George Burke was KIA 20.12.1915 service number 936 1/7th Duke of Wellington Regt his records aren’t online. However his brother’s records are. He is Fred Burke born 1893 service number 937 West Riding Regt. Whilst assumption is often frowned upon, can I in this case assume they joined up together?
Having had a rummage on the internet, I came across this on a Rootsweb Mailing List: The men who signed up on the same day would be given consecutive numbers in the same unit. If they joined up to another unit they would have a very different number in a sequence from that particular unit The problem can be that the same numbers could be issued in different regiments or even a different part of the same regiment so you need to tread with caution. Not sure how much that helps, though...
I just had a trawl through WW1 Service Records on Ancestry and there are papers for George Burke service number 936, 7th West Riding Regiment. I can send the docs if you don't have access to Ancestry or a link if you do.
Quite a lot of WW1 records were destroyed in a bombing raid in 1940. His records may have been among them.
You are an absolute star, thank you so much. How did I miss them? Note to self..trawl through everything at least twice!!
Pleased you found them. I have spent quite a few years looking at WW1 service records - at the National Archives in Kew on microfilm and now on Ancestry and it's easy to miss someone. Some were filed out of order and on Ancestry you are dependent on the transcriber like all their records. I researched 42 men for a book and only found six surviving records. How lucky to find two brothers papers. Good luck with your research. C
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment is surely the same as the West Riding Regiment - the former 33rd Regiment of Foot. The two men were, therefore, in the same unit, with consecutive numbers.
