Hero Postman Herbert has no marked grave

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/Hero-Postma ... story.html?

As the centenary of the Great War continues, the Mail has been working with historian Malcolm Goode to remember the men from the Burton area who fell during the conflict, known as the ‘ war to end all wars ’


Corporal Herbert Bailey

HERBERT was born in Burton in 1889, the son of Charles and Jane.

The family lived in Walker Street, Burton, with siblings Sidney, Edith, Lilly, Walter and Charles.

Before enlisting as a reservist in the North Staffordshire Regiment, he was employed as a postman.

The first battalion entered France on September 10, 1914, and carried out trench duties in the Ploegsteert area.

Historian Malcolm Goode said it was possible Herbert was part of the historic Christmas Day truce.

He was killed in action, aged 25, in the Chapelle D'Armentieres sector, but has no grave. His name is marked on the Ploegsteert Memorial, in Belgium.

At the end of the war, his parents collected his medals.



Read more: http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/Hero-Postma ... z3R3acprQ1
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[Lounge Lizard]

'Gone for a Burton' Very sad.

[DB1100]

Lounge Lizard,why be disrespectful,much better to say nothing than to try and get a laugh at a dead Soldiers expense.

[Lounge Lizard]

Lounge Lizard,why be disrespectful,much better to say nothing than to try and get a laugh at a dead Soldiers expense.

DB,
Not disrespectful at all.
Gone for a Burton is a euphemism meaning to die, first used in the Royal Air Force in World War II to refer to aircrew killed in action.

[silly suffolk]

all the old matelots I used to work with always referred to their old comrades being in Davey jones locker. no disrespect was ever meant. all the old boys on lancs who lost so many friends said their number was up. that's the way it was dealt with and still is.

[Red Robbo]

Don't make excuses, the remark was disrespectful to the dead soldier, next time you buy a poppy think of him !

[silly suffolk]

Don't make excuses, the remark was disrespectful to the dead soldier, next time you buy a poppy think of him !

when I go to my mrs mums grave theirs an old boys head stone next to hers that is from the London regiment. he died in 1915. the post office rifles were part of the London reg. the bloke was 44 when he died. I tend his plot. I don't make excuses for no one.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Don't make excuses, the remark was disrespectful to the dead soldier, next time you buy a poppy think of him !

Thats the weird thing, this ex-serviceman, who lost mates, is not offended, and in fact had a wry smile on his face when he read it.

The forces have many ways of coping with death, and one of them is playing it down. Gone for a burton is an old one, but its not the only one, bit the big one, went in, checked out, sticky end and of course it had his name on it. None are meant to be disrespectful they are just a coping mechanism.

In a strange way I think he would have understood.

[DB1100]

Don't make excuses, the remark was disrespectful to the dead soldier, next time you buy a poppy think of him !

Thats the weird thing, this ex-serviceman, who lost mates, is not offended, and in fact had a wry smile on his face when he read it.

The forces have many ways of coping with death, and one of them is playing it down. Gone for a burton is an old one, but its not the only one, bit the big one, went in, checked out, sticky end and of course it had his name on it. None are meant to be disrespectful they are just a coping mechanism.

In a strange way I think he would have understood.

This ex serviceman who has lost friends didn't have a smile on his face when I read it,it is one thing for those in the service family who have faced the prospect of death to lighten the blow but not a civvy,also the remark was meant as a play on the fact that the poor soul was from Burton and the lounge lizard took the opportunity to show what a razor wit he has.

[Lounge Lizard]

Don't make excuses, the remark was disrespectful to the dead soldier, next time you buy a poppy think of him !

Thats the weird thing, this ex-serviceman, who lost mates, is not offended, and in fact had a wry smile on his face when he read it.

The forces have many ways of coping with death, and one of them is playing it down. Gone for a burton is an old one, but its not the only one, bit the big one, went in, checked out, sticky end and of course it had his name on it. None are meant to be disrespectful they are just a coping mechanism.

In a strange way I think he would have understood.

This ex serviceman who has lost friends didn't have a smile on his face when I read it,it is one thing for those in the service family who have faced the prospect of death to lighten the blow but not a civvy,also the remark was meant as a play on the fact that the poor soul was from Burton and the lounge lizard took the opportunity to show what a razor wit he has.

DB,
It’s gratifying that my “razor wit” has at long last been recognised but I don’t accept that such remarks should be the privilege of servicemen and ex-servicemen and denied to a mere “civvy”, especially a civvy who, as I explained some time ago, has much more experience of the Ministry of Defence than most members of this forum.
“silly suffolk” and “TrueBlueTerrier”, as would many of us who have lived through half of the twentieth century, recognise that such parlance, of which there were and are numerous examples, has long been a way of coping or dealing with the loss of a colleague and that no disrespect was ever meant.
Well remembering the effect that being gassed in “the Great War” had on my grandfather, who died forty years ago, and knowing of grandparent’s brothers that died in that war I probably have as much respect as anyone for those who made sacrifices, and especially the ultimate sacrifice, for a just cause – and I regularly bought a poppy when survivors of the two World Wars were the British Legion’s main beneficiaries.