Have You a Tiger In Your Family?

Rank : Corporal

Army Number : 16694

Unit : 2nd Bn

Biography :

Home address given as Ratby, Leicestershire. Enlisted at Leicester. Served with the 2nd Bn during World War One. Wounded 23.4.1915. Rejoined 7.10.1915. Killed in action Mesopotamia 23.4.1917, aged 27. He is commemorated on Basra Memorial, Iraq.

Further Info: The picture is of Tom and Joseph his brother both killed in the war.

CWGC:

Rank: Corporal
Service No: 16694
Date of Death: 23/04/1917
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: Leicestershire Regiment 2nd Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 12.
Memorial: BASRA MEMORIAL
Additional Information: Son of the late William and Sarah Ann Harratt.

Brother - CWGC:

HARRATT, JOSEPH
Rank: Private
Service No: 26817
Date of Death: 03/05/1917
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Leicestershire Regiment 6th Bn.
Panel Reference: Bay 5.
Memorial: Arras Memorial ARRAS MEMORIAL
Additional Information: Son of the late William and Sarah Harratt.

------------------------

Taken from Ratby Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RatbyLeicestershire

Ratby, Leicestershire

September 29 · Edited.

Ratby War Memorial

PTE J Harratt was born in 1893 at Monks Kirby, Warwickshire and died on the 3rd May 1917, France.

Joseph Harratt was born at Monks Kirby, Warwickshire in 1893, he was the fourth son born to William and Sarah Ann Harratt and the younger brother of Private William Harratt, Corporal Tom Harratt and he was also the twin of Hilda Mary. The family moved from Monks Kirby sometime after the birth of George Harratt in 1896 and the 1901 census, they were living at Main Street, Ratby in 1901 and by 1911 the family had moved to Station Road, Ratby.

William Harratt was born in 1856 at Monks Kirby and died in the registration district of Market Bosworth, so possibly at Ratby in 1908. Sarah Ann Harratt nee Reeves was born at Stretton On Dunsmore, Warwickshire in 1862, William and Sarah Ann were married at Monks Kirby on the 6th November 1883, William Harratt”s occupation according to the 1901 census returns was Granite Quarryman.

Joseph had six siblings all six siblings survived, the names of Joseph”s brothers and sisters:

John Harratt born 1885 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
Ada Sarah Harratt born 1886 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
William Harratt born 1888 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
Tom Harratt born 1890 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
Hilda Mary Harratt born 1893 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
George Harratt born 1896 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire

I have built a very small picture of who the family of Joseph Harratt were but who was Joseph and what did he do before joining the Great War. According to the census return for Joseph and his family in 1911, Joseph”s occupation was listed as Stone Quarryman. In my research for Joseph Harratt I haven”t found his services record which is unfortunate as these are so full of information.

Joseph Harratt was killed in action on the 3rd May 1917 during the Battle of Arras, France.

I have attached a photograph of the medals he was awarded during the war, and also a copy of Joseph”s Commemorative Certificate which can also be found on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website http://www.cwgc.org/

Follow this link for more information about the Battle of Arras http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arras_%281917%29

HARRATT, JOSEPH
Rank: Private
Service No: 26817
Date of Death: 03/05/1917
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Leicestershire Regiment 6th Bn.
Panel Reference: Bay 5.
Memorial: Arras Memorial ARRAS MEMORIAL
Additional Information: Son of the late William and Sarah Harratt.

Name: Joseph Harratt
Birth Place: Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
Residence: Ratby, Leicestershire
Death Date: 3 May 1917
Death Place: France and Flanders
Enlistment Place: Leicester
Rank: Private
Regiment: Leicestershire Regiment
Battalion: 6th Battalion
Regimental Number: 26817
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theatre of War: Western European Theatre

ARRAS MEMORIAL
Country: France
Locality: Pas de Calais
Identified Casualties: 34774

Location Information
The Arras Memorial is in the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery, which is in the Boulevard du General de Gaulle in the western part of the town of Arras. The cemetery is near the Citadel, approximately 2 kms due west of the railway station.

The GPS coordinates for the cemetery are 50.28670, 2.76057

Visiting Information
Wheelchair access to the memorial is possible via an alternative entrance at the rear of Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery.

Access by car to Faubourg d”Amiens Cemetery and Arras Memorial will not be possible on JULY 10th due to the Tour de France.

Historical Information
The French handed over Arras to Commonwealth forces in the spring of 1916 and the system of tunnels upon which the town is built were used and developed in preparation for the major offensive planned for April 1917.

The Commonwealth section of the FAUBOURG D'AMIENS CEMETERY was begun in March 1916, behind the French military cemetery established earlier. It continued to be used by field ambulances and fighting units until November 1918. The cemetery was enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields and from two smaller cemeteries in the vicinity.

The cemetery contains over 2,650 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 10 of which are unidentified. The graves in the French military cemetery were removed after the war to other burial grounds and the land they had occupied was used for the construction of the Arras Memorial and Arras Flying Services Memorial.

The adjacent ARRAS MEMORIAL commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and the German attack in the spring of 1918. Canadian and Australian servicemen killed in these operations are commemorated by memorials at Vimy and Villers-Bretonneux. A separate memorial remembers those killed in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917.

The adjacent ARRAS FLYING SERVICES MEMORIAL commemorates almost 1,000 airmen of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps, and the Royal Air Force, either by attachment from other arms of the forces of the Commonwealth or by original enlistment, who were killed on the whole Western Front and who have no known grave.

