Soldier Record

My great grandfather John William Darke served with the Welsh Fusiliers as a Private between December 1915 – August 1917.

John embarked for France 2 days before Christmas 1915 (which was also his wedding anniversary)

John lived with his family in Homerton, Hackney and was 37 years old when he joined up. John had a family and a trade as a glassblower. He trained in this for 7 years before he signed up as a relatively older soldier at age of 37. John embarked for France 2 days before Christmas 1915 (which was also his wedding anniversary).

We have John’s an army book and a set of medals for John as well as an old photograph.. John suffered terrible lung damage due to being gassed during the war and as a consequence was unable to practice his trade as a glassblower which caused terrible hardship for him and his family.

John’s granddaughter remember him as a very kind a caring grandfather who told her stories about his time in the war but kept much of the horror of what he saw to himself. The bbc project has given 3 generations of his family the opportunity to find out much more about John’s time at war and to give us a sense of what he contributed along with millions of others who served during this time. It has been a humbling and worthwhile experience.