “By now I suppose you will have heard that poor old Gordon failed to recover from wounds he received in the late advance on this front. I thought that maybe you would like to hear fuller details of the events in which he was fatally wounded, so I am taking the liberty of writing to you to give you a description of the way Gordon was hit. Gordon and I joined the 16th Company at the same time, and the first time I met him was over a year ago, in Abassia, when our company was being formed up, and since then I have been in the same section, and for the last six months he and I were bivvy mates. On the morning in question I was alongside him in the trench. The Turks were shelling ns very heavily all that morning, and under cover of it advanced and captured a position on our left. From here they could enfilade us, and soon the position had to be evacuated. Wc walked to the end of the trench, then jumped out and ran up the side of a hill. There were two machine guns, find I suppose about 30 riflemen firing at us from about 800 yards, while we were retreating up the hill, but, marvellously enough, no one was hit. However, as soon as avc got over the bill out of ride fire they opened out with their artillery, and the shrapnel poured over. How anyone could run through it and live 1 don’t know, but any amount of ns did run through and not get bit. It Avas this shrapnel that got poor old Gordon, His leg was 'broken about the thigh, and one of his bands pierced Avith a shrapnel bullet, and when be Avas lying on the ground bis other hand Avas hit too. Unfortunately, ho Avas some little distance out on the right, and none of ns soav him go down. As soon as I heard ho was hit, four of us ran back Avith a stretcher and got him on. He was game though, and practically the first thing he said Avas, “Clear nut; leave mo, Tm done. Save yourselves.” However, we got him on, and earned him aAvay hack as quick as avg 'could, because any minute Ave expected the Turks to be on the ridge we had just left, and that would have meant the end of the Avhole lot. In fact, as avc ran hack for Gordon avo were very doubtful if we Avould gel to him before the Turks came mi to the ridge. Had they been on the ridge they could have got us quite easily, but fortunately they halted at the bottom, giving us time to get Gordon aivay. We carried him down, and had his Avounds dressed, and he Avas taken away in an ambulance. We had fairly good reports for a Avhile, but quite suddenly Ave heard that he Avas dead. It gave us a shock, and for a Avhile avc still hoped it Avas only a rumour, but I heard for certain yesterday that be had passed away. There have been a fair number of men from this company who have died, but I don’t think avc felt anyone’s loss so ranch as avc do Gordon’s. Wo miss him a lot in the section, and avc, his bivvy mates, miss him most of all. He Avas a white man through and through, and the Avhole lot of us feel Avith you in your sad bereavement. Gordon Avas always very cheery, and you Avould never hear him groAvl. He Avas pretty well run doAvn before he went out on the stunt, and then losing such a lot of blood Avhen he was hit made i-t a very hard matter for him to pull through. I believe be put up a great tight for it, and in fact they say it Avas only his spirit that kept him alive. I have some of Gordon's private gear, such as collar badges, etc.,but his papers he had with him in his tunic, and I expect they Avill I'onvard them from there. If there is any information you would like, or anything I could 'do for you, don’t hesitate to let me know, and I av i 11 do my best for you.” '