Sapper James Burgon

Sapper James Burgon, Inland Water Transport, Royal Engineers. He died on Active Service at sea, aged 40, on 26th February 1918 and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Basra, Iraq. He was born in Eyemouth  and was the son of the late George and Elizabeth Burgon and the husband of Elizabeth Burgon of Chapel Street, Berwick-upon-Tweed. He had been a fisherman when he enlisted in the K.O.S.B. in September 1914. However he was discharges as” unlikely to make an efficient soldier”. He then enlisted in the Royal Engineers in January 1917 and was posted to Mesopotamia in December 1917 but was reported drowned on route.