Name
Henry Booth Bartleet
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
10/09/1918
19
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Second Lieutenant
London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade)
5th (City of London) Bn. att 'B' Coy, 2/4 Bn. *1
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
EPEHY WOOD FARM CEMETERY, EPEHY
I. C. 19.
France
Headstone Inscription
THY WILL BE DONE
UK & Other Memorials
Hoddesdon and Rye Park Town Memorial, Hoddesdon,
St Catherine and St Paul’s Church Memorial, Hoddesdon,
Individual Memorial in St Catherine and St Paul’s Church, Hoddesdon
Pre War
Born on 2 Dec 1898 in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire son of Arthur Roland and Hannah Sophia (Booth) Bartleet, of Westholme, Hoddesdon. She was the daughter of William W Booth of Eastwood, Nottingham. Henry was educated at Gresham's School. Holt, Norfolk.
He was brought up in Hoddesdon, living in a big house on Highwood Road. His father was a leading light in the Conservative Club.
Wartime Service
Enlisted Private 305082 5th City of London Regt. on 14 Feb 1917 in Hertford and was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant on 27 Mar 1918 and entered France on 2 Aug 1918. He was killed in action on the Somme.
His commanding officer wrote: "During the attack he showed great courage and good leadership. His men say that he was absolutely fearless." and another officer: "All the men speak of his gallant behaviour."
Epehy village was taken by the Allies in April 1917, lost again March 1918, and finally retaken, in 'the Battle of Epehy, in September 1918.
He had gone to Epehy, and on his first afternoon in the front trench, peaks over the top and was immediately shot by a sniper and died immediately.
In more recent years the following poem was written for him by Doreen Nicolson.
FOR HENRY
As we stand in the church
By a plaque on the wall
Where your name, etched in brass
Reaches out to us all.
We remember our debt
That can never be paid
And reflect
On the ultimate sacrifice made
As we stand in the church
By a plaque on the wall
Where your name, etched in brass
Reaches out to us all.
We remember our debt
That can never be paid
And reflect
On the ultimate sacrifice made
At nineteen you were
Just beginning your life
With a passion for living
And dreams of a wife.
This brings love from the town
Where you laughed and you ran,
Not forgotten, but mourned,
A courageous young man!
Additional Information
His father, Mr A R Bartleet, Westholm, Hoddesdon, Herts., ordered his headstone inscription: "THY WILL BE DONE".
*1 More correctly London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).
Acknowledgments
Malcolm Lennox, Phil Holland, James Nicolson, Jonty Wild, Doreen Nicolson
