James Burns was born in Newcastle in 1897. He had 8 brothers and sisters and his eldest sister Mary who was 18 years old took care of the family as their parents had died very young. There was not alot of money as their was no welfare state then. They did have aunts and uncles who helped them.
James lied about his age to join the Army and said he was born in 1896 which made him 18 but he was actually only 16 because his birthday was not till the September. So when world war one came in August 1914 he could join up to the Army and not be a burden to his family. He would have somewhere to lay his head and be fed three times a day.
They were dark days and he was given the role of a gunner in the Northumbria Fuseliers. The big guns which were pulled by horses. So the gunners had to look after the horses as well feed them take care of them and get them water to drink.
The men had to created latrines for the men each time they decided their base for operations. Set up a food station and a medical tent. Alot of soldiers worked in wet mud most of the time and suffered from trench foot. Fleas had to be burned out the the seams in their uniform which came from the rats looking for food which lived in the trenches with them. A candle was run up the seams to kill the fleas but it was just as bad the nest day.
Many a time the food run out because of war supplies were often cut off from the front line. The red cross used to give the men tins of corned beef to survive on and many said they would have starved if the Red Cross had not been so brave and kind.
Dysentry was also a problem because of the filth not being able to wash your hand before eating or after going to the toilet. Germs passed from one person to another.
James was wounded and had a metal plate in his head after an explosion and was also gassed in the trenches. The guns were targetted by the Germans who tried to blow them up with mortar shells and bombs.
James met Agnes Elizabeth Todd born in August 1901 in Newcastle where she was in service to a Lord and Lady when he was 25 years old and she was 21 years old. They married in 1922 and had three children two girls and a boy. James first in 1925, Mary in 1927 and Agnes in 1928.
James died in 1953 of stomach cancer form the gassing but he did get to hold his grand daughter before he died. The only grandchild born from Mary his daughter. His son James died aged 47 years in 1975 after suffering for many years from Epilepsy endured in a fall as a trainee plumber by falling off a roof. He married but had no children.
Agnes died aged 60 years in 1989 from complications of medication for Rhematoid Arthritis which she developed in her 20’s. She married but had no children.
James wife Agnes died in 1988 aged 87 years of heart problems after a life of hard work and looking after a wounded husband.
Mary their daughter lived to a great age of 97 years she too worked hard as a tailoress and was widowed at 35 years. Her husband was a carpenter and was working away from home and died in a car crash.
Nothing is known of the 8 brothers and sisters James Burns had and nothing is known why his parents died so young, but the spanish influenza took many in the early days of the century. Many children did not live passed the age of 5 years as chicken pox, measles, whooping cough, influenza, was rife with no immunisations available in those days.
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