John Roke claimed to have been born in Port Pirie on his attestation form, but was actually born in West Hartlepool according to the Virtual War Memorial. He named his next of kin as his mother in Sunderland.
After arriving in Adelaide he played for the Corinthians club in 1913 and worked as a labourer. Roke enlisted at Morphetville on 25 August 1914 at the age of 36. His enlistment record stated that he had fifteen years of service with the artillery, presumably in the British forces – of which ten years had been spent overseas. He must have been a veteran of the South African war. He departed from Outer Harbor with the original 10th Battalion aboard the Ascanius on 20 October 1914, and landed at Anzac Cove at dawn on 25 April. Wounded a few days later he spent time in hospital and later suffered various illnesses.
In England in 1916 he went AWL for 18 days and was brought before a court martial. In his defence he claimed that he had been staying with his mother in Sunderland, as she had become distressed upon learning that he had been wounded and ill. His punishment was a short term of imprisonment.
John Roke was killed in action during an Anzac attack near Bullecourt on 8April 1917.