GED4WEB version 4.41 For privacy reasons, Date of Birth and Date of Marriage for persons believed to still be living are not shown.
Duxbury Kay [Male] b. ABT 1879 Little Bolton - d. 20 JUL 1919
1841 census Bolton Street OD (HO107/503/9/6)
1921 Census - At Midland Hotel Derby
Does not appear in Butcher & Barlow letter of 6/9/26
1921 Census - At Midland Hotel Derby
Travelled to
1928 Quebec
1929 and 1930 Port Said, Egypt
1933 Barbados
In Canada in 1926
1939 Register School Master Unmarried, staying in a hotel in Penrith
10 October 1939 sailed to Montreal from Liverpool
In South Africa in 1926
Would appaer to have sailed to the Cape, South Africa on
17 Jan 1923
24 Oct 1930 and
30 April 1932
Occupation - Farmer
1891 Census: Bury St Thomas's Vicerage Rochdale Rd (RG12/3137/29)
CONC
Bury Times
Saturday 19th February 1945
Major Gordon H Duxbury
Brother Officer Says He Was Killed In Action
Reported missing during operations in the Mediterranean war zone in December Gordon H Duxbury of the Orchard, Manchester Road, Bury, is now unofficially stated to have been killed in action. The news has reached his parents Mr and Mrs Percival Duxbury in a letter from a brother officer now a prisoner of war. He says that "Major Duxbury showed exceptional bravery and was buried with full military honours". The news comes from such a reliable source that it leaves very little hope, it may be some considerable time before official news is received.
Bury Times
29th December 1987
War Hero Discovered
Some 44 years after the event, the World War II bravery of a Bury man has finally been revealed.
Maj Gordon Duxbury, of the Yates Duxbury family of paper manufacturers, single-handedly obliterated two German machine gun positions with hand-grenades before being killed by enemy gunfire in the little-known 1943 battle for the small Greek island of Leros.
This has been revealed by a former member of The King's Own Royal Regiment who claims to have met Mr Duxbury prior to the battle.
In a letter to the Bury Times, Mr Albert Eastwood, a one-time resident of Rochdale, now living in the United States, said he first became acquainted with Maj Duxbury when the latter was stationed with the Lancashire Fusiliers in Egypt.
The two men did not meet again until they were both assigned to The King's Own Royal Regiment, which eventually left Egypt from the port of Alexandria and headed to the destination of Leros, in the Dodecanese chain of the island just off the south-west coast of Turkey.
During the voyage to the island on a destroyer Maj Duxbury told Mr Eastwood of his strong distaste for the Germans, based on his previous experiences of war while serving in France.
To emphasise his point the Bury soldier reportedly said: "Eastwood, the Bosche will never take me prisoner."
In his letter, Mr Eastwood frankly admits that he thought little of Maj Duxbury's comment at the time.
But when the battle was over and Mr Eastwood learned of the Bury's soldier's courageous exploits he had to say about the major: "I fully realised he had created his own crucifixion and was on a one-way ticket."
Now 75 years old Mr Eastwood said he was told of Maj Duxbury's heroics while interned as a prisoner of war, but he says he cannot remember the name of the man who conveyed the story.
He does recall that the man was a corporal and remarked that "the sincerity in his voice left no doubt it was true."
Summing up the story, Mr Eastwood wrote of Maj Duxbury: "He must have known it (the battle for Leros) was a hopeless situation ... and that was how he had decided to go out."
The transplanted Rochdalian said he got the inspiration to write the letter and tell all about the Bury soldier from an article that appeared in a recent edition of the regimental magazine, The Lion & Dragon.
That article, written by Mr Raymond Williams, of Newby Bridge, Cumbria announced that a second reunion of veterans from the battle of Leros will be held on the island next September.
It was Mr Williams who arranged the soldiers' first reunion in June 1986, several months after he had published a book titled "The Long Road from Leros", about the battle and its dire consequences - both for those who died in combat and those like Mr Eastwood and Mr Williams, who were taken prisoners by the Germans.
Forgotten by nearly everyone expect the men who fought in it, the battle for Leros was a losing proposition for British soldiers, who were swept from the island by a brutal German offensive.
One man who has certainly not forgotten Leros - or the bravery of the Bury man - is Mr Eastwood, who plans to visit the island next September to attend the reunion in remembrance ceremonies honouring those who died there.
With Maj Duxbury firmly in mind, Mr Eastwood said he will visit Leros "if only to leave a thought for a very brave man a gentleman."
The following information was obtained from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
Major Gordon Hinshelwood Duxbury, 76561, serving with The Lancashire Fusiliers, attached to The King's Own royal Regiment (Lancaster), died between the 13th and 16th November 1943, aged 34, and is buried in Plot 4 Row A, Grave 5 in Leros War Cemetery, Greece. He was the son of Percival and Florence Annie Duxbury of Headington, Oxfordshire.
Leros War Cemetery is on the eastern side of the Island of Leros, on the shore of Aghia Marina Bay and is separated from the sea by the Cost road. It is situated about 2 kilometres west of the town of Leros.
The following information was obtained from The King's Own Royal Regiment Museum, Lancaster:
Major Gordon Hinshelwood Duxbury (Army No 76561) joined the 1st Battalion of The King's Own royal Regiment just before they arrived in Cyprus. He was killed in action on the Island of Leros on 14th November 1943. From the Regimental list of officers: "An Officer of the Battalion states "Major Duxbury had gone forward alone and personally grenaded two enemy machine gun posts, but was mortally wounded when going onto deal with a third post."
Source
Title: Ronald Taylor -- Personal Research
Source
Title: Peter Duxbury ---- Personal Knowledge
At time of death married with 2 sons and 1 daughter
Source
Title: Tony Foster --- Personal Research
Source
Title: 1851 census
Source
Title: 1851 census
1881 cenus 137 Bolton Road, Darwen
of 353 Blackburn rod Bolton Admon to Miriam Duxbury, widow ú175/11/4d
Will: of Sunny Bank Gathurst Wigin ·306/16/1d
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