Young, George Burch (George)
Fusilier
No. 3128307, 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
Killed in action on Wednesday 29 May 1940 (aged 28)
Buried:
Bedford House Cemetery, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Enclosure No. 6 V. C. 9)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Newtownards and District War Memorial
BIOGRAPHY
George Burch Young was born on 23 April 1912 in William Street, Newtownards and he was the third son of James (Jim) and Annie Young (nee Wilson) of Corry Street, Newtownards and later 20 Frederick Street, Newtownards.
During the Great War, Rifleman James Young (No. 582) served with the 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles and he was killed in action at Thiepval on 1 July 1916.
In civilian life James Young worked as a carter and general labourer and he and Annie Wilson were married on 20 December 1907 in Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards. James Young (aged 20 years and 3 months), a carter from 35 William Street, Newtownards was a son of Andrew Young, a fisherman (deceased). Annie Wilson, a factory worker from 65 William Street, Newtownards was a daughter of Samuel Wilson, a labourer.
James and Annie Young (nee Wilson) had five sons, four of whom were baptised in Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards (no record there for James):
Andrew (born 26 October 1908 in William Street, Newtownards)
James (born 2 July 1910 at 102 Leopold Street, Belfast)
George Burch (born 23 April 1912 in William Street, Newtownards)
Robert (born 17 August 1914 in William Street, Newtownards)
Elliott Thiepval (born 12 October 1916 in William Street, Newtownards; his mother named him Elliott after his late father’s Captain, Elliott Johnston MC, and Thiepval after the place where his father died)
In the early 1930s George Burch Young joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers and he served abroad in Egypt, Palestine, and India.
As an Army Reservist, George Young was called up at the outbreak of hostilities and he was 28 when he was killed in action in Belgium on 29 May 1940; his age was inscribed as 34 on his CWGC headstone.
In the 20 July 1940 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle there were three Roll of Honour notices:
One from his mother, brothers, sister-in-law, nieces Maureen and Georgina, uncles, aunts, and grandmother. This notice contained the verse:
God is good, He gives us grace
To bear our heavy cross;
He is the only One who knows
How bitter is our loss
One from his grandma, uncles, aunts, and cousins. This notice contained the verse:
At the river’s crystal brink
Christ shall join each broken link.
One from the officers and members of the Temple of Loyalty LOL No. 481 and R.A.P.C. Newtownards.
There were Our Heroes – In Memoriam notices commemorating both father and son in the 24 May edition of the Newtownards Chronicle, and they contained the verses:
The call came quick, the shock severe,
We little thought the end was near;
Only those who have lost can tell
The pain of parting without saying farewell.
We were not there at time of death
To hear his last faint sigh,
To whisper just a loving word,
Or even say goodbye.
We shall meet them in the morning
At the dawn of a brighter day.
Fusilier George Young (No. 3128307) was buried in Bedford House Cemetery, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, and there is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:
TOO GOOD IN LIFE
TO BE FORGOTTEN IN DEATH
Fusilier George Young (No. 3128307) is commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial.
During the Second World War his brother Robert was also on active service.