Burke, R J (Robert John)
Burke, R J (Robert John)
Air Mechanic 3rd Class Robert Burke was the son of John and Susan Burke, of Portstewart, Co. Londonderry.
Robert volunteered for active service during September 1918 and joined the newly formed RAF.[1] Within a month he would die of pneumonia on Wednesday, 10th October 1918 in a hospital at Blanford Camp, Dorsetshire, England.
It is also possible that he may have died from the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.[2]
The Spanish flu is rather deceiving as it did not originate in Spain, but rather it was first country to openly report on the pandemic due to its neutrality in the war. Therefore, it received its name.
The outbreak began around January 1918 and ended at the end of 1920. There were three major outbreaks, each deadlier than the previous. Great efforts were made to suppress the news, but so many people were affected that it became pointless as the flu crept through the armies into the villages, towns, and cities of Europe. There were no vaccines to protect against this flu virus or the infections. No antiviral drugs to treat it and no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections like pneumonia. The only tools that authorities could implement was the promotion of good personal hygiene, isolation, and quarantine of the ill, along with the closures of public places.
There are several servicemen in the county’s cemeteries who possibly died of the illness, most of whom were diagnosed with meningitis, flu, or pneumonia. It especially affected young adults.
Robert never received any medals as he did not serve in a conflict zone, but he is commemorated on the Portstewart War Memorial.
Date of Death: 10/10/1918 (Aged 19)
Service: Air Mechanic 3rd Class, Royal Air Force Grave
Service Number: 297140
Burial Location: Agherton Cemetery, New ground. K. 12 454, on North-West boundary
[1] The RAF or Royal Air Force was formed on the 1st April 1918.
[2] Spanish Flu: 50 to 100,000,000 deaths
