Born: 1890, Idle
Died: 30 May 1919, Mesopotamia
Buried: Basra War Cemetery
Address: 40 Tower Street, Undercliffe
Parents: John Arthur & Mary Jane, nee Bland
Spouse:
Siblings: Cyril
Occupation:
Organisations/clubs:
Military
Rank: Sapper
Medals/awards:
Rolls of Honour: Eccleshill, Park & St Luke’s
Children:
Regiment: Royal Engineers
Fred Whitaker
Fred Whitaker was born in 1890 in
Idle the son of John Arthur and
Mary Jane, nee Bland.
After a spell in Gomersal, by 1911
the family had returned to Idle to
live at No. 11 Town Lane. Fred, at
20 years of age, was working as a
worsted twister. He was also the
organist at the Unitarian Church in
Idle. When he enlisted the family
were living at 40 Tower Street,
Undercliffe.
He enlisted on the 15th of
September 1916, unit and number
not known but at some point he
joined the Royal Engineers in the
Inland Water Transport Section and
after March 1918 the
transportation troops were given a
new number and Fred became
Sapper WR/553051 serving in
Mesopotamia (Iraq).
In the summer of 1916 all non-
transport work in Mesopotamia
became a part of the Inland Water
Transport Directorate’s
responsibilities, and during 1917 its
scope was extended to cover Inland
Water Transport and Dock Working
in Egypt, in Salonika, and in other
theatres of war.
In Mesopotamia the land is for the
most part desert and very flat.
There were no roads so all transport
had to be by boat along the rivers.
Fred was still working in
Mesopotamia on the rivers in 1919
when he contracted malaria and
died on the 30th of May. He was
28 years of age.
He is buried in the Basra War
Cemetery in Iraq. The graveyard
has been left without a single one
of its 4000 headstones still standing
after the fall of Saddam Hussain
and after the withdrawal of British
Troops from the city in 2007 it was
too dangerous for the Common-
wealth War Graves Commission to
send teams to repair the damage.
He left his effects to his father John
Arthur who received £15.10.0d on
the 5th December 1919 and a claim
of £8.0.0d on the 3rd March 1920.
Researched and written by Jean
Britteon, to whom many thanks