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LIVES OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
The E.J. Boys Archive

Added 05.10.11. Minor edits 14.4.14.

846, Private William BAKER - 11th Hussars

Death, burial & memorialisation

This page focuses on death, burial and memorialisation. In many cases, there is considerably more information in the EJBA e.g about his childhood, military career, medals, discharge, and family and later life, but this is not being posted online at the moment. If you can contribute photographs (for example showing the current state of a grave or memorial) or additional information, or have a particular interest, please contact the editors.

Birth & early life

Born at Scarborough c.1816.

Death & burial

Died at Camp Kadikoi on the 5th of July 1855, aged 39 years.

Buried in the 11th Hussar Cemetery on the road between Kadikoi and Karani. His name appears on both the combined memorial board that was erected, and a separate one. (There is a copy of the memorial inscriptions in the 11th Hussar file.)

In a letter to his family on the 9th of July 1855 Sergeant John Howes of the 4th Light Dragoons, referring to his comrades dying around him almost daily, wrote:

"Many a man who rises in the morning in the enjoyment of good health is dead and buried the same day. A singular instance occurred a few days ago in the 11th Hussars, they are lying close to us, one of their men died sometime in the forenoon and one of the Hospital orderlies who assisted in sewing the man up in his blanket was buried in the same grave at 6 o'clock that evening, so I will leave you to judge our state of uncertainty of life."

From such a combination of dates etc., the latter was almost certainly William Baker (who was a Hospital Orderly in the Crimea from the 1st of April - 30th of June 1855), the other man concerned being 1659 James Wiffen of the regiment.


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