Richard Barr BZ/698
| Initial lead courtesy of Black History Month 100 years of service and sacrifice. | ||||||||
| Richard (Dickie) Barr was born at Perranuthnoe, Cornwall, on 10th July 1888 to Richard Barr, a miner of African descent, and his Cornish wife, who had married the previous year. After leaving school he worked as a bellboy at Penzance’s Western Union Hotel, later serving as a steward aboard the SS Trematon. He married Nellie Lethby in 1912. | ||||||||
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Dickie enlisted in the Royal Naval Division on 9th February 1915, being allocated the service number Bristol Z/698 and the rank of Able Seaman. He gave his address as Gulval and his occupation as miner. In August he was drafted to the Nelson Battalion on the Gallipoli peninsula. After deployment to France, Dickie was diagnosed with influenza in August 1916, rejoining Nelson one month later. On the opening day of the attack at Beaucourt he suffered a gunshot wound to the neck and was evacuated to England for treatment. Fit for duty once more, Dickie rejoined Nelson in July 1917. He was detached to the Anson Battalion in December before being cross-posted to Hawke in February 1918. He was wounded during Operation Michael and admitted to the 149th Field Ambulance on 3rd April, joining the L.I.B. depot two weeks later before again being cross-posted to Anson. |
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Demobilised on 13th February 1919, Dickie returned to Cornwall and worked as a labourer in Penzance. He and Nellie would raise two known children; Leslie (1924) and William (1927). Dickie died in 1955. |
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