235081 Sgt. Archie James Barrett MM.British Army 6th Battalion, B Company East Kent Regiment from:Blackheath (d.13th Sep 1916) For many years we only knew that our Gt Uncle had been killed in WW1 with the suggestion he lost his life during the Battle of the Somme.
After a family conversation in early 1997 it was suggest Archie had a medal, so with no family records, the medal card was sourced at the PRO in Kew to show he had been awarded the M.M. Other than a gazette entry to confirm the medal we could find no other information, the war diaries revealed little.
Several years ago some further information was located in the, by now digitised service records, via a family website. This helped paint a picture of the uncle we never knew. The papers included his attestation papers so, unlike is younger brother and others in the family all who were relatively short, Archie was 6" 1'. He joined up in August 1914 joining the 6th Buffs and from other papers found online he had risen to the rank of Sergeant by October 1915. We also know he was sent back to the UK with a scalp wound in March 1916, before returning back to his unit in France a few weeks later.
In September 1916 the battalion were in trenches in the Arras area and we are assuming he was the chap killed, as recorded in the diary, on the 13th of that month.
Maybe the most poignant tribute to Archie by his Commanding Officer and as recorded in the Roll of Honour as follows:-
"He was the most tactful fellow during the most trying and desperate times and his gallant conduct and conscientious work won for him brotherly love from all ranks. His good work had been noticed throughout the battalion and had he been spared he would shortly have achieved greater greatness. He was awarded the Military Medal for bravery on the field during the operations on the Somme."
We'll never know much about Archie but this eptiaph means much to a family who never knew their uncle.
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