Historical information

This table runner was made by Corporal Herbert Burdekin during the First World War around 1916 while he was recovering from a bullet wound. Herbert joined the 8th (Reserve) Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment (Leeds Rifles) in November 1914 and was deployed to France in April 1915. In July 1916 he received a gunshot wound to the arm and was sent home to England to recover, during which time he crocheted this table runner. He returned to France in early 1917 and was wounded a second time by a gas shell on 23 July 1917. Herbert likely never fully recovered from his exposure to gas during the war. He received a medical discharge in November 1918 due to "debility caused by war service" and died only a few years later in 1922, aged 26.

His widow Mary and young daughter Hilda moved to Australia and settled in Brighton, with Mary living at 4 Collins Street until her death in 1966.

Physical description

Hand crocheted table runner featuring an interlocking diamond pattern in cream, pale purple and pale yellow. Bordered by pale yellow fringe.