Second Lieutenant Sydney BURDEKIN (1904)

Royal Field Artillery, attached to 10th Trench Mortar Battery
Born 16 October 1885
Killed in action 27 September 1915, aged 29
Commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Pas-de-Calais, France.

Sydney Burdekin was the son of Sydney Burdekin of 197 Macquarie Street, Sydney, Australia. His family had a Queensland river, a hotel and an Australian warship named after them. Sydney senior was a noted politician and Mayor of Sydney in 1890, and the family home was the centre of high society.

He was educated at the Armidale School in New South Wales, before leaving Australia to come to Merton in 1904. He did not complete his degree, leaving Merton in June 1906, after which he played rugby for Rosslyn Park before returning to Australia in 1912.

Returning to Britain in 1915, he was gazetted as Second Lieutenant in February, and joined the Royal Field Artillery, serving in France.

Sydney Burdekin was reported missing on 27 September 1915, during the Battle of Loos.