John Burrows
Memorial: Thornbury - St Mary's Church
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Corporal 7351
Parents: Colour Sergeant John and Mary Ann Burrows
Marital status: Single
Home address: Gillingstool, Thornbury, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Army
Date of birth: 1888
Place of birth: Horfield, Bristol
Date of death: 10/05/1915
Buried/Commemorated at: Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 22 and 34.), Belgium
Age: 26
Further information:
Bronze Tablet and Wooden Memorial Board
John Burrows was the youngest child of Colour Serjeant John Burrows and his wife Mary Ann. In 1891 the family were at Horfield Barracks in Bristol. The five children, whose places of birth reflected John’s career in the army, were Caroline aged 12 born in Malta, Albert Edward aged 7 and Harry Heather aged 4 both born in India, John aged 2 and baby Mary Elizabeth, both born in Horfield, Bristol
By 1897 the Burrows were living at Gillingstool. John was working as an agricultural labourer and his wife was a ‘Monthly Nurse’ (she was later recorded as a certified midwife). Sometime after 1901 John junior became a soldier, joining the Glosters as his older brother Harry had done
By the time of the 1911 census John Snr and Mary Ann had moved to another house, possibly the Dingle, in Gillingstool. This record shows that the couple had nine children but only four were still living. John junior cannot be located on this census but he was presumably away with the army overseas. He served for 11 years, three of which were in Malta
John was home in April 1915, after being at the front, as he was recovering from frostbite. He had only been back in action for a few weeks when he was Killed in Action at the Second Battle of Ypres. John has no known grave
On 9th May during the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge the enemy succeeded in occupying part of the forward trench line held by the 2nd Battalion. Some 30 men were cut off, and two failed attempts to retake the trenches could not rescue them. The survivors eventually managed to make it back to the main line during the night. The Battalion lost five officers (including its commander) and 140 men. John may have been one of them. The battle for the ridge came to a close on 13th May. On 20th May the 2nd Battalion was inspected by the B.E.F. Commander, Field Marshall Sir John French, who told them ‘Your Colours have many famous names emblazoned on them, but none will be more famous or more well deserved than that of the Second Battle of Ypres'
John’s older brother, Harry, had been Killed in Action at Ypres in 1914. Both their names are remembered with honour at Thornbury and on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium
The Menin Gate is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. The site of the gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. The memorial bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. Since 1927 (apart from WW2) the last post has been sounded here every evening
Their remaining brother, Albert, served in the Field Artillery with the British Expeditionary Force in France
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Thornbury Roots Website, Thornbury and District Museum Research Group, Forces War Records and CWGC