1919 ABSENT VOTERS LIST - PRESTON
SWARBRICKS - FURTHER DETAILS:
SWARBRICK, Henry 43858 Medal Index Card: Swarbrick Henry, Welsh Regiment, Private, 43858 Victory medal British medal [Written in pencil on the bottom of the card: "29/1/54" - no code or other indication as to its significance. There does not seem to be any Henry Swarbrick who died on 29th January 1954 - so it would not appear to be a death date.] The actual medal roll entry for this man confirms that he served in the 8th Battalion. The roll entry has a sequence of entries which go: Base, 8th, Base, 8th. This could mean that this man did his initial training with the Base [Reserve] Battalion, was then posted to the 8th Battalion, then returned to the Base Battalion [possibly wounded?] before being posted back to the 8th Battalion. According to the Long Long Trail the 8th [Service] Battalion Welsh Regiment were originally formed at Cardiff in August 1914. In January 1915 they were converted into a Pioneer Battalion attached to 13th [Western] Division. They saw service at Gallipoli from August 1915 until they were evacuated in December 1915. As Henry has no 1915 Star entitlement he could not have been serving abroad with them at that time. In February 1916 the Battalion were sent to Mesopotamia to fight the Turkish army. For most of 1916 the main focus was the attempted effort to relieve the garrison at Kut; this was unsuccessful. In 1917 the combined Anglo-Indian force had more success, capturing Baghdad and making significant advances. Henry Swarbrick was born on 3rd March 1897 in Preston, the second of five children born to Charles and Annie [Rhodes] Swarbrick. He was baptised on 7th April 1897 at St Mark's Church, Preston. In 1911 he was living with his parents at 33, Lauderdale Street, Preston and working as an errand boy for a photographer. His father's subsequent listings in various Preston directories from 1913 onwards give the family address as 32, Lauderdale Street. His brother Walter died on 28th August 1918. In 1924 Mrs Swarbrick of 31, Lauderdale Street, Preston, was listed as one of the contributors to the fund for the Preston War Memorial. Henry died in 1978 at Preston. |
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