252351 Pte. Charles George Ernest Briselden British Army 2nd Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment from:Deptford, London (d.30th June 1916) Charles Briselden was a prisoner of war at the Siege of Kut. One of the unfortunates given up by Townshend, after suffering the experience of starvation whilst under Siege. He was then marched off as a prisoner of war but never made the destination of I believe Basra he was among the soldiers that died of dysentery according to the Army.
However, a friend survivor (name of whom we do not know) reported back to my grandfather, Ernest Briselden brother of Charles, that Charles was in fact flogged to death by the Turkish Army while in captivity. How true this is we will never know but his grave is unknown. He is remembered on the Basra Memorial.
This awful experience is still remembered and passed on within the family now in 2018. I have his dead man's penny and a wooden boot that he whittled whilst at the Siege of Kut. He was also a boxing champion within the Queens Own Royal West Kents when he was serving in India along with his brother Ernest before 1914. They enlisted as teenagers in London.
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