Bertie was the son of George and Dinah Pettitt latterly of Prentices Farm, Purleigh, Woodham Ferrers where George was employed as a farm bailiff and Bertie was also living employed as a bricklayer. He was born at Little Braxted in 1880.
Bertie volunteered for service in 1915 and landed in France on 3rd December that year as Private 19319, 9th (Service) Battalion, The Essex Regiment part of Kitchener’s volunteer army. At some stage he was transferred to the 183rd Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers as a scaffolder.
The tunnelling companies dug deep tunnels under enemy trenches prior to a major attack, packing the tunnels with high explosives and detonating the mines at the start of the attack. This company planted seven such mines that were detonated at the start of the Battle of The Somme in 1916. They were also deployed in The Ypres Salient in 1916/17 when they planted mines in preparation for the Battle of Messines in 1917.They were also involved in digging deep dugouts.
Following the German Spring Offensive of 1918 they were deployed in digging and wiring long stretches of trenches as there was no longer a need to mine under enemy positions because the front had become much more mobile.
Having survived nearly three years of service on the Western Front he died of flu in a London Hospital. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star in addition to the British War and Victory Medals. He was buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Woodham Ferrers on 13th December 1918 just two days after Charles Whitworth.