Lt L M Borchard, RAF

[jimmyjames]

The Cheltenham Grammar School roll of honour to the fallen of the Great War lists among its Old Boys one "L M Burckhardt". The printed programme for the Memorial Service for the Old Boys held in Cheltenham on 2nd April 1919 lists in the roll of honour page a Lieutenant L M Borchard, RAF, (in place of Burckhardt) and at the official unveiling ceremony of the Roll of Honour on 22nd November 1924 the programme lists him again as Lt L M Borchard, RAF,

There is a brief entry in the school magazine of 1918 that "Lt Borchard lost his life in a crash in England" - it does not give any other detail.

I would be extremely grateful if anyone has any info on this man or has seen the name of Burckhardt or Borchard whilst researching the RAF/RFC.

With very many thanks

Jimmy

[christine liava'a]

I suggest you search the London Gazette for a legal change of name. I have come across several of these whole searching for names , particularly Germanic or Jewish sounding ones.

He or his parents could have changed their name, probably for political reasons, in the period after he left school and before he enlisted

[Dolphin]

Jimmy

Unfortunately, L M Burckhardt/Borchard is proving rather elusive. Neither name appears in "Airmen Died" (I looked under the AFC, RFC and RNAS as well as the RAF). Also, the three Borchards listed by the CWGC [C, GC, and H] have different initials and aren't in arms of the service related to aviation. There are no Burckhardts listed.

Grateful for any suggestions regarding any other name he might have used.

Dolphin

[jimmyjames]

Christine and Dolphin - Many thanks indeed.

I checked the LG but could only come up with a L C Burckhardt who was promoted to temp Lt in the 11th March 1919 edition - too late for our chap anyway.

In the four years my brother and I have been researching the 1600 souls who are commemorated on memorials in Cheltenham, Burckhardt/Borchard remains one of the twenty odd who have proved to be totally elusive.

We have checked the obvious routes - 1837.com, Census, FreeBMD, Ancestry, Voters Lists, Kelly's, newspapers and periodicals, even the archivist at the Grammar School. Absolutely nothing.

The only lead we manged to find was that the school had an Air Cadet contingent of senior boys who were groomed for the RAF. However, no records were traced and I am wondering if these Cadets were officially recognised and historical records, if they existed, were, possibly, archived at Hendon or elsewhere.

Regards

Jimmy

[christine liava'a]

I checked CWGC under L. B*, Airforce, WW1, which is about as inclusive as you can do, and got nothing.

What did the school archives say about him as a pupil- any address or parents?

Where did the boys at this school come from, local or some boarders?

If you can find his family, you might be able to work from there.

[Guest Pete Wood]

Could it be that your man was, in fact,

Linus Moritz BURKHARDT who was married in Salisbury in 1908......??

Go to Free BMD and punch in his details http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

I think it would be worth checking out at the Family Records office to see if there was a mistake in the transcribing; the wedding certificate might give you some more clues.....

[Guest promenadeabroad]

Hello Jimmy,

As you know I am one of the two authors of 'Leaving All that was Dear - Cheltenham andf the Great War' and found it intriguing tht Mr Borchard/Burkhardt is still causing much head scratching!

I, together with my co-author, Graham Sacker, spent 4-5 years trying most of the routes to identify the good Lt that you mention in your posting. This also included investigating whether RAF a mistype of RFA! Certainly RAF Innsworth, the RAF Records Office had never heard of him either. A check of the births, deaths and marriage registers, then at Somerset House, also drew a blank. So I was surprised when Linus Moritz Burkhardt was thrown up by a web search. Unfortunately I am currently posted to the Middle East and thus do not have access to my archive notes. It may be worth asking Graham whether Linus was eliminated from our investigations!

LM Borchard/Burkhardt used to drive us mad. Good luck in identifying him - members of this forum may indeed provide the clue.

Joe Devereux

[jimmyjames]

Christine - Thanks. Frustratingly, we did not find the relevant admission registers and the school took Cheltonian and other local lads (East Gloucesterhire) who were suitably academically skilled. There were no boarders. There was a Mr Burckhardt who was a master at the Cheltenham College at the turn of the twentieth century who lived in what is now Leckhampton, on the outskirts of Cheltenham. This lead so far has proved fruitless - but the coincidence in surname was intruiging. My brother and I continue to investigate.

Teapots - delighted to see your return to the Forum - hope the trip to India went well. It was a shame about the Delhi Memorial. Many thanks for pointing us to the L M Burkhardt's marriage in 1908. This looks a most promising avenue.

Joe. Really good to hear from you - I've just checked to my records to see when we communicated (November 2002 - re the Hicking brothers) and I'm mortified to discover that it looks I failed to reply!! Many apologies for this lapse. Thanks for the info on Borchard/Burckhardt, David and I both are in regular touch with Graham and much head scratching still goes on! Hope the info that Racing Teapots has provided might provide the key to unlock this case. Will keep you informed.

Regards

Jimmy