+ All Categories
Transcript
Page 1: Acting Corporal (5002) John Henry Batten of the 1st/4th Battalion …brentorvillage.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Batten... · 2018-09-01 · The historical snapshot of this small

John Henry Batten 1896-1916

ActingCorporal(5002)JohnHenryBattenofthe1st/4thBattalion(Territorials)oftheDevonshireRegimentwasbornin1896inWhitchurch.HeenlistedinTavistockanddiedaged20ofpneumoniaon17September1916inMesopotamia(Iraq).HewasburiedinAmaraCemetery.HewasthesonofWilliamHenry,aHighway

Surveyor,andElizabethAnn(Perkins)BattenofBrinsabatch.

JohnHenryBattenwasthe7thchildofWilliamHenryBatten(1852-1926)andElizabethPerkins(1855-1941)whoweremarriedatBrentorin1886.Theirchildrenwere:ElizabethAlice b24Feb1887–11Apr1977mJohnJasperEgginsDec1918(aged31)WilliamCharles b15Feb1888,d10hoursold.EllenMaria b15Feb1888donedayoldHarriet b4Feb1889 deighthoursoldMaryAdelaide b24July1890–Jun1982mWilliamDisneyAthertonRoe(1886-1969)in1915WilliamCharles b1892–1951mAnnieLouiseWatkins(1892-1960)on30April1919JohnHenry bSep1896-1916

WilliamHenryBatten,JohnHenry’sfather,wasbroughtupatBrinsabach,andasanadultlivedinTavistock. The familyownedBrinsabach, but rented it out for several years in theearly 1900’s.Theymovedbacktothefarmbefore1911.

The 1881 Census shows the Batten family living at Bremesbatch.William (60)was farming 100acreswithhiswife,Susanna(60:borninNorthlew)andhisunmarriedsonWilliamH(29).Boardingwiththemwasawidower,JohnYelland(75)aretiredfarmerborninGermansweek.

By 1891WilliamHenry (39)whowasmarried to Elizabeth A 36,who had been born in Yeovil,Somerset,was livingat6TrelawnyTerrace inBannawellSt,Tavistockandearninghis livingasaDistrictSurveyor.TheyhadtwosmalldaughtersElizabethAlice(4)andMaryAdelaide(8mo)bothborn in Tavistock. Thehistorical snapshot of this small family doesnot reflect the anguish theymusthavefeltatthelossoftwinsWilliamCharlesandEllenMaria inFebruary1888andHarrietthefollowingFebruary,eachwithinhoursofbirth.

In1901thefamilywaslivingat1ChurchParkVillasinWhitchurch.WilliamHenry(49)wasaRoad

Page 2: Acting Corporal (5002) John Henry Batten of the 1st/4th Battalion …brentorvillage.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Batten... · 2018-09-01 · The historical snapshot of this small

John Henry Batten 1896-1916

Surveyor,hiswifeElizabeth(Perkins)was46.TheirchildrenwereElizabethAlice14,MaryAdelaide10,WilliamCharles8(borninBrentor)andJohnHenry4(borninWhitchurch).

In1911,thecensusshowsthattheywerelivingatBrinsabach(Brimsabatch),describedasahouseof six rooms in South Brentor. William Henry was described as a Highway Surveyor with theDistrictCouncil,aged59,andhiswifeElizabethAnnwas56.TheirdaughterElizabethAlicewas24andwasemployed indairyworkonthe farm,MaryAdelaidewas20,WilliamCharlesat18waslistedasafarmeronthefarmandJohnHenryat14wasstillatschool.

JohnHenry(5002)enlistedinBrentorearlyintheFirstWorldWar.Thoughhisarmyrecordhasnotsurvived,itislikelythatJohnjoinedasavolunteer,asrecruitswerenotnormallysentabroaduntiltheywere 19.Hewas probably too young to be a territorial. But if he joined up in September1914,hewouldhavehadtheopportunitytochoosewhichunitheservedinanditappearsthathejoined the 2nd/5th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, which had been formed at Plymouth.They sailed fromDevonport on 5th September 1915 aboard the SS Ceramic bound for Egypt. Itarrived on 15th September, probably at Alexandria and took up, at that stage of thewar,whatwerelargelygarrisonduties,althoughEgyptwasaTheatreofWar.

ThreebattalionsoftheDevonshireRegimenthadbeensenttoIndiaforgarrisondutiestoreplaceregular units so that they could return to serve in France. However the war in Mesopotamia,ostensiblytoprotecttheoilfields,wasgoingsobadlythatthereservebattalionswereeventuallysent therealongwith thousandsof Indian troops. Itwasaparticularlyhostileenvironmentwithextremesofdaytimeheatandnightcold, rainandfloods, lackofcleanwaterandfood, insectsand other vermin and determined German-led Ottoman troops as well as marauding Arabs.Inadequatemedicalfacilitiescausedasmanycasualtiesthroughillness,asfrombattlewounds.ByJune 1916 reinforcements were needed so badly that the 2nd/5th Battalion in Egypt wasdisbandedandthemendistributedamongthethreeDevonbattalionsinMesopotamia(Iraq).Johnwaspostedthereon5thSeptember1915asanActingCorporal to the1st/4thDevons,whohadbeeninstationedinBasrasinceMarch1915.

AmaraontheleftbankoftheTigris,about520kilometresfromthesea,hadbeencapturedandoccupiedbytheBritishMesopotamianExpeditionaryForceon3rd June1915andit immediatelybecameahospital centre,with rudimentary facilities.Thesickandwoundedwerebroughtherefrom various parts of the country. John arrived with an unspecified illness and died on 17thSeptember1916ofpneumonia.HewasburiedintheAmaraWarCemetery.

AmaraWar Cemetery contains 4,621burials of the FirstWorldWar,more than 3,000ofwhichwerebroughtintothecemeteryaftertheArmistice.925ofthegravesareunidentified.In1933,alloftheheadstoneswereremovedfromthiscemeterywhenitwasdiscoveredthatsaltsinthesoilwere causing them to deteriorate. Instead a screenwall was erectedwith the names of thoseburied in the cemetery engraved upon it. Plot XXV where John Henry Batten is buried, is acollectivegrave,theindividualburialplaceswithinthisarenotknown.

JohnHenryhadreachedtherankofActingCorporalattheageof20.HismemorialplaqueisontheinsidewallofStMichael’sChurch,Brentor.HisfatherreceivedhisWarGratuityof£810s0dplus£21s10d.Johnqualifiedforthe1915StarforhisserviceinEgyptandtheVictoryandBritishWarmedalsforserviceinMesopotamia.

William Henry, the father of John Henry, born 2 February 1852, died on 22 June 1926 inWhitchurch.Hiswife,ElizabethAnn,diedin1941.

Between1941and1943,BrinsabatchFarmwasrentedtoWifredEwartGray,amasterbuilder.Hemoved there to avoid the bombing in Plymouth. In 1944 he moved to Park House.


Top Related