Short info (From Barry And District News)

Short info

CONCERNING Mr Christopher Short's letter (November 20) asking for information on Driver J H Burke, of the Royal Field Artillery, who is buried at Barry Cemetery, I can add the following.

W/881 Driver Joseph Hugh Burke, C Battery, 120th Brigade Royal Field Artillery, was the son of Mr E F Burke, of 6 George Street, Barry. Sadly, Driver Burke died not of battle wounds, but of pneumonia contracted during his training in this country, on December 28, 1915.

When he died he was just 15 years old, which suggests that like many early volunteers, he hid his true age in order to enlist in the .

He is almost certainly the youngest soldier from Barry to have died in the First World War, but not the youngest person.

Messroom boy Reginald Lewis, of Vale Street, and messroom steward Albert Roberts, of Travis Street, were just 14-years-old when they were killed serving in the Merchant Navy.

At least 21 other Barry boys, aged between 15 and 17, lost their lives in the Merchant Navy during the First World War - a sad fact to ponder on during the recent Armistice Day ceremonies.

Alun Robertson, Buttrills Road, Barry.