First and last Burnley casualties of First World War?

The superb Burnley in the Great War website reveals that the first man from the borough to make the ultimate sacrifice was Private James Wilkinson, of the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers, who was killed on August 23rd, 1914, aged 29.

James, of Scarlett Street, was reported missing after the Battle of Mons. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial in France.

Burnley’s final casualty was a man who had been awarded the Military Medal for bravery. Sergeant Albert Nixon of the 11th East Lancashire Regiment died at the Victoria Hospital in February 1946 as a result of a rifle bullet penetrating a vein during surgery.