Army Service Corps
Harry Bartlett was born in early 1877 at Banbury, Oxfordshire.
He married Janet Beezly at Coln St Alwyns, Gloucestershire on 8 August 1904, when employed as a groom. The couple had six children. According to the 1911 Census the family lived at The Common, Staplefield, Crawley, Sussex, where Harry was employed as a coachman.
Harry attested for military service on 9 March 1915. At the time he was living at Gorse Hill, near Swindon. He was posted to the Army Service Corps at the Army Remount camp at Shirehampton, near Bristol, on 12 March 1915 and was assigned to Remount ‘E’ Squadron, made up of older men. He was quickly made up from Driver to Acting Serjeant; probably a reflection of his civilian occupation, as he had no previous military service.
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. 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 re-join his unit until 23rd of that month.
During his time in Salonika Harry was twice Mentioned in Despatches.
Harry returned to the UK from Salonika on 2 June 1919, via Taranto on the HMT Danube and 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, which was granted but he was not to benefit from it for long, as he died on 7 November 1919, aged 44.
Harry Bartlett was buried in Somerford Keynes (All Saints) Churchyard, where a standard CWGC headstone now marks his grave.
Graham Adams
(from the Gloucestershire War Graves Project biographical archive)