During the Second World War, Arras was occupied by United Kingdom forces headquarters until the town was evacuated on 23 May 1940. Arras then remained in German hands until retaken by Commonwealth and Free French forces on 1 September 1944. The 1939-1945 War burials number 8 and comprise 3 soldiers and 4 airmen from the United Kingdom and 1 entirely unidentified casualty. Located between the 2 special memorials of the 1914-1918 War is the special memorial commemorating an officer of the United States Army Air Force, who died during the 1939-1945 War. This special memorial, is inscribed with the words "Believed to be buried in this cemetery". In addition, there are 30 war graves of other nationalities, most of them German.

Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with sculpture by Sir William Reid Dick. The memorial was unveiled by Lord Trenchard, Marshal of the Royal Air Force on the 31 July 1932 (originally it had been scheduled for 15 May, but due to the sudden death of French President Doumer, as a mark of respect, the ceremony was postponed until July).

----------------------

Ratby, Leicestershire

September 28 · Edited.

Ratby War Memorial

CPL.T Harratt was born on the 21st November 1890 at Monks Kirby, Warwickshire and died on the 23rd April 1917, Mesopotamia. The Ratby War Memorial lists him as L/CPL unless I am reading the information on the Memorial incorrectly, I am a girl!

Tom Harratt was born at Monks Kirby, Warwickshire on the 21st November 1890 and christened on the 17th April 1891 at Monks Kirby, Tom was the third son born to William and Sarah Ann Harratt. The family moved from Monks Kirby sometime after the birth of George Harratt in 1896 and the 1901 census, they were living at Main Street, Ratby in 1901 and by 1911 the family had moved to Station Road, Ratby.

William Harratt was born in 1856 at Monks Kirby and died in the registration district of Market Bosworth, so possibly at Ratby in 1908. Sarah Ann Harratt nee Reeves was born at Stretton On Dunsmore, Warwickshire in 1862, William and Sarah Ann were married at Monks Kirby on the 6th November 1883, William Harratt—s occupation according to the 1901 census returns was Granite Quarryman.

Tom had six siblings all six siblings survived, the names of Tom—s brothers and sisters:

John Harratt born 1885 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
Ada Sarah Harratt born 1886 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
William Harratt born 1888 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
Hilda Mary Harratt born 1893 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
Joseph Harratt born 1893 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
George Harratt born 1896 Monks Kirby, Warwickshire

I have built a very small picture of who the family of Tom Harratt were but who was Tom and what did he do before joining the Great War. According to the census return for Tom and his family in 1911, Tom—s occupation was listed as Groom aged 20. In my research for Tom Harratt I haven—t found his services record which is unfortunate as these are so full of information.

Tom Harratt was killed in action on the 23rd April 1917 at Mesopotamia.

I have attached a photograph of the medals he was awarded during the war, and also a copy of Tom—s Commemorative Certificate and the panel memorial details which can also be found on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website http://www.cwgc.org/

If you are interested to know where Mesopotamia was/is have a look at my favourite wiki here—s the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia

Sarah Ann Harratt the mother of Tom and Joseph lost two of her sons in such a very short time, Tom as you know from this short biography died on the 23rd April 1917, Joseph died on the 3rd May 1917 in France.

HARRATT, TOM
Rank: Corporal
Service No: 16694
Date of Death: 23/04/1917
Age: 27
Regiment/Service: Leicestershire Regiment 2nd Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 12.
Memorial: BASRA MEMORIAL
Additional Information: Son of the late William and Sarah Ann Harratt.

Name: Tom Harratt
Birth Place: Monks Kirby, Warwickshire
Residence: Ratby, Leicestershire
Death Date: 23 Apr 1917
Death Place: Mesopotamia
Enlistment Place: Leicester
Rank: Corporal
Regiment: Leicestershire Regiment
Battalion: 2nd Battalion
Regimental Number: 16694
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theatre of War: Asiatic Theatres

BASRA MEMORIAL
Country: Iraq
Identified Casualties: 40626

Location Information
Until 1997 the Basra Memorial was located on the main quay of the naval dockyard at Maqil, on the west bank of the Shatt-al-Arab, about 8 kilometres north of Basra.

Because of the sensitivity of the site, the Memorial was moved by presidential decree. The move, carried out by the authorities in Iraq, involved a considerable amount of manpower, transport costs and sheer engineering on their part, and the Memorial has been re-erected in its entirety.

The Basra Memorial is now located 32 kilometres along the road to Nasiriyah, in the middle of what was a major battleground during the first Gulf War.

The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with.

Visiting Information
NOTE: Whilst the current climate of political instability persists it is not possible for the Commission to manage or maintain its cemeteries and memorials located within Iraq. Alternative arrangements for commemoration have therefore been implemented and a two volume Roll of Honour listing all casualties buried and commemorated in Iraq has been produced. These volumes are on display at the Commission's Head Office in Maidenhead and are available for the public to view.

The Commission continues to monitor the situation in Iraq and once the political climate has improved to an acceptable level the Commission will commence a major rehabilitation project for its cemeteries and commemorations.

Before considering a visit to Iraq the Commission strongly recommends that you check the advice given by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on the travel section of their website:

www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/

Historical Information
The Basra Memorial commemorates more than 40,500 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the operations in Mesopotamia from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921 and whose graves are not known. The memorial was designed by Edward Warren and unveiled by Sir Gilbert Clayton on the 27th March 1929.

Date of Birth : 21.11.1890

Place of Birth : & Monks Kilby & Leicestershire

Date of Death : 23.4.1917

Place of Death : & & Mesopotamia

Period of Service : 1910s

Conflicts : WW1

Places Served : France & Mesopotamia