When gathering information about soldiers from one hundred years ago, information can be scarce and sometimes there is not much one can find. Percy Gladstone Barr was one of those people, until now.
My research partner last year, Andrea, possessed a keen interest in him; however, her reasoning is unknown to me. Of course when the information required eventually materialized after a years time, the first email was sent to my coffee war opponent and partner, because she of all people would most appreciate the information.
Five months shy of 18, Percy enlisted on January 3rd of 1916. At the time, he still attended high school but joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force anyway.
Courtesy of Collections Canada
There are few mentions of Percy Barr in The Camosun, but through my process of researching him, I realized that perhaps external sources are the richest source of information.
The local news paper of the time, The Colonist, courtesy of the University of Victoria added editions from 1911 onward online and luckily, for both Andrea and I, there were specific details about him and his family. I learned that his father died in Hamilton, Ontario when he was a boy and had an older brother and two sisters.
Percy’s mother, Rose-Anne, left with her four children for British Columbia between 1912-1914 and resided in Colwood, British Columbia for many years afterward. During Percy’s years spent at the high school, peers recognized him as a boy who was exceedingly popular and bright, an active member in his church and Captain of the Church’s intermediate basketball team.
Courtesy of Faith Reimer Archives
Percy left with the 103rd Battalion, otherwise known as the “Vancouver Island Timberwolves”, but later in his service, transferred to the 29th “Tobin’s Tigers”. After his original enlistment, his eldest brother, Willis F. Barr was serving overseas in England with the Royal Army Medical Corps (yes, there will be information on him coming later once I find some) and Percy was determined to join him.
Barr carried out his dangerous duties as a sniper close to the German lines, but on December 20th, 1916, Percy Barr was killed in action.
The Avid Researcher 