The Wartime Memories Project - The Second World War

Those who Served - Surnames beginning with B.

Surnames Index


This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.


If you enjoy this site

please consider making a donation.




    Site Home

    WW2 Home

    Add Stories

    WW2 Search

    Library

    Help & FAQs


 WW2 Features

    Airfields

    Allied Army

    Allied Air Forces

    Allied Navy

    Axis Forces

    Home Front

    Battles

    Prisoners of War

    Allied Ships

    Women at War

    Those Who Served

    Day-by-Day

    Library

    The Great War

 Submissions

    Add Stories

    Time Capsule

    TWMP on Facebook



    Childrens Bookshop

 FAQ's

    Help & FAQs

    Glossary

    Volunteering

    Contact us

    News

    Bookshop

    About


Advertisements











World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

Harry Barr .     United States Air Force

My father, Harry Barr, was stationed at Duxford during WWII. He was with the USAAF, but flew Spitfires as well as P39s.




L/Cpl. James Barr .     British Army 1st Btn. Royal Ulster Rifles




Sgt V H Barr .     RAF 102 Squadron




Arthur Barradell-Smith .     British Army Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)   from Scotland

Arthur Barradell-Smith was captured on the way to Dunkirk in 1940. He was taken to Eichstatt in Bavaria and saw out the war there.




Sgt Richard Barrass. .     RAF 12Sqd. (d.24th Aug 1943)

Flt Eng Richard Barrass died on 24th August 1943 flying in Lancaster DV158 PH-A2 of 12sqd




ABJ Barratt .     British Army

ABJ Barratt served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch.

Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.




F/O Elgar Barratt .     Royal Air Force pilot 106 Sqd (d.16th Dec 1944)

Avro Lancaster ND682 was shot down by a night fighter at 03:54 hours while flying at 2300 metres in the southeast part of the sea of Kattegat by a German JU 88 night fighter of 3./NJG 3. The JU 88 was piloted by Hauptmann Eduard Schröder with the crew of Hessenmüller, Zeinert and Brunsendorf.

The body of Pilot F/O Elgar Barratt was found washed ashore at Kulla Gunnarstorp north of the Swedish town Hälsingborg and was laid to rest in Hälsingborg Municipal Cemetery.




Pte. Harold Bristow Barratt .     British Army 1st Btn. Northamptonshire Regiment   from Willenhall, Staffordshire

(d.25th Feb 1945)

Harold Barratt served with the 1st Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment. He was the son of Thomas Harold and Mary Barratt of Portobello, Willenhall, Staffordshire.

When you go home tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today.

The British Fourteenth Army was a multi-national force comprising units from Commonwealth countries during World War II. Many of its units were from the Indian Army as well as British units and there were also significant contributions from West and East African divisions within the British Army. It was often referred to as the "Forgotten Army" because its operations in the Burma Campaign were overlooked by the contemporary press and remained more obscure than those of the corresponding formations in Europe for long after the war. For most of the Army's existence, it was commanded by Lieutenant-General William Slim.

The 1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment was a regular army unit that served in the Burma Campaign from July 1942 to April 1945 with the 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade within the 20th Indian Infantry Division.The division was formed at Bangalore in April 1942. It was commanded by Major General Douglas Gracey and at first it consisted of the Indian 32nd, 51st and 53rd Brigades.

In July that year, the 51st and 53rd Brigades were detached to form the Indian 25th Infantry Division and replaced by the Indian 80th Infantry Brigade and Indian 100th Infantry Brigade (the latter brigade being transferred from the 34th Division which had recently disbanded in Ceylon). The division was intended from the start for operations in jungle and mountain and was on a Mixed Animal and Mechanical Transport establishment for maintenance in rough country. The division's insignia was a hand wielding a tulwar, in white on black. After training in Southern India and Ceylon, the Division joined Indian XV Corps at Ranchi in Bihar in December, but from July 1943, it was transferred to IV Corps in Imphal.

