Burgess, Charles Dykes: Service no. 405539

Source: September 1916 K.I.A.

Family Search: Lance Corporal Charles Dyke Burgess was born on 23 August 1888, in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom as the son of Chales Burgess and Harriet Barker. He married Winnifred Clara Dale on 9 December 1909, in Cobourg, Northumberland, Ontario, Canada. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 1 daughter. He immigrated to Canada in 1902 and lived in Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada in 1915. He registered for military service in 1915. In 1915, at the age of 27, his occupation is listed as motorman, toronto street railway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He died on 15 September 1916, in Courcelette, Somme, Picardie, France, at the age of 28, and was buried in Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.

WOUNDED AND MISSING

Pte. Charles Dykes Burgess, 135 Seaton street, a former motorman on the Toronto Street Railway, was wounded on September 15 and afterwards reported missing. He is 28 years old and was born in England. He has been 12 years in Canada. His brother Alan [Allan Bugess, 91715] enlisted in the artillery at Cobourg and another brother, John, enlisted from Australia.

Source: Toronto Star, Nov. 27, 1916

DEATH NOT BELIEVED.

Missing since Sept. 15, Pte. Chas. D. Burgess, formally a motorman of the Toronto Street Railway, is now officially reported killed in action. “But I do not believe he is dead,” declared Mrs. Burgess to The Star. “Something [insistently] tells me that he is alive and will come back to me again.” Honors as well as suffering were his. He entered the trenches with a draft in March 1916, and shortly afterwards won his D.C.M. [Distinguished Conduct Medal: note that his service records do not confirm this.] for grimly holding on with one companion against overwhelming odds.he was an Englishman Lancashire born, 28 years of age, and had been in Canada 12 years. He leaves a widow and four little children, the eldest only 5, at [135] Seaton street.

Source: Toronto Star – April 17, 1917