Name
James Volk
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
27/01/1916
25
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
763
Australian 2nd Infantry Brigade
5th Bn.
'C' Coy.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
RICKMANSWORTH (CHORLEYWOOD ROAD) CEMETERY
D. 5. 18.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
In Memory of our loving son and affectionate brother. Thy will be done.
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Rickmansworth memorials
Pre War
James Volk was born in 1891 at Yarraville, Victoria, Australia, son of Jacob and Elizabeth Volk of Balcombe Road, Mentone, Victoria and later of 117 Chomley, East Prahan, Victoria. He attended Brighton State School, Victoria, Australia.
He was reported twice as having absconded from the Excelsior Home, Brighton. This was a home providing temporary accommodation for boys until they could be placed in suitable situations. Boys usually came to the Excelsior Home from the courts.
Wartime Service
Private James Volk served for 3 years with the Prahran Volunteer Forces. He enlisted on 15.08.1914 in Prahran, Victoria, Australia for overseas service, having been in the 49th Infantry. His occupation was a driver.
He embarked at Melbourne on HMAT ‘Orvieto’ on 21st October 1914.
He served in the Dardenelles from 22.05.1915 and, after 3 months in the trenches was wounded by a shell on 14.08.1915. Medical reports say that after 4 months and a week in the trenches a shell exploded in front of him, blinding him for a short time. He also suffered from temporary deafness and insomnia. He was admitted to Hospital in Anzac on 21.08.1915 and then sent to England on the H.S. Canada from Mudros on 24.08.1915 and admitted to the Princess Club Hospital, Bermondsey, London on 09.09.1915, and subsequently to Harefield Hospital. He was thought to be 50% disabled by shell shock and permanently unfit for war service but fit for light duties and so was discharged on 25.09.1915. He then worked for the A.I.F. Headquarters in London and lived at lodgings at 58 Norfolk Road.
He was found dead on the railway line near Northwood in the early morning of 27th January 1916. One story is that he was killed as a result of a railway accident whilst trying to alight from a moving train at Rickmansworth Station. Another is that there had been a struggle on the train when he tried to prevent a young lady from getting out. The subsequent inquest decided that he had broken his neck and that death was due to misadventure.
From Burials in St Mary’s Church registers, on January 31st 1916 it says that he was an Australian soldier, lodging at Norfolk Road, killed on the railway, age 25.
Additional Information
His gravestone in Chorleywood Road Cemetery has the inscription: "IN MEMORY OF OUR LOVING SON AND AFFECTIONATE BROTHER THY WILL BE DONE".
Acknowledgments
Pat Hamilton
Malcolm Lennox, ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com, Tanya Britton
