1890 - 1917
his last recorded hours and the location of his death
On
the 20th of September 1917 2nd Lt. FB Burd was commanding XIII Platoon,
D Company of the 2/4th Bn. The London Regt. in the Saint Julien Area of
the Western Front. The order of the day was to capture the ground in front
of them and clear the Germans from the area. The operations report is
here.
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Phase 1: The assembly
On the 19th of September at 9pm four Companies of
the 2/4 London (A,B,C,D) started to assemble and when in position lined
up in box formation and made ready to advance to the first objective -
a MEBUS (a fortified concrete emplacement on the right sector of the Divisional
front) located
here. The assembly was completed by 3am after 6 hours of
slogging through the mud, records indicate that the men had to be tied
to each other to avoid slipping off the path and missing the trail.
Floyd Low's mapping that illustrates phase 1 is
here.
Phase 2: The assault
At 5.40am of the 20th of September the fire of the
barrage guns intensified signaling the start of the advance. A, B, and
C Companies of the 2/4th advanced on the MEBUS and D Company
was in the rear 'mopping up' the Germans who had hidden or evaded capture
during the advance. At 6.15am the Commanding Officer of the
2/4 London reported by telephone, to the Brigade HQ that the MEBUS had
been captured.
Floyd Low's mapping that illustrates phase 2 is
here.
Conclusion:
In the Missing Officer Enquiry Report dated 15th October 1917 here
his orderly and runner, a Pvt. Pretious, declared that 2nd Lt. FB Burd
was blown to pieces by a shell. His location was estimated to be in front
of the MEBUS. It was a common tactic for the Germans to fire on their
own positions when they were being overrun, they could kill more of the
attackers that way. So as near as we can estimate the last position of
Frederick Burd can be found on this
map. The war diary for the 2/4 London Regt for the 21stof September
records him as reported killed here
NOTE:
In preparing to write this page I was assisted by Floyd Low a member of
the Central Ontario Branch of the Western
Front Association. He did the work involving the maps and actual location
work and many thanks go to him.
For those of us who wish to know exactly where this spot is today, in
modern day Belgium, check this map