At the start of the Battle of Imphal in March 1944, 20th Division was deployed forward to Tamu in the Kabaw Valley. To avoid being cut off, it retreated to the Shenam Saddle in the hills surrounding the Imphal Plain. Because the 17th Indian Infantry Division was in difficulty in its sector, the 32nd Brigade was temporarily detached.

During April and the first part of May, the division held the saddle against attacks by infantry, tanks and heavy artillery. It was then relieved in place and ordered to counter-attack, north-east from Imphal to Ukhrul. The monsoon had broken, and movement was very difficult. After several Japanese counter attacks, at the start of July the division was transferred to the XXXIII Indian Corps and slowly eliminated large numbers of Japanese in and around the village, which had been made into a Japanese communication and logistic centre. During the remainder of the monsoon, the division rested around Dimapur. As the monsoon ended, it moved into a bridgehead across the Chindwin River at Kalewa. It attacked southward on the 4th December and cleared Japanese rear guards from Monywa.

On 13th of February 1945, the division made a crossing of the Irrawaddy River 20 miles (32 km) west of Mandalay. The boats used were leaky and other items of equipment already worn out. The first precarious footholds were counter attacked every night for a week but eventually linked up into a solid bridgehead. It was probably during one of these counter attacks that Harold Barratt was killed

He was probably interred initially at the Mandalay cemetery as this was nearest to the place where he fell on the Irrawady River on 25th of Feb 1945. The graves have been grouped together at Taukkyan to preserve the individuality of these battlefield cemeteries. Burials were also transferred from civil and cantonment cemeteries, and from a few of the isolated jungle and roadside sites. Taukkyan War Cemetry is the largest of the three war cemeteries in Burma (now Myanmar). It was begun in 1951 for the reception of graves from four battlefield cemeteries at Akyab, Mandalay, Meiktila and Sahmaw, which were difficult to access and could not be maintained. The cemetery now contains 6,374 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 867 of them unidentified.




S/Sgt. Joseph Barratt .     British Army 6th Btn. Cheshire Regiment   from 30 Garrett Street, Stockport

Staff/Sergeant Joseph Barratt was an employee of the hat manufacturers Christy & Co. Ltd. when he joined the Army in May 1939. Joseph left Britain in 1942 and ended up as a POW in Italy. He was on a POW train en-route from Italy to Germany when the Allerona tragedy took place.

On 28th January 1944 at the Orvieto North railway bridge at Allerona, Italy, a train full of Allied prisoners, most of whom had come from Camp P.G. 54, Fara in Sabina, north of Rome, was hit by friendly fire from the American 320th Bombardment Group. U.S. Army member Richard Morris was on the train and wrote that the journey was stopped on the bridge over the river, and that the German guards fled as soon as the bombs struck. The prisoners were left locked inside the carriages. Many, including Joseph Barratt, managed to escape through holes in the boxcars caused by the bombing, and jumped into the river below. It was a great tragedy of the war resulting in the deaths of hundreds of men.

Joseph suffered bruising to his chest whilst escaping from the train, and was admitted to hospital at Orvieto. From there he was sent on to Stalag 344 in Lamsdorf, Poland. His wife received notification of his detention on 21st February 1944. Tony Barratt, their son, reports that during the action in which his father was taken prisoner in Garigliano, the commanding officer was killed and so his father took command. He was debating the best course of action (to wave the white flag or run) when the Germans captured them.




Sub.Lt.(E) James Gordon Barre .     Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve HMS Forfar   from Barrie, Ontario, Canada

(d.2nd Dec 1940)




Pte. Joseph Barreiro .     US Army   from Pawtucket, Rhode Island

The truck Joe Barreiro was on crossed into German territory and he was captured.




Daniele Barrera .     Italian Army 265 Infantry Reg.

Taken prisoner on the island of Crete, in October 1943 with the entire regiment, transported by sea to Athens (Piraeus) and then launched into Germany with the military led by Grecia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Germania up to 6C of Stalag Bathorn (Meppen). The trip is lasting a month, because the rail lines had been bombed and some of the days you were still on track and secondary is done on rail cars discovered wagons that were normally used for carrying coal. We were 60 per wagon, pressed like sardines, and it was impossible to lie down on the floor for lack of space. The rations consisted of 2 (TWO) loaves of black bread a kilo each for 60 (sixty) people per day, and some of Gavetta brodaglia when it was possible.

