Henry George Fortune - Welsh Regiment, 3/6th Battalion (Territorial Force), attached Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), 132nd Company
Second Lieutenant Henry George Fortune - Welsh Regiment, 3/6th Battalion (Territorial Force), attached Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), 132nd Company
Birth and Family Background
Henry George Fortune was born in 1896 in Swansea, the
son of William Robert Fortune and Ada Sarah Woodeson.
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| 1901 Census |
At the time of the 1901 Census, the family were residing at 94 Terrace Road, Swansea. Swindon-born William (34) was employed as a Railway Clerk, and his Reading-born wife Ada Sarah (32) managed the household. Their children were Henry George (5) and Robert F. (3).
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| 1911 Census |
By the 1911 Census, the family had moved to 20 Cromwell Street, Swansea. William Robert (44) had advanced to become Chief Clerk to the Divisional Superintendent of the Great Western Railway in Swansea, while Ada Sarah (42) remained at home. Their sons were Henry George (15), working as a railway clerk, and Robert Ernest (13), who was still at school.
After completing his education, Henry followed his father
into railway employment, serving on the clerical staff of the Traffic
Department of the Great Western Railway at Pembrey, Burry Port, and
Morriston stations.
Military Service
Henry enlisted in 1915, joining the Glamorgan
Yeomanry, and subsequently served with the Welsh Regiment, 3/6th
Battalion (Territorial Force). In June 1915 he obtained a commission in the
same battalion. In February 1916, he was attached to the Machine Gun
Corps (Infantry), 132nd Company, and later served with the Indian
Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia from October 1916.
Operations in Mesopotamia – January 1917
By January 1917, 132nd Company was engaged in the
renewed British advance along the River Tigris toward Kut-el-Amara,
part of the determined effort to reverse the earlier British defeat there.
Machine gun companies were vital in these operations, providing sustained
Vickers gun fire to support infantry assaults, cover exposed riverbank
movements, and defend newly captured ground.
The terrain consisted largely of flat alluvial plains
intersected by irrigation channels, offering little natural cover and exposing
advancing troops to entrenched Ottoman rifle, machine-gun, and artillery fire.
The fighting was intense as British and Indian forces pressed forward against
strongly defended positions along bends in the river.
On 17th January 1917, during these
operations near the River Tigris, Second Lieutenant Henry George Fortune was
killed in action. The advance continued and ultimately led to the recapture
of Kut the following month, but at steady cost to units such as the 132nd
Company, Machine Gun Corps.
Burial
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| Henry George Fortune Amara War Cemetery, Iraq credit - finagrave |
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