69126 Company Quartermaster Sergeant
HENRY BAKER
Royal Engineers
by
Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis ©2008
Henry Baker served as a Private (Regimental Number 4125) in the Royal West Surrey Regiment prior to being transferred to the Royal Engineers. He had been a Regular Army soldier for some time prior to the start of the Great War, as he had received the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal during the reign of H.M. King Edward VII.
Based on his R.E. Regimental Number it appears that he was assigned to the 35th Division Signal Company. This company was raised in Reading in August of 1915 and in September of 1915 was in a training camp at Roomer Common, Masham, Yorkshire.
The 35th Division moved to Salisbury Plain on the 29th of January 1916 and was at Chateau de Nieppe, France on the 31st of January 1916. The division went into line for the first time on the 9th of February 1916 and subsequently took part in the following actions:
Albert: 1 July 1916
Bazentin: 14 July 1916
Passchendaele: 26 October 1917
Bapaume: 24 March 1918
Ypres: 28 September 1918
Courtrai: 14 October 1918
Baker survived the war and rose to the rank of Company Sergeant Major. For his service in the Great War Baker fwas awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
REFERENCES:
1. Soldiers Died in the Great War.
2. Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Engineer
Journal, 1925-1932.