16413
BARRETT, Edward Roy
| Service Number: | 248 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 1893 |
| Home Town: | Cowell, Franklin Harbour, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | farmer |
| Died: | 1971, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Cowell Men from Franklin Harbour WW1 Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Nov 1915: | Involvement Driver, 248, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Katuna embarkation_ship_number: A13 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Nov 1915: | Embarked Driver, 248, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Katuna, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Gunner, 248 |
Help us honour Edward Roy Barrett's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
Edward Roy Barrett was born in December 1892 in Adelaide. His family moved to Franklin Harbour, South Australia, near modern day Cowell, on the Eyre Peninsula at some stage and this was where Barrett was living when he enlisted. He was described as 5'6" with grey eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion. He enlisted to the AIF on the 31st of August 1915 in Adelaide, at the age of 22. His mother Jane Barrett was his nominated next-of-kin.
He left Australia on the 11th of November 1915 on the "Katuna" and disembarked at Suez 16th December 1916. Barrett was transferred to the 8th Division Artillery. He was promoted to Acting Bombardier in April 1916; the role of a Bombardier was to load the ammunition into the cannon or gun for the gunners to fire. He was in Egypt for around 6 months before being sent to Marseilles on the 30th June 1916 with the 14th Field Artillery.
Barrett was stationed on the Hindenburg line with the rest of his unit, near the town of Blaringhem, France. One of the main battles his unit was in, was the battle of Cambrai in May 1917. The battle of Cambrai was one of the first large scale uses of tanks by the Germans in WW1. In this battle is unit held ground, shelling and gassing the enemy. There were no fatalities in his unit, as they where a safe distance away from the battle. The battle ended in the British winning, but they did not manage to capture the land from the Germans.
He returned to Australia embarking on the 15th of May 1919. He disembarked in South Australia 26th June 1919 and was formally discharged from the AIF 18th August 1919,, however, there is no information available about what he did after he returned to Australia. He died in 1971 in Adelaide.
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