Pte 53165 John Thomas Corke

• Age: 23
• From: Crockham Hill, Kent
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• D.O.W Thursday 2nd May 1918
• Commemorated at: Esquelbecq Mil Cem
  Panel Ref: H.B.25

John Thomas Corke was born in the third quarter of 1895 in Westerham, his birth registered in Sevenoaks, Kent. He was the son of John Corke and his wife Eliza (née Faucett) who were married on the 23rd December 1894 at St Mary's Church, Nettleshead, Kent.

His first wife sadly died, aged 29, in 1899. She was the daughter of Thomas and Martha Faucett, and was baptised on the 20th March 1870 in Horsmonden, Kent.

The 1901 Census finds five year old, John, living at Crockham Hill, with his 70 year old grandmother, Mary Ann Corke, who is a widow born in 1831 in Meopham, Kent. Also declared is a lodger, George Theobald, a 39 year old general labourer. His widowed father, John, is meanwhile boarding with the Maylan family in Hever Lane, Edenbridge. He is aged 32, a domestic gardener, born in Westerham.

His father, remarried to, Emma Arnold, on the 07th June 1902 at the Holy Trinity Church, Forest Row, Edenbridge. Widower, John, was a 36 year old gardener of Edenbridge, his father, William, was deceased , whilst widow, Emma, was aged 35 of Forest Row, her father, James Coombes, was a deceased bricklayer. 

The 1911 Census shows, John, as a 15 year old domestic gardener living with his parents and sister at Franchise Lodge, Burwash, Sussex. His father is, John Corke, a 44 year old domestic gardener, born in Westerham, Kent, his step-mother, Emma Corke is also 44 years old and was born in Charlwood, Surrey. They advise that they have been married for 8 years and have had one child. His sister, Ellen is 7 years old and was born in 1904.       

He enlisted in Tonbridge, Kent and served originally as Private 4498 in the 6th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment. He embarked for France on the 01st June 1915 and following a transfer he was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 53165. 

He died of shrapnel wounds and compound fractures of his right humerus and femur at 9.45 pm on the 02nd May 1918 at O. C. 3 Australian Casualty Clearing Station. He was 23 years of age and received his wounds during the 1918 German Spring Offensive. 

He now rests at  Esquelbecq Military Cemetery, France.

The cemetery was opened in April 1918 during the early stages of the German offensive in Flanders, when the 2nd Canadian and 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Stations came to Esquelbecq. It was closed in September 1918, although one French grave was added in 1919 and one British soldier from 1916 was added later from an isolated site.

The cemetery was used again during the Second World War, mainly for the burial of those killed during the German advance of May 1940 and the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force to Dunkirk.

Esquelbecq Military Cemetery contains 578 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 47 from the Second World War. There are also 11 French and German burials.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

His wounding was reported in the Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser on Friday 10th May 1918;

PENSHURST.

PTE. J. CORKE.

Mr. and Mrs. Corke, of Smarts Hill, Penshurst, late of Burwash, received news on May 2nd that their son, Private J. Corke, aged 23, was dangerously ill suffering from shell wound at an Australian Clearing Station. He joined the West Kents soon after the outbreak of war.

His death was reported in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer on Saturday 17th August 1918;

BURWASH GIVES A THIRD.

Now that the war has been waging for over four years it will be of interest to note the share that Burwash has taken is the conflict. Up-to-date 300 have joined the Colours, almost one-third of the entire population (excluding Burwash Weald). Forty-one have made the supreme sacrifice, 28 have been wounded, two of whom are prisoners of war, and two are missing. 

ROLL OF HONOUR.

Private John Thomas Corke, Royal West Kent Regiment;

He earned his three medals.

His Soldiers Effects (states incorrectly 19th Battalion), Army Pay £15 6s 8d, War Gratuity of £16 and Pension went to father John, Westfield Cottage, Smarts Hill, Penhurst, Kent.

His step-mother Emma sadly committed suicide just before the next Census.

Her death was reported in the Tonbridge Free Press on Friday 01st April 1921;

HEVER WOMAN'S SUICIDE.

On Easter Monday, Mr. Arthur H. Neve, County Coroner, held an inquest at Hever relative to the death of Emma Corke, wife of Mr. John Corke, gardener, of High Buckhurst, which occurred under distressing circumstances on Thursday morning.

The husband, having identified the body as that of his wife, told the Coroner that she had been in delicate health for some time. She was 52 years of age, and following a recent nervous breakdown she had suffered from insomnia. She had been attended by Dr. Wood, who had advised her to have her teeth extracted, but the prospect of going to a dentist had distressed her and at times she was much depressed. On Wednesday night his wife seemed to have improved somewhat and slept well, but next morning when he went downstairs he found her lying in the scullery with her throat cut. He telephoned for Dr. Dean, who came quickly, but soon after his arrival his wife died without regaining consciousness. After hearing the medical evidence, from which it was perfectly clear that the fatal wound had been self-inflicted, the Coroner returned a verdict of suicide whilst temporary insane.

On the 1921 Census at High Buckhurst, Markbeech, Eden Bridge, his widowed father, is aged 53, and is still employed as a gardener. He is living with daughter, Ellen, aged 18, and granddaughter Joan Bignell aged 2 (her father was dead).

No suitable death record has been found for father John.

John is also commemorated on the following Memorials:

Burwash War Memorial 

Roll of Honour located within St Bartholomew’s Church, Burwash.

We currently have no further information on John Thomas Corke, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.