Thomas William Burdett was one of the youngest Rutland soldiers to die, but from illness not in battle. A private with the Royal Marine Light Infantry, he was born at Stamford on 6 October 1897, the son of Herbert William and Clara Burdett of Wing. He enlisted on 13 November 1914, when he was just 17 years and 1 month old. Within five months he was dead, after contracting spotted fever before he had a chance to serve abroad. He apparently had recovered from the first attack but then had a relapse and died in the Royal Marine Infirmary, Deal, on 15 March 1915. He was buried in Deal Cemetery with full Military Honours and now lies next to two other 17 year olds who died around the same time. His grave is underneath a tree, surrounded by a family memorial with an inscription suggesting his parents had moved to Lyndon. But he is remembered on Wing's war memorial, as well as the one in Langham. Before enlisting, Thomas worked for the Midland Railway Company at Wymondham, Leicestershire, so may have been lodging in Langham at the time.

To find his grave, start at the board with the cemetery map and take the right hand path (Memorial Avenue) and then the first left (Hibiscus Path) and you'll see the headstone beneath a tree. The poppy symbol on the map marks the grave. Also see below.

Photograph of Thomas courtesy Langham Village History Group