Barker Edwin John

BARKER, EDWIN JOHN LESLIE

		Source
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents	James and Florence Barker				1a
Where born	Uttoxeter		Yes		1a
When born	Abt 1894				1a
Address
Spouse
Children
Employment Before Joining up	Shop Assistant (Outfitter)
Where Enlisted	Nottingham		Yes
Former Service Number and Regiment	012393, Royal Army Ordnance Corps		Yes
Regiment	Cheshire Regiment	Yes	Yes
Unit	1st /7th Bn	Yes	Yes
Rank	Private	Yes	Yes
Service Number	40768	Yes	Yes
Date of Death	3 Sept 1918	Yes	Yes
Age at time of death	Abt 24
Where Killed or died	France/Flanders		Yes
How he died	Killed in action		Yes
Location of Grave or Memorial	No known grave. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial – Panel 61	Yes
Awards	British War Medal – Roll J/2/101 B14, Page 4550
Awards	Victory Medal – Roll J/2/101 B14, Page 4550

Edwin was born in Uttoxeter, as were his father, sisters Lilian, Mary and Gladys, and brother James.

The 1901 census shows him living with his parents in the Clifton and Compton parish.

By 1911 Florence was a widow and the head of the household. Edwin and the following siblings were living with her: Cissie, Percy, Gladys, Lillian and Dinsdale. Edwin was now 17 and a Cashier.

The following, constructed from a variety of sources, summarises his service in the Army:

Edwin was killed in action on 3rd September 1918 in the Ypres Salient, barely 2 months before the end of the war. He was about 24 years old.

As he has no known grave he is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Date	Event
Home Service (26 October 1915 to 7 July 1916 (235 days)
21 or 26 October	Enlisted at Nottingham and Attested at Woolwich
1915	Private in the Army Ordnance Corps, Service Number 01293
	Assigned as Storeman
28 October 1915	Posted to 43 Company
Egypt (8 July 1916 to 21 June 1918 (1 year 349 days)
08 July 1916	Embarked with Expeditionary Force for Egypt
France (22 June 1918 to 3 September 1918 (74 days)
21 May or June 1917	Advanced to 4th rate of Corps pay
Date illegible	Left for School of Instruction…[remainder of this entry is illegible]
22 June 19185b	Joined Expeditionary Force in France
25 June 19175p	Alexandria
29 December 1917	Compulsorily transferred to the 1st/7th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, again as a Private, and his Service Number changed to 40768
30 December 1917	Alexandria
24 February 1918	Joined Battalion in the Field
17 June 1918	Embarked Kasir I Hind Alexandria
22 June 1918	Disembarked Taranto
11 August 1918	To hospital sick. Admitted with scabies
27 August 1917	Returned to Battalion
03 September 1918	Reported Missing in the Field. Killed in action or died of wounds
Total service 2 years 313 days

At the time of enlisting Edwin was living with his mother at 30 Rothesay Avenue], Nottingham.

He was 21 years and 10 months old, 5ft 6 ½ inches tall, weighed 124lbs and had a chest measurement of 33-35 ½ inches. His physical development was described as ‘Good’.

Edwin’s official records include a handwritten sheet that appears to be his test to become a storeman/clerk:

Nottingham Oct. 21st 1915

For employment as a clerk, or a storeman in the A.O.G. a candidate must be intelligent and have a fair education.

He must be able to write from dictation and have a knowledge of arithmetic as follows. For a clerk: up to vulgar fractions, for a storeman the elementary principles, i.e. addition, subtraction.

He will be accepted as a storeman and if found suitable after undergoing a course of instruction in ordance duties at the depot, will be reclassified as a clerk.

Specimens of his handwriting from dictation and arithmetic will be attached to his attestation.

1) Add 2467584 +30 +1001 +267 + 32467+ 185

2467584

1001

267

32467

…….185

2501534

2) Multiply 32675413 by 453

32675413

453

98026239

163377065

..130701652

14801962089

3) Divide 29467584 by 432

432) 29467584 (68212

2592 x x

3547

3456

915

864

518

432

864

4) Subtract 32658423 from 12934265

12934265

3265842

9668423

Edwin got them all right! The record shows that he was accepted as a storeman and underwent a course of instruction afterwards. It does not say whether he was appointed as a clerk.

On 2nd May 1919 Edwin’s personal property was forwarded to his mother. All it consisted of was his disc.

Edwin was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.