Will O'Brien Posted 3 December , 2005 Share Posted 3 December , 2005 As per CWGC Name: BURNS, ROBERT HENRY Initials: R H Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment: Devonshire Regiment Unit Text: 16th (Royal Devon and R. North Devon Yeomanry) Bn. Age: 19 Date of Death: 03/12/1917 Service No: 345370 Additional information: Son of Robert and Annie Burns, of 22, Richmond Rd., Exeter. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Y. 72. Cemetery: JERUSALEM WAR CEMETERY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will O'Brien Posted 3 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2005 & the cemetery info Cemetery: JERUSALEM WAR CEMETERY Country: Israel Location Information: Jerusalem War Cemetery is 4.5 kilometres north of the walled city and is situated on the neck of land at the north end of the Mount of Olives, to the west of Mount Scopus. Follow the signs for Mount Scopus. At the crossroads with the Hyatt Hotel, which is on the left, turn left. There is an orange sign which reads "Military Cemetery". Go to the top of the hill, cross almost straight over the junction, then turn right and sharp left. The cemetery will be visible at this point. Historical Information: At the outbreak of the First World War, Palestine (now Israel) was part of the Turkish Empire and it was not entered by Allied forces until December 1916. The advance to Jerusalem took a further year, but from 1914 to December 1917, about 250 Commonwealth prisoners of war were buried in the German and Anglo-German cemeteries of the city. By 21 November 1917, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force had gained a line about five kilometres west of Jerusalem, but the city was deliberately spared bombardment and direct attack. Very severe fighting followed, lasting until the evening of 8 December, when the 53rd (Welsh) Division on the south, and the 60th (London) and 74th (Yeomanry) Divisions on the west, had captured all the city's prepared defences. Turkish forces left Jerusalem throughout that night and in the morning of 9 December, the Mayor came to the Allied lines with the Turkish Governor's letter of surrender. Jerusalem was occupied that day and on 11 December, General Allenby formally entered the city, followed by representatives of France and Italy. Meanwhile, the 60th Division pushed across the road to Nablus, and the 53rd across the eastern road. From 26 to 30 December, severe fighting took place to the north and east of the city but it remained in Allied hands. JERUSALEM WAR CEMETERY was begun after the occupation of the city, with 270 burials. It was later enlarged to take graves from the battlefields and smaller cemeteries in the neighbourhood. There are now 2,514 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery, 100 of them unidentified. Within the cemetery stands the JERUSALEM MEMORIAL, commemorating 3,300 Commonwealth servicemen who died during the First World War in operations in Egypt or Palestine and who have no known grave. No. of Identified Casualties: 2437 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will O'Brien Posted 3 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2005 Robert's online MIC index entry can be seen here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Miller Posted 3 December , 2005 Share Posted 3 December , 2005 This, I believe, was the 16th Devonshire's ( as the Royal North Devon Hussars became) bloodiest day. As well as Private Burns, and probably many others, six men from my local area were killed on 3 Dec 1917; Frederick John Carey, Frank Grant, Frederick Thomas Miller, William Nott, Daniel James Shapland and John Bowden. My research on local soldiers covers approx 250 killed in WW1. The worst day was the first day of the Battle of Loos 25 Sept 1915 when 10 local men were killed in the attack by the 8th and 9th Devons. Six killed on 3 Dec 1917 was therefore a pretty grim statistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 4 December , 2005 Share Posted 4 December , 2005 From SDGW Born Gloucester Enlisted Exeter KIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recyclops Posted 4 December , 2018 Share Posted 4 December , 2018 Robert was actually my great great uncle. Our family records say he enlisted in the 1st Devon Yeomanry rather than the 16th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 5 December , 2018 Admin Share Posted 5 December , 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Recyclops said: Robert was actually my great great uncle. Our family records say he enlisted in the 1st Devon Yeomanry rather than the 16th. Welcome to the forum The 16th Battalion Devonshire Regiment was formed in January 1917 from elements of the dismounted Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry and North Devon Yeomanry and absorbed into the famous 74th (‘broken spur’) Division http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/74th-yeomanry-division/ They became dismounted when they were posted to Gallipoli in October 1915, after the Dardanelles they moved back to Egypt for duty on the Suez Canal Defences until being absorbed into the 74th Division. This is quite an old thread and there is now much more information which shows he first Entered a theatre of war (Egypt) on 23/09/1915. A Territorial soldier, he could legitimately join the Yeomanry at seventeen for home service but he was under age for active service overseas. Ken Edited 5 December , 2018 by kenf48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recyclops Posted 5 December , 2018 Share Posted 5 December , 2018 4 hours ago, kenf48 said: Welcome to the forum The 16th Battalion Devonshire Regiment was formed in January 1917 from elements of the dismounted Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry and North Devon Yeomanry and absorbed into the famous 74th (‘broken spur’) Division http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/74th-yeomanry-division/ They became dismounted when they were posted to Gallipoli in October 1915, after the Dardanelles they moved back to Egypt for duty on the Suez Canal Defences until being absorbed into the 74th Division. This is quite an old thread and there is now much more information which shows he first Entered a theatre of war (Egypt) on 23/09/1915. A Territorial soldier, he could legitimately join the Yeomanry at seventeen for home service but he was under age for active service overseas. Ken 4 Thanks so much for the information, I've been doing a bit of research on the Great War for a school project and I thought it would be a great idea to add a part about Harry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recyclops Posted 5 December , 2018 Share Posted 5 December , 2018 Here are some pictures of him and his medals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 5 December , 2018 Admin Share Posted 5 December , 2018 They’re nice things to have, there are collectors on the forum who may be able to advise on display. They are named to the unit he was serving with when he first entered a theatre of war. I misled you slightly in that the 23 September was the embarkation date of the Devonshire Yeomanry from Liverpool. It’s a bit of a mystery as to why his record shows he first entered a theatre of war, Egypt as the war diary does not mention putting into that country. It may have been his age, but the war diaries seldom mention the movements of individual soldiers. The diary, for the period they were in Gallipoli can be read on Ancestry here It’s indexed as ‘Derbyshire Yeomanry’🤔 The diary for the time they were in Palestine and when he was killed, can be read but has not been digitised so would mean a visit to National Archives at Kew http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4557830 Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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