Worcestershire Regiment

Hi there. I'm researching my grandfather James Francis Burke who was in 4th Bttn. He was at the 1911 Durbar but may have been in custody for getting drunk, according to family stories! I heard he spent his 17th birthday in Malta (he joined up quite young). He was later in India then France for WW1 with 4th Bttn and was 'gassed by his own side'. He survived the war despite being a sniper at one stage. (They were not usually taken prisoner). I am trying to find his service medal records if anyone can help, so that I can get his Regimental number.

many thanks,

James Burke

James, There were quite a few James Burkes' who served in The Great War....at the moment I can find a James Francis Burke who served with the 2nd Battalion and entered france a week after war was declared. As your relative was a professional soldier and not a volunteer this could be him. Are you sure he was with the 4th..... someone else on this site has done a lot odf research ino the 2nd Worcesters...they may be able to help....Colin

gilbo139 wrote:
> James, There were quite a few James Burkes' who served in The Great
> War....at the moment I can find a James Francis Burke who served with the
> 2nd Battalion and entered france a week after war was declared. As your
> relative was a professional soldier and not a volunteer this could be him.
> Are you sure he was with the 4th..... someone else on this site has done a
> lot odf research ino the 2nd Worcesters...they may be able to help....Colin

Hi Colin. Many thanks. We have a copy of a nominal roll list with his name which has 4th Bttn written beside it - not dated though. I will try to discover exact details. If I can get his reg number it might help. Do you know where do you find service medal records?

gilbo139 wrote:
> James, There were quite a few James Burkes' who served in The Great
> War....at the moment I can find a James Francis Burke who served with the
> 2nd Battalion and entered france a week after war was declared. As your
> relative was a professional soldier and not a volunteer this could be him.
> Are you sure he was with the 4th..... someone else on this site has done a
> lot odf research ino the 2nd Worcesters...they may be able to help....Colin

Hi Colin. Many thanks. We have a copy of a nominal roll list with his name which has 4th Bttn written beside it - not dated though. I will try to discover exact details. If I can get his reg number it might help. Do you know where do you find service medal records?

James, Service records, pension records,and medal index cards are available on Ancestry or Find my past at a subscription, your best bet I think may be Find my past as you can buy credits and I think their pre First World War records are better than Ancestry . I,ve spent a while looking at Medal Index Cards for you but so far haven,t found a 4th Battalion James Burke, Don,t suppose you,ve got a date of birth or birth place..... also as you may know a lot of service records were destroyed in the blitz so you probably only have a 30% chance of finding them....the medal index card should definately be there......regards Colin

gilbo139 wrote:
> James, Service records, pension records,and medal index cards are available
> on Ancestry or Find my past at a subscription, your best bet I think may be
> Find my past as you can buy credits and I think their pre First World War
> records are better than Ancestry . I,ve spent a while looking at Medal
> Index Cards for you but so far haven,t found a 4th Battalion James Burke,
> Don,t suppose you,ve got a date of birth or birth place..... also as you
> may know a lot of service records were destroyed in the blitz so you
> probably only have a 30% chance of finding them....the medal index card
> should definately be there......regards Colin

Hi Colin. You were dead right about 2nd Bttn. He is listed on the Worcester Cathedral embarkation list for 1st & 2nd Worcesters. That means he was at Gheluvelt action and battle of Messines. He was born 1887 in Mile End / Stepney area, moving to Becontree after the war when he got married and had 5 kids, including my dad, also James Francis Burke. His wife lived to 96. I was named after him and my other grandad William, hence JW Burke. Many thanks for that lead. Now I can really delve into his military past.