Captain Frederick Osborne- Royal Fusiliers

[Guest WALL]

Hi,

I'm trying to find out more about Cpt. Frederick Osborne of the Royal Fusiliers. His story is mentioned briefly in the last chapter of Denis Winter's book- Death's Men.

"He joined up in 1914 with five of his mates from Folkestone. The only souvenir they all wanted was to get back home safely. At the end of the war, he was the only survivor and stayed on to tend the cemeteries of the Ploegstraat area, marrying a Flemish wife. In 1962 he retired after a lifetime of looking after the dead of his youth and all of his memories. He speaks Flemish like a native and is respected in the village. Cafe owners send any touring Briton to his little house. There his great pride is his vegetable garden, and his great pleasure is to talk of his sons to any visitor. The accent remains stubbornly Kentish and the little radio set on the front room table is always tuned to the BBC. Captain Osborne is typical of the many who felt a compelling duty to stay where so many of their comrades had died and to come to terms with grief where grief had been born."

The story is not referenced in the edition of the book that I have and I'm having trouble finding out more. I'd be grateful for any other info people might know.

Thanks