Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

 
Extract from The Roll of Honour, A Biographical record of all members of His Majesty's Naval and Military Forces who have fallen in the War, by the Marquis de Ruvigny, Volume I., The Standard Art Book Company, Ltd, December, 1916:

BURGES, WILLIAM ARMSTRONG, Lieutenant, 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, 2nd son of the late Francis Lockie Burges, of Irwin House, Irwin, Western Australia, Squatter, and grandson of the late Francis Carleton Burges, of Fethard, co. Tipperary, M.D.; b. Irwin aforesaid, 3 June, 1889; educated Campbell College, Belfast; Armagh Royal School, and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieutenant 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, 20 April, 1910, transferred to the 1st Battalion 20 April, 1911, and promoted Lieutenant 15 Oct. 1914; killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, while leading a charge of his platoon, 10 March, 1915; unmarried. Rifleman James Scott of this Regiment wrote that in the attack on the German second line they "were met with a murderous fire from a machine gun which for an instant made our men waver. An officer, Lieutenant Burges, leading our platoon, No. 8, B Company, dashed into a stream of water which reached to his neck, and which ran parallel to the second German line wire entanglements. He called out as he plunged into the water: 'Follow me, No. 8; be quick and we will capture that machine gun.' Straight away every man followed this gallant officer. Once across the stream, 'Form up, No. 8,' and away we went towards the machine gun like hounds after the hare. We followed this officer over the German third line of trenches, and away in full cry towards the village of Neuve Chapelle, in our efforts to capture the accursed machine gun, which was playing the deuce with our men. Dashing forward to a wood on our right where the gun was concealed, our gallant officer received a bullet wound in the neck, which ended in his death.... As our Colonel said, by his dash and contempt of death, he brought victory to our arms and credit to our Regiment At 12 noon our Regiment found itself close up to the village, more advanced than any other Regiment of the division, thanks to the gallant lead of a gallant officer." Lieutenant Burges was mentioned in F.M. Sir John French's Despatch of 5 April [London Gazette. 22 June], 1915, for gallant and distinguished conduct in this action.