David John Burbridge was born in Horsham, Sussex on 6th September 1886 to Joseph Henry Burbridge and Ellen Mary (née Brown). In 1901 the family were living in Lambeth, London.

By 1911 he had moved to Thame where he was boarding at 32 Upper High Street with James West and family and was employed by him as an assistant motor engineer. In July 1911 he married James’s daughter Ella Kate Stacey West at the Wesleyan Chapel. They had two children, Ivy Doreen born 14th September 1912 in York and Stanley David born 11th July 1914 in Thame (died 1917).

They lived at Garfield, 34 Upper High Street, Thame. Ivy (also known as Joy) went on to marry the prominent violinist, Alfredo Campoli.

After they had moved to Belper, Derbyshire, David enlisted in the Army Service Corps at Coventry on 18th August 1915 and was accepted for machine gun service. In February 1916 he was posted to East Africa, embarking on the troopship HMT Huntsgreen, arriving in Mombasa, Kenya on 16th March 1916.

By 27th June 1916 he had been promoted to Acting Corporal and was attached to the 4th Light Armoured Battery at Dodoma, where he contracted malaria in January 1917.

By 12th March 1917 David, age 30, was in hospital in Dar es Salaam suffering from dysentery, eventually dying from the disease on 23rd April 1917.

M2/117262 Acting Corporal David John Burbridge, Army Service Corps, is buried in Dar es Salaam War Cemetery. He is remembered in Thame on the War Memorial and on St Mary’s Church Memorial Board.