BURKE, Benjamin
| Service Number: | 1079 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 34th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Minmi, Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 12 October 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Dochy Farm New British Cemetery Dochy Farm New British Cemetery, Passchendaele, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Minmi Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 2 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 1079, 34th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 1079, 34th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Sydney | |
| 12 Oct 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 1079, 34th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1079 awm_unit: 34th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-10-12 |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
No railway employment record card can be located for Benjamin BURKE (Service Number 1079). Apart from the name on the Sydney Station Roll of Honour and the 1921 Annual report listing, the only record of his association with the Railways is a single entry in the 1917 Government Gazette that he was employed and at 31 December, ‘Serving with the AIF’. He had been born about September 1893 at Minmi. Despite his railway connection, he described himself on his attestation papers when he enlisted in January 1916, as a miner.
He left Australia through Sydney on 2 May 1916 on HMAT ‘Honorata’, reaching Plymouth on 23 June. He proceeded overseas to France to join the 34th Battalion in November and was promoted to Lance Corporal. He had a number of periods of hospitalisation with illness and was wounded in action. He was also Mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig’s despatches. (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 4 October 1917, page 2654, position 80.)
On 12 October 1917 he was killed in action in Belgium, after having been previously reported missing. Benjamin Burke’s brother Edward Burke (also known as John Allan), (Service Number 4352) was also reported missing, then killed in action, three days earlier. Despite going missing on action, Ben Burke’s gravesite was located later, and his remains were removed to a more consolidated cemetery.
Both brothers are buried in Dochy Farm New British Cemetery, Passchendaele, Flanders, Belgium.
(NAA B2455-3168834)
Submitted 12 May 2023 by John Oakes