Name
Frederick William Barnes
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
390976
Army Service Corps
Remount Depot
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Biography
Frederick Barnes was born in the winter of 1900 at Abbots Langley. He was one of six children born to James and Hannah Barnes. Two of Frederick’s brothers also served in the Great War. In the 1901 Census the family was recorded living at 63 Breakspeare Road, Abbots Langley, and James worked as a Bricklayer/Labourer. The family continued to live at that address until after the end of the Great War. In the 1911 Census James was listed working as a Road Labourer for the Urban District Council.
The National Roll of the Great War noted that Frederick volunteered in May 1915, when he would have been barely 15 years old. His brother John enlisted at the age of 12, and was sent home under-age, only to re-enlist and be subsequently sent home again. The Abbots Langley Parish Magazine Roll of Honour first recorded Frederick in June 1915, serving with the Hertfordshire Royal Field Artillery.
The National Roll of the Great War indicated that Frederick was sent to France in 1916, where he served with the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) in several important engagements, including those of the Somme, Arras, Ypres, Passchendaele and Cambrai. The Abbots Langley Parish Magazine recorded that in January 1918 Frederick was serving with “The Queens”, but is not more specific, and by the end of the War, in November 1918 he had been posted to the Army Service Corps (ASC).
The National Roll indicated that whilst overseas he was wounded, and this may have been the reason for him joining the ASC, and not remaining with units in the Front Line. In the Absent Voter Records of Spring 1919 Frederick was listed serving as a Private with the ASC Remount Depot (of which there were several). Remount Depots were responsible for the provisioning of horses and mules to all other army units. At this point his address was given at 63 Breakspeare Road, Abbots Langley.
The National Roll of the Great War noted that Frederick returned to England and was demobilised in 1919.
Frederick Barnes survived the War, as did his brothers James and John, and his cousins Ernest John and William Barnes. His uncle Ernest William Barnes, was Discharged Disabled in April 1918, but nevertheless continued to serve in a Home Employment Company until 1919.
Additional Information
Formerly Hertfordshire Royal Field Artillery; The Queen’s.
Acknowledgments
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org
