Raggett, Bertram Robert | Universities at War

Personal details

Badges and Insignia - Royal Flying Corps. Image kindly provided by United Kingdom Government and available at commons.wikimedia.org 24335205.

Name on Memorial:

Raggett, B. R.

Forename(s):

Bertram Robert

Surname:

Raggett

Date of Death:

Saturday, January 5, 1918

Age at Death:

University life

College:

Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne

Staff or Student:

Student

Degree(s):

BSc

Military Service

The information displayed here is at the time of death.

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Service:

Air

Unit:

Royal Flying Corps, 10th Squadron

Prisoner of War:

Military Training:

Officers’ Training Corps

Theatre of War:

France and Flanders

Biography

Bertram was born in North Shields in 1890 to the Reverend Robert, MA, and Elizabeth Hewson Raggett of Gateshead. He was the eldest brother of Shallett Hewson, Annie Lucinia, John Lawrence and Gilbert Edward.

He was apprenticed to Parsons Turbine Works as an Engineering Apprentice. After the completion of this apprenticeship, he worked for North Eastern Railway as a locomotive fitter.

Bertram served as a motorcycle despatch rider in the Royal Engineers Signal Service from August 1914 till October 1916, and was then commissioned into the RFC in on 19th January 1917. Bertram enlisted in response to a call to motorcyclists to go to France with their own motorcycle which the Army purchased if it met Army specifications. The scheme offered volunteers a chance to join the fighting straightaway, which was attractive when some suggested the war would be over by Christmas.

Bertram was killed in action at Poperinghe, Belgium on 5th January 1918 aged 27.

Addresses before and during the war

6 Claremont Terrace, Newcastle On Tyne (place of residence as entered in the 1911 census)

Place of Burial or Battle Site Memorial

Bertram is buried in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Memorials

Other Memorials:

Bertram's name is inscribed on a panel in St. John the Baptist's Church, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Additional images

Research information

Sources:

UK Census registers, National Archives (available via Ancestry.co.uk)

UK Military Service Records, National Archives (available via Ancestry.co.uk)

Newcastle University Archives (Roll of Service, Armstrong College Calendars, The Northerner Student Magazine)

North East War Memorials Project

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

National Archives WO 339/72921

"The Motor Cycle" weekly paper dated 10 Sept 1914

Researched by:

Sophie Anderton, Ian Johnson, Holly Johnson, Amy Shiel, Nick Shelley