Current Information:

Born-Croydon

Bailleul Communal Cemetery, France

On 4th March, 1915, the 1st Middlesex battalion of 19 Brigade, then with 6th Division, moved into trenches running from Touquet to Rue du Bois near Armentières where they remained until relieved on 9th March. Percy Barker died from wounds on 6th March but the exact date on which he was wounded is not known. The attrition rate among British soldiers on the Western Front was on average 300 each day and 60% of these were as a result of shellfire. When not involved in an actual battle it was either shell fire or a sniper’s bullet that caused most deaths and injuries.