Armidale World War 1 Memorial Fountain 890 names on this fountain ... I found one of my Australians on here and I wondered if this may help somebody else !
Annie, I am guessing this is Armidale the town as opposed to the School. My Aussie rugby player Syd Burdekin does not appear on this fountain, although he went to the Armidale School. Slightly surprised that the town is not a little more 'inclusive'... 890 is an astonishingly high number for a town that's not too huge. Must have been a ghost town in 1919 best rgds Stephen
Stephen The Armidale School draws pupils from all over regional New South Wales, so the ex-students who joined up would probably be counted in their place of origin. I'm not sure in this case, but I suspect that the names indicate all of those from Armidale who enlisted, rather than just the fatal casualties. This was a common practice in Australian country towns. Regards Gareth
Gareth, Syd was a Sydney man so that would account for it. Quite a famous family by all accounts and the name continues to be prominent, I gather. My project to which you have contributed elsewhere continues to uncover more players. The 72 target which came from the newspaper clipping looks like being exceeded. While there are some logical explanations for this - dying of wounds after 1918, 'missing' being confirmed dead, there may also be a degree of human error. Many of the players were not Londoners by birth(or even English), or would not always have had memorial notices in national papers, so may have escaped the notice of the Club secretary who apparently compiled the list. He was also quite possibly something of a snob, and may have chose to ignore players who committed the cardinal sin of leaving the club like AF Todd who played for the Lions, and then left for Blackheath. Lots of coincidences too - the ground where the club now stands was used as a training depot for the kite balloonists, one of whom was a player who died in Italy. The project may become a book. rgds
Stephen Have you had a look for your man at: http://www.warmemorialsnsw.asn.au/ It might be worth a try (excuse the pun when referring to Rugby men). Gareth
No sign of him there. I also noted from this search a) what you told me about survivors being commemorated, not just fallen and b) where I did find a Burdekin (probably related), I noted all names were AIF. Syd served with the British Field Artillery, having returned from Australia to fight. Is it possible that only those who served in the Australian army are commemorated?
From what I've read of the establishment of memorials in Australia (see Sacred Places by K S Inglis) the coverage rather depended on the enthusiasm of the local council, or whoever was assembling the list, and the cooperation of the public. Bearing in mind that there were lots of AIF names to be remembered, and the difficulty of knowing what had happened to locals who went overseas to join up, I'd guess that putting a non-AIF name on a memorial would require a fair bit of effort by interested parties. However, it did happen, eg the Norfolk Island War Memorial has the names of the Islanders who served in both the AIF and NZEF - but there we're talking about a small community with a manageable number of names. Gareth PS Now that I think about it, the Norfolk Island Memorial includes an Islander who was commissioned in the South Staffords after discharge from the AIF. G
This maybe another coincidence but I believe he's under Galvin !! - and SB Galvin is inscribed on the fountain ! In Memory of Private SIDNEY BURDEKIN GALVIN 2561, 33rd Bn., Australian Infantry, A.I.F. who died on 27 May 1917 Remembered with honour STRAND MILITARY CEMETERY http://www.cannonade.net/honour.php
And heres the other soldier named Burdekin ..... In Memory of Private JAMES VIVIAN BURDEKIN 579, 15th Bn., Australian Infantry, A.I.F. who died on 08 August 1915 Remembered with honour LONE PINE MEMORIAL http://www.cannonade.net/honour.php
Annie, Nice sleuthing, but my guy died 28/09/15 at Loos recorded by CWGC, and all the material I have on him, including considerable detail on his school career says Sydney Burdekin - his dad was mayor of Sydney. The Burdekin family name has obviously found its way to this chap too, so he must be some relative. I think it's most likely that he is commemorated somewhere in Sydney. I have been in touch with his old school but they have not mentioned a memorial. Stephen
Have now seen yuor extra post re James Vivian Burdekin. Rings a bell and may well be a brother, so will check, as I vaguely recall the name in school papers. Thanks
You might try McIlwraith, McEacharn Shipping Co. they may have a memorial to their fallen ! and he's remembered on the Merton College Register
This is definitely not my man who died at Loos as an RFA Trench Mortar man. I have a vague memory that there may be a Galvin family that internmarried with the Burdekins so they may be related. all best
