War hero’s grave marked after 60 years
SIXTY years after his death, the final resting place of Burbage war hero Sharrad Gilbert has been marked for all to see.
A memorial in the shape of cairn has been unveiled in St Catherine’s Churchyard to commemorate the much-decorated Boer War and First World War veteran in St Catherine’s Churchyard.
Among a large congregation who gathered to commemorate his life in a service of prayer and reflection were the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire Lady Gretton, the mayor of Hinckley and Bosworth Cllr Ozzy O’Shea, Leicestershire County Council chairman Cllr Janice Richards and Burbage Parish Council chairman Cllr Stan Rooney.
Representatives of the 3rd Battalion Royal Anglian Regi- ment, No 2 Company, a successor unit to the Leicestershire Regiment in which Mr Gilbert served, were also present, together with members of the Royal Yeomanry (Derbyshire and Leicestershire) who formed a Lance Guard.
One of those representing E Squadron (Leicester), Burbage resident Staff Sergeant Darran Hall, had served two tours of Afghanistan, echoing Mr Gilbert’s own service.
There was an ex-services contingent of banners from Hinckley and District, Loughborough and Broughton Astley and the Union standard was carried by the chairman of Hinckley and District branch of the Royal British Legion, Chris Lincoln
On the altar was a replica set of Sharrad’s medals along with a Boer War slouch hat and bandolier of the type used by Mr Gilbert and his comrades, taken along for the occasion by Boer war expert Stephen Dance from St Albans.
During the service, led by the Rector of Burbage, Father Andrew Hall, the mayor, Cllr O’Shea gave a Bible reading of the sermon on the mount and historian Greg Drozdz talked about Mr Gilbert’s life, based on his research.
Mr Drozdz said: “We were there to commemorate a life of devotion, loyalty, faithfulness and service before self.”
Mr Gilbert served for 35 years service in the Leicestershire Regiment and worked for a staggering 74 years in the local hosiery industry.
His retirement at the age of 80 was reported in The Hinckley Times in 1947.
He also had the distinction of writing a book on the Boer War called Rhodesia and After.
Still in print more than a cen- tury after first publication, copies were presented to the guest dignitaries on the day.
Each of the military personnel received a Victoria Cross keyring, courtesy of local medal enthusiast Stephen Kell- away who, together with members of Burbage Heritage Group helped to lead the move for Mr Gilber’s village connections to be publicly recognised. The soldier’s former home was demolished to make way for a new housing estate and the exact location of his grave unknown until churhwarden Martin Mellor found records which enabled it to be identified. An appeal to raise £4,500 for a memorial was launched last November by the group, and supported by Joseph Barsby, managing director of G Seller and Co funeral directors and memorial masons based in Upper Bond Street, Hinckley. Fundraising was led by St Catherine’s Church, with Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council giving a grant and Burbage schools adding their support.
Material for the memorial cairn was sourced in China, travelling here across the same oceans that Mr Gilbert would have sailed during his overseas service, and specially created headstone was decked in a Union flag before a short ceremony, at the graveside under the late summer sun.
Bagpipes had played to welcome service-goers and the church bells rang out as those at the graveside returned to the church.
Mr Drozdz said: “Sharrad Gilbert can no longer be dubbed the forgotten hero.
“Yes, of course, normal life went on in the village: A farmer’s market, the usual round of village life in all its great panoply but woven into the warp and weft of the village’s history, the injustice of an unmarked grave has now been put right.
“This was Sharrad’s day in the sun.”