Fusilier Cecil Howard Butler (6975545) served in 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers during the Second World War. Butler was born in Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh. He was the husband of Violet Elizabeth Butler (née Allen) of Fairmount Avenue, off the Kevlin Road, Omagh, Co. Tyrone.
Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Butler worked in the Engineering Department of Omagh Post Office. He also served as a Sergeant in the Ulster Special Constabulary in the Co. Tyrone town.
In late June 1940, Butler’s wife received news that her husband had sustained injuries during the campaign in Belgium. Some newspapers reported, he was in a military hospital in England. By November 1940, the news from the Belgian Red Cross was that Cecil was killed in action. A letter from the British Red Cross passed on the information to his widow and 2 children aged 7 and 5 years old, informing them that a burial took place in Krombeke, Belgium.
He died of wounds in a military hospital on 27th May 1940. At the time, 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers made up part of the BEF rear-guard during the retreat to Dunkirk. The Battalion faced strong opposition over the bridges at La Bassée Canal and continued their fighting fall-back towards the French coast.
Cecil Howard Butler’s grave is in Section XVII, Row A, Grave 15 of Dozinghem Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. His name is on a family memorial at Dublin Road Cemetery, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, and on the Brookeborough War Memorial, Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh.