Thomas's Story.
Thomas Barlow was born in 1894 in Whitehouse Farm, Shocklach, the only son and the youngest of four children, to parents Thomas Barlow senior and Ann. Ann died aged 37 when Thomas junior was 9. His father was a horse dealer and so when Thomas enlisted in the army in 1916 he joined the cavalry, with the 9th Lancers, and later with the 1/1st Bedfordshire Yeomanry. 
In March 1918 the Bedfordshire Yeomanry became part of the Hussars, and Thomas’ squadron was attached to the 19th Queen’s Own Royal Hussars, within the 9th Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.
The Battle of Cambrai was fought on in October 1918, a phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line. Part of this action was termed the Second Battle of Le Cateau. On Tuesday the 8th October, the 9th Cavalry Brigade was ordered to advance possibly as far as Le Cateau, beyond the infantry line, through the villages of Serain and Premont, south of Brancourt on the France-Belgium border, attacking the retreating enemy using swords. The cavalry charge lead regiment was the 19th Hussars. The action proved a disaster, and around the two villages on that day the 1st Cavalry Division suffered some 200 casualties including Thomas Barlow, aged 24.
Researched by Les Hill.