Fusilier Joseph Burns (6976036) served in 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers during the Second World War. He was the 4th son of John Burns and Margaret Burns (née Harvey) of Morgan's Hill, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone.
He died on 19th May 1940 aged 28 years old. At the time, 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers were part of the rear-guard during the British Expeditionary Force retreat to Dunkirk. That day, the Luftwaffe carried out bombing and strafing of the Fusiliers’ position along a 5,000-yard front north-east of Ninove near the River Dendre.
Joseph Burns’ grave is in Section 12, Row A, Grave 5 of Heverlee War Cemetery, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium. His name is on the Cookstown War Memorial, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. His headstone in Belgium bears the inscription:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.