BACK THE ROYAL GAZETTE Friday, 20th February, 1915.
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MILITARY FUNERAL AT
SOMERSET
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Most Impressive
Procession.
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WATCHED BY VAST CROWD ALL
ALONG THE ROUTE.
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  As a sequel to the sad accident which occurred on Wednesday last the four members of the BM.A., a large military funeral took place on Thursday afternoon when three of the members of the Corps who were fatally injured were buried with military honours in the new military cemetery at Somerset.

�In the Midst of Life we are in Death.�
  The event itself was one which is remarkable as coming suddenly into the midst of the peaceful everyday life of the islands. It touched everyone with a feeling of deep sadness, or sympathy for all those immediately concerned and of regret for the loss of four men who were carrying out the duties of their chosen calling when Death took them.
   There is no record in our annals of so forcible an illustration of this reflection made eight hundred years ago by a monk who watched from the window of his cell, men working and dying under somewhat similar circumstnces to those which hurried our countrymen into Eternity.
Military Funeral.
The full honours of a military funeral were accorded to all the men.
   The body of Sergt. Fowler, we understand, was conveyed to St. George�s where his funeral took place.
   In the case of Gunners Dill, Butterfield and Alick, the bodies remained in the mortuaries at Boaz Island until the time for the funeral service.
Union Jack Covers Coffins.
  They were placed in coffins covered with the Union Jack and carried on biers by their comrades, the band of the B.M.A. preceeding them.
   Carriages containing the relatives and friends of the deceased followed to the number of twenty or more.
His Excellency The Governor Present.
  With the desire to do honour to the men who had died in the execution of their duty, it was noticeable that various contingents of the army and navy attended, including members of the R.C.R. and a contingent from Warwick Camp, headed by Captain R. Tucker, B.V.R.C.
   His Excellency the Governor was there, accompanied by Major Nugent, D.A.A. & Q.M.G., Colonel Carpenter, R.C.R., Captain T.M. Dill and Lt. Hamilton, B.M.A.
The Dead March.
  The enormous funeral procession, watched by hundreds of spectators wound along the road to the cemetery, the sorrowful strains of the �Dead March� mingling with the hollow sounds of the waves falling on the shore which fringes the road from the mortuary to the cemetery on Boaz Island.
   At the gates of the new military cemetery, the funeral was met by the Rev. F. McQuade, B.A., Naval Chaplain.
   The beautiful service was rendered more impressive by the surroundings of the cemetery which lies close to the sea shore. At its conclusion a volley was fired over the graves and the bugles sounded �The Last Post.�
Names of Victims.
  The full names of the unfortunate men are:--


SERGEANT WILLIAM FOWLER, of St. George�s;

GUNNER AMBROSE (BURCHER) ALICK, of Devonshire

GUNNER WILLIAM BUTTERFIELD, of Somerset.

GUNNER ALFRED DILL, of Devonshire.
The Men�s Dependents.

   We understand that the men were all married and leave wives but only in two cases, children, behind them. No doubt these dependents will be dealt with in a spirit of generosity befitting the circumstances which have so suddenly deprived them of their protectors and bread-winners.
Funeral at St. George�s.
  The funeral of Sergeant William Fowler of the B.M.A. took place at St. George�s where he was born. It was attended by an enormous number of general spectators, besides contingents from the R.C.R. and B.V.R.C.
   A Company of the B.M.A. supplied bearers for the coffin which was covered by the Union Jack, also a firing party for the last military rites at the graveside. Much sympathy is felt for his wife.
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