Royal Army Service Corps
Henry (Harry) Bartlett was born to John and Mary Ann Bartlett in early 1877 at Banbury, Oxfordshire and was baptised on 13 May 1877.
He married Janet Beezly at Coln St Alwyns, Gloucestershire on 8 August 1904, when employed as a groom.
The couple had one child (Henry born 18 July 1904) prior to marriage and a further five after being wed: May born 18 May 1906; Olive born 17 October 1907; Frederick born 16 July 1910; Fraveyn born 8 June 1913 and Jeffery born 30 October 1919).
According to the 1911 Census the family’s address was: The Common, Staplefield, Crawley, Sussex and Harry was employed as a coachman.
Harry attested for military service, for the duration of the war, on 9 March 1915 and joined the Army Service Corps at the Army Remount camp at Shirehampton on 12 March 1915. He was assigned to Remount ‘E’ Squadron, made up of older men and was quickly made up from Driver to Acting Serjeant; probably a reflection of his civilian occupation, as he had no previous military service. The address given on his attestation papers was 2 Queens Villas, Chapel Street, Gorse Hill, Swindon and his occupation as groom aged 38 years 11 months.
After just over a month at Shirehampton, he embarked from Avonmouth on 15 April 1915, arriving at Alexandria, Egypt on 27 April. He remained in Alexandria until 18 July 1916, when he sailed for Salonika, on the HMT Kentucky arriving 22 July 1916. In Salonika he joined the 42nd Remount Section and he was to stay with that unit for the remainder of his Army service.
On 15 September 1916 he was admitted to 29 General Hospital with malaria (of which there was a high incidence on the Salonika front) and did not rejoin his unit until the 23rd of that month.
During his time in Salonika Harry was twice Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette 28 November 1917 page 12486; London Gazette 11 June 1918 page 6924).
Harry returned to the UK from Salonika on 2 June 1919 via Taranto on the HMT Danube.
He was discharged into the Reserve on 20 June 1919.
Upon his return to the UK, Harry was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and application was made for an Army disability pension – his address being Queens Villas, as above. He was not in receipt of pension for long, as he died, presumably from tuberculosis on 7 November 1919, aged 44.
When the CWGC register was compiled his widow gave her address as 6 Council Cottages, Ashton Keynes, Swindon.
Harry Bartlett was buried in Somerford Keynes, All Saints’ Churchyard, where a standard Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone now marks his grave.
Research by Graham Adams 15 April 2017