From Essex and Herts Observer, 14 December 1918:  RETURNED PRISONER’S DEATH. – Pte. David Button, 23. M.G.C., who had returned to Dunmow, from Germany where he had been a prisoner of war since April, died at his home on Sunday.  His case was hopeless, due to the starvation he had undergone in Germany and the hardships he endured.

Grave of David William Button, aged 26,
Private in the Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
and also of the Essex Regiment,
buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Great Dunmow

Propaganda Poster © IWM (1919)

Census 1901 – Parsonage Down, Great Dunmow
Henry Button, head, married, aged 58, occupation bricklayer, born Great Dunmow
Elizabeth Button, wife, married, aged 45, born Great Dunmow
Henry Button, son, aged 11, born Great Dunmow
William Button, son aged 8, born Great Dunmow (assume this is David)

Census 1911 – Parsonage Down, Great Dunmow
William Hoy, aged 78, married 7 yrs, occupation old age pension, born Essex, Dunmow
Elizabeth Hoy, aged 56, married 7 yrs, born Essex, Dunmow
Henry Button, stepson, 20 years, single, butchers man, born Essex, Dunmow
David Button, stepson, 17 years, single, farm labourer, born Essex, Dunmow

From the rural beauty of Great Dunmow’s Parsonage Down to the horrors of the trenches and a Prisoner of War camp in Germany.
Parsonage Down, 2012
Parsonage Down, 2012
Parsonage Down, 2012

David is commemorated on Great Dunmow’s War Memorial.

Their Name Liveth For Evermore

You may also be interested in
– Memorial Tablet – I died in hell
– Memorial Tablet – I died of starvation
– Memorial Tablet – I died of wounds
– The Willett family of Great Dunmow
– Postcard from the Front – To my dear wife and sonny
– War and Remembrance – The Making of a War Memorial
– Great Dunmow’s Roll of Honour

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