From Stalag 6C were to take the middle class to bring to work in the countryside nearby, we were at the end of November 1943 and in those bleak years it was very cold, too, because we had just left our military uniforms without Pastro that was removed. Towards Christmas to all in 1943 we were part of the mandates in Paderborn in a locomotive factory and in the evening we brought the train in a camp nearby. After a month or so Paderborn was bombed and the factory was almost transported destroyed.NOI came to Osnabrück in AUTOWERCKSTADREPARATUR that was bombed in 1944 and transported to distrutta. Fummo MELLE and precisely where it was WELLINGHOLZHAUSEN workshop that had been destroyed in Osnabrück finally came and freed by the Allies in April 1945.

In these two years we have suffered cold, hunger, ill-treatment varied humiliations that is impossible to forget.




PFC. Joseph Barreras .     United States Army D Bty. 200th Coastal Artillery Regiment(AA).   from USA

Joseph Barreras was captured during actions at Bataan or Corregidor and interned as Prisoner Number 455 POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan.




Fire Force Commander Barrett .     Auxiliary Fire Service Norfolk




CPO. Albert "Jim" Barrett DSM.     Royal Navy HMS Ilex   from Portsmouth

Albert Barrett was my paternal grandfather, who was born in Romford in 1905. I never met him as he never returned to his family in Portsmouth and settled in Gateshead. He was awarded the DSM in recognition of his brave and resourceful service in the Dodecanese on 4th September 1940 whilst aboard the destroyer HMS Ilex. I believe he was once a gunnery instructor. My mother (his daughter) is now 87 years old, and I would love to be able to fill in the gaps of his life and find a photograph.




Alfred Thomas Barrett .     Auxillary Fire Service   from Battersea, London

I know very little of my father, Alfred TBarrett's time in the Auxiliary Fire Service during the second war. I only know that he did fire watching on the roof of the Du Cane Court flats in Balham South London. He had an accident falling from a ladder and was injured and went to hospital, but that is all I know. He lasted out right to the end of the war and he lived until he was 84 years old. He passed away in 1989.




Augustus William Barrett .     Royal Navy HMS Sirius   from Denchworth, East Hanney

Gus Barrett served as a Steward on HMS Sirius.




Tech. Sgt. Charles Paul Barrett .     United States Army 556th Regiment   from Belleville, MI




Capt. Charles L. Barrett .     British Army Royal Army Medical Corps

My father-in-law, Lt. (later Capt.) Charles L. Barrett, RAMC was a POW in Italy from May 1942 until April 1943. However, I do not know where he was held. Can anyone help?




Ethel Barrett .     Women's Land Army

My grandmother, Mrs Ethel Barrett, was the Cook/Warden at the Women's Land Army Hostel at Eastling in Kent. I remember that the hostel was located close to a large house called The Paddocks, which was the home of the Fisher family. This family farmed much of the local land. I wondered if any one might have worked at Eastling and remember my grandmother?




G Barrett .     British Army Royal Armoured Corps

G Barrett served with the Royal Armoured Corps British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch.

Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.




George Barrett .     Merchant Navy (d.3rd Aug 1942)

Does anyone remember my great uncle, George Barrett? He was in the Merchant Navy and was killed in 1942 when Middlesbrough Station was bombed during enemy action.




Sqd.Ldr. Gerald Barrett .     Royal Air Force 10 Sqd.

I note that the novel "The Sky Remembers" by Dan Brennan (Nordon 1977) has a dedication to:

  • Gerald Barrett Squadron Leader No.10 Squadron RAF and also
  • Pilot Officer Harry MacDaniels,
  • Pilot Officer Redge Folkes,
  • Squadron Leader Harry Ratcliffe,
  • Flight Sergeant Bus Hill,
  • Flight Sergeant Mac Mullaney
Does anyone have any information which might shed light on this dedication?




