Pte 80807 John Barker

John was born in the December quarter of 1881 at 33 Harrison Street,  Pendleton, to Salford born joiner Samuel Barker and his wife Mary (nee Clarke) who married on 11 February 1877 in Salford. They had two daughters and two sons. John was their second child.

 

The 1891 Census shows John, aged 9, living with his parents at 33 Harrison Street, Pendleton. His father is a 36 year old joiner, born in Salford, his mother is 34 years of age and was also born in Salford. Also declared in the household are his siblings ; Mary C. aged 13  who is a cotton weaver, younger brother Samuel James aged 5, and baby sister Margaret aged 2. 

 

His father died in the December quarter of 1892, aged 44. 

 

The 1901 Census shows his widowed mother, Mary, aged 44, living at 26 Westminster Avenue, Salford. There are four children in the household; Mary E. is a 23 year old weaver, John is 19 and an apprentice packing case maker,Samuel is a 15 year old apprentice joiner and Margaret is 12. All children were born in Salford.

 

The 1911 Census finds the family now living at 67 Woodbine Street, Salford. His widowed mother, Mary, is now aged 54, she advised that she was married for 34 years and had eight children, only four of whom survived. There are three children in the household; John is now shown as a 28 year old packing case maker, Samuel is a 25 year old joiner and Margaret is a 22 year old box maker.  

 

He enlisted in Manchester as Private 291487 of the Welsh Regiment.

On 17th June 1916, aged 35, he married 26 year old Salford girl, Annie Dawson, at Christ Church, Salford, he gave his age as 32.

Following a transfer he was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 80807 when he was killed in action on the 04th December 1917.

The 17th Battalion Diary for 04th December 1917 shows the following:

Battalion in front line. Work on wiring and rivetting Perth Avenue. Patrols sent out at night for identification of enemy in front etc. 

Casualties: Killed 2 OR, Wounded 4 OR  

Their were three men of the 17th Battalion killed on 04th December 1917, it is possible that one of the 4 OR's referred to as Wounded also died that day.

Those killed were: Private John Barker, Lance Corporal Henry Edward Carroll and Private Charles Greenwood.   

John now rests at Bedford House Cemetery Encl 4, Belgium.

Zillebeke village and most of the commune were in the hands of Commonwealth forces for the greater part of the First World War, but the number of cemeteries in the neighbourhood bears witness to the fierce fighting in the vicinity from 1914 to 1918.

Bedford House, sometimes known as Woodcote House, were the names given by the Army to the Chateau Rosendal, a country house in a small wooded park with moats. Although it never fell into German hands, the house and the trees were gradually destroyed by shell fire. It was used by field ambulances and as the headquarters of brigades and other fighting units, and charcoal pits were dug there from October 1917.

In time, the property became largely covered by small cemeteries; five enclosures existed at the date of the Armistice, but the graves from No.1 were then removed to White House Cemetery, St. Jean, and those from No.5 to Aeroplane Cemetery, Ypres.

ENCLOSURE No.2 was begun in December 1915, and used until October 1918. After the Armistice, 437 graves were added, all but four of which came from the Ecole de Bienfaisance and Asylum British Cemeteries, both at Ypres.

ENCLOSURE No.3, the smallest, was used from February 1915 to December 1916; the burials made in August-October 1915 were largely carried out by the 17th Division.

ENCLOSURE No.4, the largest, was used from June 1916 to February 1918, largely by the 47th (London) Division, and after the Armistice it was enlarged when 3,324 graves were brought in from other burial grounds and from the battlefields of the Ypres Salient. Almost two-thirds of the graves are unidentified.

ENCLOSURE No.6 was made in the 1930s from the graves that were continuing to be found on the battlefield of the Ypres Salient. This enclosure also contains Second World War burials, all of them soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force, who died in the defence of the Ypres-Comines canal and railway at the end of May 1940. The canal lies on high ground on the west side of the cemetery.

Commonwealth casualties buried in the following smaller cemeteries were either concentrated into Bedford House Cemetery after the war or if lost, are now commemorated in Bedford House Cemetery.

In all, 5,139 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War are buried or commemorated in the enclosures of Bedford House Cemetery. 3,011 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate a number of casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials name casualties buried in other cemeteries whose graves could not be found on concentration. Second World War burials number 69 (3 of which are unidentified). There are 2 Germans buried here.

The cemetery was designed by W.C. Von Berg.

We currently have no further information on John Barker, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.