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218109 Pte. William H. Burrell British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment from:Fishbourne, Chichester (d.22nd May 1916) Pte. William Burrell served with the Royal Sussex Regiment 2nd Battalion. He was executed for desertion on 22nd May1916 and is buried in Mazingarbe Communal Cemetery and Extension, Mazingarbe, France. His grave bears the inscription ‘ The will of the Lord be done. Acts 21.14. Dad, Mum’. William Burrell, was one of two sons of Charles Alfred and Fanny Burrell of Mill House, Fishbourne, Chichester, enlisted prior to the outbreak of war. Aged 19, he arrived in France and joined the Royal Sussex Regiment toward the end of November 1914. He went missing after several weeks, was captured, tried and in May 1915, received a death sentence which was commuted to imprisonment. Almost a year later Private Burrell was released and returned to his regiment at Loos but shortly afterwards went missing again , was re-captured, tried and executed on 22nd May 1916, now aged 21. The following statement was added to Burrell’s file by Lt General Henry Wilson, Commanding First Army:- ‘The particulars of the offence, as given in the charge sheet, were not completely proved before the court, but I do not think any injustice has been done. I recommend that the extreme penalty be carried out…’ His younger brother, Ernest, had been killed in action at Ypres whilst William was serving his prison sentence. Please type your message:      We recommend you copy the text about this item and keep a copy on your own computer before pressing submit. Your Name:             Email Address:       @ **Please put the first part of your email, (before the @ sign) in the first box, and the second part in the second box. Do not include @, it is automatic. Do not enter your full email in each box or add an @ sign or random spaces.**