838010 A/Sgt. Albert Henry Barrett was born on July 4th, 1894, in London, England.
After emigrating to Canada at some point, Albert, living in Owen Sound, Ontario, working as a teamster. When hostilities broke out Albert attested to the 147th (Grey) Battalion on November 27th, 1915 and was assigned to "A" Company and attained the rank of Lance-Corporal prior to heading overseas.
Billeted locally over the winter of 1915/16, the 147th Battalion mobilized in Owen Sound in the spring of 1916 and left for training at Camp Niagara. As the conditions in the Camp were wanting the unit moved to the new training facility of Camp Borden in late June.
In September 1916 the unit received their orders to proceed overseas, but due to an outbreak of diphtheria they were detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain on November 14th, 1916, on the S.S. Olympic.
On January 1st, 1917, the 147th Battalion ceased to exist when it became the nucleus for the 8th Reserve Battalion. On September 23rd, 1917, Albert was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. and would serve with the unit through Passchendaele, when he was promoted to Corporal in the October.
In June of 1918, Albert was transferred to England to take up a commission with the Royal Air Force, attending the No. 7 School of Aeronautics at Hampstead as a cadet on probation, now as Acting Sergeant. However, come September 1918 Albert ceased to be with the RAF and was discharged in England back to the 1st Central Ontario Regimental Depot (1st C.O.R.D.) now a Sergeant.
Albert returned to Canada at Wars end and was struck of strength on March 29th, 1919.
Biography details credit: George Auer, with additional service details provided by 4cmr.com