Ninth Generation

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463. Ernest William BURDETT was born on 16 Jun 1892 in Ingbirchworth, Yorkshire. In 1911 he was a Weaver in Denby Dale, Yorkshire. From 30 Oct 1916 to 7 Dec 1917 he was a Grenadier Guardsman (No. 27575) in Ypres (Passchendaele), Flanders, Belgium. He enlisted on the 30th October 1916. All his overseas service was as Guardsman 27575 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. The Guards were regarded as being among the elite units of the British Army. Unfortunately no service record survives but the cross-referencing of available records indicates that his first overseas service would have been about the second quarter of 1917. This was just in time for the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards (part of the British Expeditionary Force, Fifth Army, XIV Corps) to take part in the Third Battle of Ypres – commonly known as the Battle of Passchendaele. General Sir Douglas Haig’s main aim was a breakthrough to the coast of Belgium so that the German submarine pens could be destroyed as the current losses of merchant shipping could not be sustained. The Fifth Army under General Hubert Gough led the opening attack from Ypres at 03.50am on 31st July 1917. To their left was a corps of the French First Army and to their right was 1 Corps of Sir Herbert Plumer’s Second Army. As was the norm for any major Allied offensive, a heavy artillery barrage (consisting of some 3,000 guns firing 4.25 million shells) had been launched at the German lines from 18th to 28th July and so the Germans were fully prepared for the Allied attack. The Grenadier Guards were at the northern end of the divisional line-up.
31st July – 2nd August 1917 - The Battle of Pilckem - first phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. The 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards advanced and gained the Pilckem Ridge. Further attempts to renew the offensive were severely hampered by the onset of heavy rains, the heaviest in 30 years, which churned the Flanders lowland soil into a thick muddy swamp. (Ironically the very force of the preliminary bombardment had itself destroyed drainage systems.) Tanks got stuck. The shell craters had filled with water and did not allow advancing men the opportunity to hide in them. Attacks were called off and did not resume until September.
Siegfried Sassoon wrote:
I died in Hell
(they called it Passchendaele) my wound was slight
and I was hobbling back; and then a shell
burst slick upon the duckboards; so I fell
into the bottomless mud, and lost the light.
17th September – 20th September 1917 - The Battle of the Menin Road – third phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. The assault of the Guards was a small but significant gain in the small scale battles to take possession of the ridge east of Ypres.
9th October 1917 - The Battle of Poelcappelle – sixth phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. Despite the return of heavy rain, Haig ordered further attacks towards the Passchendaele Ridge. The Guards attack was unsuccessful. As well as the heavy mud, the advancing British soldiers had to endure mustard gas attacks.
12th October 1917 The First battle of Passchendaele – seventh phase of the Third Battle of Ypres.
Once again the attempted Allied breakthrough failed to materialise. It was on either 9th or 12th October 1917 that Ernest William Burdett was wounded. (The village of Passchendaele was finally taken on 6th November 1917. The Third battle of Ypres had been very costly. For the sake of a few kilometres, the British had 310,000 casualties. Sir Douglas Haig was severely criticised for continuing the attacks long after the operation had lost any real strategic value.)
Ernest William Burdett was discharged from the Grenadier Guards on 7th December 1917. The cause of discharge was stated as “Wounds” and his age was noted as 25½ years. As was quite usual during the war no record of the exact injury was kept officially. The soldiers who died were merely recorded as “Killed in Action” or “Died of Wounds” but their next of kin would have received a letter from the Commanding Officer. This would have overwhelmed the system. Ernest’s Commanding Officer, Henry Stratford, merely noted the discharges due to “Wounds” or “Sickness”. On the page of twelve discharges on which Ernest was mentioned, eight were “Wounds” and only the four discharged through “Sickness” warranted a one word explanation - kidney, pneumonia, sunstroke and neurasthenia. (Neurasthenia meant “shell shock”.) In fact Ernest was injured when a bullet went through his leg above his ankle, a “Blighty Wound” . He was brought back to England and a photograph was taken of him when he went to convalesce in Bournemouth. On discharge he was immediately sent the Silver War Badge and Certificate number 279,369. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal on 28th January 1920. He died of auricular fibrillation, myocardial degeneration, bronchitis and senility on 26 Jun 1967 in Bar House, Upper Cumberworth, Yorkshire. He was buried on 29 Jun 1967 in St. John's Church, Denby, Yorkshire.

Ernest William BURDETT and Lily BARRACLOUGH were married on 9 Dec 1911 in Independent Chapel, Netherfield, Penistone, Yorkshire. Lily BARRACLOUGH (daughter of Reuben BARRACLOUGH and Laura TURTON) was born on 12 Apr 1892 in Putting Mill, Denby Dale, Yorkshire. She died of septicaemia following childbirth of Streptococcus origin on 16 Nov 1929 in Seacroft Hospital, Leeds, Yorkshire. A post-mortem was held and the cause of death was natural causes. An inquest was held on 18 November 1929 by the Deputy Coroner for Leeds, H.B. Jobbings. Ernest William BURDETT and Lily BARRACLOUGH had the following children:

+528	i.	Winifred (Winnie) BURDETT.
+529	ii.	Hilda BURDETT.
+530	iii.	Harold BURDETT.
+531	iv.	Stanley BURDETT.
+532	v.	Ronald (Ronnie) BURDETT.
533	vi.	Raymond BURDETT was born on 20 Jul 1926 in Denby Dale, Yorkshire. He died of myelogenous leukaemia on 6 Jan 1935 in Denby Dale, Yorkshire.
527	vii.	Lily Margaret (Margaret) BURDETT MALLINSON.

Ernest William BURDETT and Florence May DICKINSON were married about 1947 in Scissett, Yorkshire. Florence May DICKINSON was born about 1904 in Scissett, Yorkshire. Florence had an illegitimate daughter, Olive Dickinson, who married Reg and went to work in Workington. She died Congestive heart failure, chronic bronchitis, operation for obstruction of the bowel (5/5/53) on 28 Jun 1953 in Briarfield, Denby Dale, Yorkshire. She was buried on 1 Jul 1953 in St. Nicholas' Church, Cumberworth, Yorkshire.