Name
Ernest Henry Haswell Burke
1899
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
02/11/1918
18
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
13431
Inns of Court Officer Training Corps
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Searched but not found
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD (HEATH LANE) CEMETERY
XB. 43.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
UNTIL THE DAY BREAKS
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, Westminster City School Memorial, London
Pre War
Ernest Henry Haswell Burke was born at St Giles in the Fields, Middlesex, London in 1899 the son of Rhoda Haswell and registered as Ernest Henry Haswell. At the time of his birth his mother was a barmaid at the Baker's Arms public house on Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, London. His mother married Edmund Burke, a printer's labourer from west London in 1903 and Ernest adopted his stepfather's name. N.B. Ernest was registered as Ernest Henry Haswell, although the birth register lists the surname incorrectly as Hassell).
On the 1911 Census he was living with his parents at 20 B Block, Peabody Buildings, Bedfordbury, St Martin in the Fields, London and was a pupil at Westminster City School. It is unclear when he left school or where he worked but it is likely that he was a clerk in the legal profession as he chose to enlist with the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps on the outbreak of war.
Wartime Service
Ernest enlisted in Holborn, London on 3 July 1918 as a Private and joined the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps, being sent to Berkhamsted to begin basic training.
Sadly he became ill with the 'Spanish Flu' only two months after arriving and developed pneumonia, from which he died at the West Herts Hospital, Hemel Hempstead on 2 November 1918, aged 18. He is buried in Hemel Hempstead, (Heath Lane) Cemetery.
Additional Information
His mother, Mrs Rhoda R Burke, 4 St Martins Alms House, Bayham Street, London NW1, ordered his headstone inscription: "UNTIL THE DAY BREAKS". A war gratuity was not admissible but his mother received his pay owing of £3 2s 5d. She also received a pension of 5 shillings a week.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage.org.uk, www.hemelatwar.org., www.hemelheroes.com.
