He married Lorna Winifred Findlay on 22 Oct 1934. They went on to have eight children.
His Army service record describes him as 5 foot six inches tall (168cm) with blue eyes and brown hair.
After the war, he became a postman in the South Chard area of Somerset, serving in this role from 1947 until his retirement in 1978, aged 65. He never spoke about his time in Auxiliary Units. One of his sons remembered being told about his his wartime service in Chideock, since he cycled home from there whenever he had leave. He also mentioned being at Puddletown.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Dorset Scout Section | Scout Section Member | Jan 1941 | 20 Apr 1943 |
Butcher
He enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment. His Army records list him as Barrett, rather than the correct spelling of Barratt.
Following basic training, by Dec 1940 he had qualified as a Class II Cook. He transferred from the 4th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment to Auxiliary Units. He was based for a time at Chideock in Dorset. By April 1942 he was a Class I Cook.
Leaving the Scout Section, as the regular component was being reduced, he was posted to 4th Battalion The Wiltshire Regiment. He then moved to 41 Reinforcement Holding Unit on 10 May 1944.
He found himself posted to the 2nd Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment on 2 Jun 1944. They landed on Gold Beach on D Day, 6 Jun 1944, immediately behind the Dorset and Hampshire battalions of their brigade. Leslie was badly wounded in the arm and chest by a mortar shell around 11.30 on 6 Jun. He had to make his own way back to the beach, where he was evacuated back to the UK for a prolonged hospital stay. He was discharged on medical grounds in Oct 1945.
1939 Register
SAS War Diary
Ancestry UK
Peter Barratt