J Barrett .     British Army East Lancashire Regiment

J Barrett served with the East Lancashire Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch.

Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.




Pte. Jack "Tush" Barrett .     British Army 8th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment   from Rochdale

Jack Barrett joined the 8th East Lancashire Regiment in 1940 and, on conversion to tanks in 1941, continued to serve in 144th (East Lancashire) Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps on Valentine, Churchill and Sherman Tanks, first as a co-driver then driver. He saw active service in Normandy, the Low Countries and Germany, taking part in the Battles of Noyers, Pierre sur Mere, Le Havre, Caen, Operation Goodwood, Operation Totalise and Operation Epsom, in the Ardennes and the Rhine Crossing. In 1945 the regiment became the 4th Royal Tank Regiment. Jack was demobbed in 1946.




Able Sea Jack Barrett .     Royal Navy HMS Sirius   from Isle of Wight

My father, Jack Barrett rarely talked about his experience in the war, however, he saved his money and sent it to my mum, to get an engagement ring. I have inherited his letter with regard to the money sent, the receipt for the ring and my mum's returned letter to him. They married in 1943. He did not, however, tell us of the waves that crashed over the ship, with the men thinking she would snap in half.

Sorry I've not much information or any photos. He served on the HMS Sirius as an acting able seaman from 9th of May 1942 to 20th of October 1942 and from the 21st October 1942 to 22nd Feb 1943 as an able seaman. We are all proud of him.




Tpr. Jack Barrett .     British Army 4th Btn. Royal Tank Regiment   from Rochdale, Lancashire

Jack Barrett

Jack Barrett joined the 8th East Lancashire Regiment in 1940 and served after with the 144th Royal Armoured Corps and 4th Royal Tank Regiment. He fought in North West Europe in 1944-45 having his tank knocked out at Noyers in July 1944 and in the Ardennes in January 1945. He was a driver in a Sherman Firefly then a Buffalo in which he took part in the Rhine Crossing. He finished the War outside Hamburg and was demobbed in January 1946.




L/Cpl. John Francis Barrett .     British Army 11th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers   from Newry, Co. Down

(d.22nd Oct 1944)

John Francis Barrett was born in Oldham Lancashire in 1916. He had a twin, Thomas and an elder brother called William who was born in 1914. Their mother was Ellen Barrett, born in 1894 in Salford, who married William Gillespie in Liverpool in 1937. Ellen was my great grand aunt, her father William Barrett was born in 1850 in Manchester. He was my second great grandfather. John Francis Barrett was killed in action on 22nd of October 1944 aged 28 years old. He is remembered with honour at Geel War Cemetary in Belguim. His mother Ellen worked in a hospital in Liverpool during the war. She had lost two brothers John and Thomas in the First World War, they had both been killed in action - John in France in 1917 aged 28, and Thomas in Greece in 1916 aged 25 years. History had repeated itself.




John A. Barrett .     Merchant Navy SS Expositor

I served on SS Expositor along with SS Cape Corso both part of convoy PQ-15. I witnessed SS Cape Corso's sinking from the bridge of the SS Expositor. A German bomber came down low into the middle of the convoy and was shot down but not before it released its torpedo. Some minutes later this struck the Cape Corso. There was an subdued explosion that burst through what I would call the No. 2 hatch cover. The ship began to sink slowly going down stern first. I saw no lifeboats lowered and assumed no one survived until I read the Wartime Memories site. A sea water temperature of 40 degrees F probably claimed the lives of some initial survivors. I was very young then and it all seemed so unreal. My sincere condolences to the families involved.




John Barrett .     Royal Navy HMS Active   from Glasgow, Shettleston

John Barrett served in HMS Active during WW2.





Page 18 of 136

     First Page   Previous Page   Next Page    Last Page    








Can you help us to add to our records?

The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them


Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area?

If so please let us know.

Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice.




Celebrate your own Family History

Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc.

Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.














The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items.

The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.

If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.



Hosted by:

The Wartime Memories Project Website

is archived for preservation by the British Library





Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved

We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.