Pte William Barrett

[koomwah]

Hi, I'm looking for any info on William Barrett, he was my wife's G Granddad.

The info we have from the MIC is that he served in France with the SLI from May 1915, the at some point transferred to the Dorsets with whom he served in Mesopotamia.

He died of wounds on 23rd April 1916 probably at Kut - Al - Amara, and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial.

How unusual is it to transfer between 2 such widely spread units?

Any help gratefully received

Thanks, Darren

[ander11]

Hello Darren

they often took men and tranfer to other units because of stortages of men. My GGrandfather died 4 days after William Barrett in the same Battle (mesopotamia).The 2nd Bn Black Watch and SeaForth Highlanders lost so many men they no longer could function as a unit , so they joined temporary to form a Highland Battalion until reinforcements could arrive

Here is William details from CWGC

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1655347

and his details from SDGW

Dorsetshire Regiment

2nd Battalion

Barrett

William

Private 16207

Born Bristol

Enlisted Bristol

D.o.d 23/04/1916

Died of wounds

Mesopotamia

Formerly 10241, Somerset Light Infantry

I hope that helps you

best reguards

Ian