William Barrass
Isabel Field has submitted the following:-
William was the 7th of eight children of William and Elizabeth Barrass of Sherburn Village. He was born 16th May 1885. His father worked down a coal mine.
William also worked as a coal miner and married Martha Moore April 10th 1909. William and Martha had two children a son also William born 1910 and a daughter Bessie born 17th December 1914. They lived at 22 South Street, Sherburn Colliery.
William travelled to Newcastle upon Tyne to enlist on 27th December 1914 when Bessie was ten days old.
After training William was shipped to France. Little is known of his time there apart from knowing he was at Passchendaele, then at The Somme where he was wounded. William was returned to England to a hospital at Manchester. He returned to France was again wounded September 1916, and sent to a hospital in England. On his last leave home he picked up his baby daughter and said "Daddy won't be coming home again."
William had served in the 11th, 23rd and 24th Battalions. In January 1918 the 27th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers - 4th Tyneside Irish was disbanded. William with sixteen other signallers was transferred to the 23rd Battalion - 4th Tyneside Scottish.
William was killed 23rd March 1918 aged 32 years. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial.
For some unknown reason William's name was missed off the Sherburn Church Memorial. (S121.02) It was added by Isabel Field in 2003.
William is remembered on six Sherburn Village memorials - S121.01 S121.02 S121.03 S121.04 S121.05 and S121.08
