The project
Daniel Burges became a pet project of mine. He was born in London in July 1873 and served for many years with the Gloucestershire Regiment. When he died in 1946, he was cremated and, to date, no plaque or marker exists for him. Since July 2005 I had been getting donations together to get a plaque put in place at Arnos Vale Cemetery. I reached my total (£600) and the plaque was been made!! Burges was one of the "1 in 10" to survive a VC action and receive his Victoria Cross.My VC Project
Lt. Col. Daniel Burges VC DSO
The man....
The day of the unveiling
The plaque was made by my new found friend, Alwyn Leek of Bristol & West Memorials. I don't know about you, but I think he's done a great job! The plaque was finally unveilled on 24th October 2006 - 60 years to the day Dan died. Originally I imagined about 15 people being present. Less than a week before it hit 20, then 30, then on the Monday night - the day before - I received a phone call to say it may nudge 40! The 24th started out with Jane and me in the kitchen making thousands of sandwiches, cakes etc. At 1.45pm I was at the cemetery welcoming everyone, but by 2pm when the service was due to start, I was becoming overawed by the day. just after 2.20pm I finally stepped up to welcome everyone and managed "Ladies and gentleman thank you for coming to the unvilling of the plaque to Lt Col. Daniel Burges..." then I choked. It took me a good 60 seconds to regain what little composure I had left and on I continued.After my inital welcome, the Padre to the RGBW stepped and said a few words, and then the plaque was handed over to the cemetery trust for safe keeping. The Last Post was played, followed by 2 minutes silence and then Reveille, all accompanied by a standard bearer from the local Glosters Association. Another new found friend, Col. John (ex-South Wales Borderers) stepped and read "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old...... At the setting of the sun and in the morning, we will rememer them". After a final thank you and letting everyone know were the tea & biccies were, a Burges family member stepped out and publically thanked me for everything that I'd done - I choked... again! It seems the final head count fell between 55 & 60 people! More than I ever imagined. Thanks again to everyone that came. Here's a photo of me & my better half, just after I'd passed the plaque in to the care of the local cemetery, Arnos Vale, here in Bristol.
And one of the plaque....
The story behind the man
He joined the army in 1893 as a 2nd Lieutenant and steadily progressed up through the ranks, including active service in the Boer War, to the heady heights of Major (acting Lt Colonel) in 1915. After the war, he had already joined a group of businessmen in Bristol, known as The Society of Merchant Venturers. This is an "elite" group of men that back in the deep dark history of Bristol, actually ran the city! After leaving the army in 1923, he became Governor and Lord of the Tower of London. This "tour of duty" lasted ten years and after went into obscurity for a few years. At the outbreak of WW2, he rejoined his old regiment and became a member of the recruiting staff for the Glosters. In 1946, whilst at a Merchant Venturers' meeting, he was taken ill and died later that night.His medals are now in the safe hands of the Regimental Museum in Gloucester. I've been lucky enough to view them as they are not on public display. Below is a photo of his full entitlement, including his DSO, the French Croix De Guerre avec palme and Greek War Cross with silver star..... and a close up of the VC.
Click on the images to see bigger versions. NB - the bigger image of the full entitlement is 540kb and the VC is 260kb. The images will open in a new window.
