Private Thomas David Raraty 76 Bty RFA

[Tucker Buck's grandson]

Thanks for the camp information. I recently read the ICRC report on the individual camps but could not relate it to him not knowing which camp he had been in.

 

When I searched for him again recently on the ICRC index card database and he was still not there I put in the names of two village people whom we know had been in German POW camps and they did not turn up.

[charlie962]

ICRC indexing is also full of misfiles and transcription errors. Have you put up the other 2 names on this forum?

[charlie962]

This is an example of the reported list of deaths at Baghtche at about the time of Raraty's death. You will see there are 2 men of 76th Bty. Most are noted as died from enteritis but this hides the reality.

 

 

[Tucker Buck's grandson]

10 hours ago, charlie962 said:

ICRC indexing is also full of misfiles and transcription errors. Have you put up the other 2 names on this forum?

No as I was only seeking to test the completeness of the index. We have the diary of one of them which I have read recently as two members of his wider family cropped up when I did a search of the CWGC database via Geoff's List for the names of our three adjoined villages to see if thee was anyone we did not know about. This produced four WW1 casualties and three WW2 ones.

[Tucker Buck's grandson]

10 hours ago, charlie962 said:

This is an example of the reported list of deaths at Baghtche at about the time of Raraty's death. You will see there are 2 men of 76th Bty. Most are noted as died from enteritis but this hides the reality.

 

 

Thanks for this it makes very grim reading. We will add it to our central Thomas David Raraty file.

[charlie962]

Bagtche (Bagtsche ?) Baghtche, was also the location of the hospital where the only British medical representative during the period Late June- early Sept 1916 (when Raraty was there and died) was one William Fratel, Assistant Surgeon, Indian Medical Department. He was the subject of a court-martial in August 1919 which was covered by The Times. The complaints against him  and the description of general conditions by witnesses makes even grimmer reading. It is noticable that the majority of witnesses were from the Royal Artillery including at least one from the 76th Bty RFA (William Howlett). In the ICRC page that I extracted above, Sgt Dye of the 82ndBtyRFA is only a typical example of what seems to have gone on.

This, from the Times report of the trial: 

  

Fratel of course denied this and other charges. But he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment (reduced to 3 mths), reduced to the ranks and dismissed the service. He was not a proper doctor but medically trained over a number of years and his rank was equivalent to Sergeant Major RAMC. He seems to have been the type that only worked correctly when supervised, which he was after 12thSept 1916. A performance markedly different to a number of other Warrant Officers who were really outstanding under these appalling conditions- I think of William Leach for example.

 

re TD Raraty, did you find him in a military census 1911? He wasn't in the 76 Bty list?

 

Charlie

[Tucker Buck's grandson]

1 hour ago, charlie962 said:

 

re TD Raraty, did you find him in a military census 1911? He wasn't in the 76 Bty list?

 

Charlie

Having lost my digital text file I can only rely on memory.

 

Woolwich Arsenal springs to mind.

[charlie962]

Sorry, post 9 gives the 1911 Census detail !