www.voicesofwar.co.uk
Life Story
Herbert Billings was born on the 29th September 1887 to parents Joseph
and Caroline Billings. The family were living at 16 West Road, Oakham, the
old Victorian terraced house st number 15 has now been replaced with a
modern house.
Before the First World War he worked as a Post Ofce sorting clerk in
Oakham and telegraphist. He signed up for active duty on 4th August 1914,
the day that war broke out. At the time he held the rank of Sergeant with
the Oakham Company of the 5th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment
(Territorial Force).
Herbert went out to France on the 26th February 1915 and was wounded
later that year. After a period or recouperation, he was then sent out to
Mesopotamia where he took part in the relief of the Siege of Kut. He was
mentioned in dispatches for his actions at the Battle of Sheikh Soad.
He was killed in action on the 6th April 1916, near the Sanni Yat
position, hit by a stray bullet. He was buried near the northern end of
the position but like many temporary burial places, it was lost. Herbert is
commemorated on the Basra Memorial. His older brother Ernest also died
in the war (in Kantara, Egypt on the 23rd December1918).