George Burrluck (1891-1916)

Post date: Dec 14, 2015 8:57:34 PM

George Edward Burrluck was born in East Malling in 1891 to Thomas and Emma. His father was an "ordinary agricultural worker" at the time of the 1901 census when the family was living in Phoenix Cottages on Red Hill, Wateringbury. At the same time John Burrluck, wife, 4 children and 2 brothers in law also lived in another Phoenix Cottage.

George attended Wateringbury School and won class prizes in 1900, presented by Lady Login, when he was in Standard 1 and again in 1902, presented by Mrs. Walter Fry when he was in Standard III.

By 1911 Thomas and family (now 7 children including George - 2 children had died) had moved from Wateringbury to Hall Cottages, East Barming, a 5 room cottage. George is described in the 1911 census as a farm labourer, but when he enlisted a year later he described himself as a gardener and Elizabeth Whitehead of Barnjet gave him a reference, saying that he was "well mannered and well behaved generally" and she had employed him for 5 and a half years in stable, garden and orchard work.

On enlistment he was still single at 20 years and 11 months of age, 5ft. 6 inches tall with a 36 inch chest; his eyes were grey, his hair light brown, his complexion fresh and he had 2 moles on the back of his left shoulder and a scar from a hernia operation. He enlisted at Maidstone into the Royal West Kent Regiment (service number 9871).

He served "at home" in Dublin, spending 7 days in hospital there in January 1913 with eczema; being formally disciplined also in January for "not taking his service dress to tailor's shop when ordered to do so"; gaining his lance corporal's stripe but losing it when found drunk in Westmorland Street, Dublin at 11.10 p.m. on 1st August 1913.

In October 1913 he was sent to India until January 1915 (passing a elementary standard exam in Pashtu while he was there). He was appointed a unpaid lance corporal in December 1914 and appointed a paid lance corporal in July 1915.

In February the 2nd Battalion of 908 men were sent to Mesopotamia as part of the Anglo-Indian expeditionary force. Also part of this force and also to die there was Arthur Mires from The North Pole. The general operations of the 2nd Battalion of the R.W.K. in Mesopotamia in 1915 and 196 are covered in Captain C.T.Atkinson's book "The Queen's own Royal West Kent Regiment 1914-1919". In March 1915 George was disciplined for irregular conduct on a march at Basra and failing to rejoin his company when ordered. A note on his service file says he was "mentioned in dispatches" by General Sir John Nixon in his report dated 1st January 1916 on the 1915 campaign published in the London Gazette of 4/5th April 1916 but I have not been able to trace his name there.

On his file is a letter dated 21st February 1916 saying that the writer, A. Creasey of the Knole Igtham, had not heard from him since a letter dated 15th November from Kut-e-Amaral. His/her letter of November 15th was some just before British forces, having over-reached themselves in Mesopotamia, had retreated under enemy fire back from Salman Pak to Kut and before the Ottomans commenced their seige of Kut on 8th December 1915. He is shown as being hospitalised on S.S. Mosul and then in Kut in early December with dysentry. Several attempts were made to relieve Kut but all failed and the garrison, including George, of over 13,000 British and Indian officers and men faced with starvation surrendered on 29th April 1916. Officers were generally treated well by the Ottomans but ordinary soldiers terribly and of the British (as opposed to the Indian) 2,600 other ranks 1,700 (70%) died on enforced marches or in captivity. Of the 226 of the 2nd Battalion R.W.K. who passed into captivity only 69 survived.

His father received a form from the war office dated 25th August 1916 saying that he was presumed to have been taken a prisoner but on his service record, George is recorded as having died of diarrhea as a prisoner of war in "Turkey" on 8th July 1916. This was based on a translation of the Red Crescent report sent to the Red Cross in Geneva, which says he was buried at the Hote el-Americain prisoners cemetery in Mossul. Mossul is some 600 km from where he was taken on surrender at Kut.

The following appeared in the Kent Messenger on 23rd September 1916:

His parents seem to have moved quite frequently when he was a child and continued to do so: by 1917 the War Office is writing to them at Gidds Pond, Boxley and subsequently they were at Victoria Cottages, Betsham (near Southfleet).

He is commemorated at the memorial at Basra on panel 29. Arthur Mires is commemorated on the same panel 29. The Basra Memorial was moved in 1997 and is now located 32 kilometres along the road to Nasiriyah, in the middle of what was a major battleground during the first Gulf War.