BARRETT, Arthur George
| Service Number: | 2585 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 April 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Employee |
| Died: | 7 June 1934, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Coburg Pine Ridge Cemetery, Victoria, Australia |
| Memorials: | Hawthorn Auburn Methodist Church Honour Roll WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2585, 2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2585, 2nd Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Karroo embarkation_ship_number: A10 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 2585, 2nd Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Karroo, Melbourne | |
| 4 May 1917: | Embarked Private, 2585, 2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
| 6 Aug 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2585, 2nd Pioneer Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
Arthur George Barrett
Arthur George Barrett was born either in December 1882 or January 1883. The actual date cannot be confirmed seeing he stated his age as 33 years and 5 months in May of 1916. He was born in Auburn, Victoria and as of the date of his enlistment, 8/5/1916, stated that he lived at 14 Auburn Grove, Auburn, Victoria with his mother. He was a railway employee before joining the army. He was a Methodist, had blue eyes, brown hair and was 1.74 metres tall.
Barrett embarked upon the HMAT A10 Karroo on 15/11/1916 and began training for the 5th reinforcements of the 2nd Pioneer Battalion in England as a private. The 2nd Pioneer Battalion was an engineering unit which performed various tasks such as bridging, trenching, clearing roads and constructing communication trenches. Pioneer battalions were also trained as infantry but it was the engineering tasks which they performed made them a necessary asset.
However, his stay here was short and he was soon admitted to Fargo Military Hospital on 8/12/1916. Here it was concluded that there was something wrong with him but nothing could be diagnosed. From here he marched back to his training battalion at Larkhill on 4/1/1917 and then later proceeded to the No. 2 Command Depot at Weymouth on 21/3/1917. This was an ANZAC depot which was intended for servicemen who were not able to partake in active service for at least six months.
Here he would have completed an alternate training program based on what the doctors and nurses at the depot saw fit. It was here that he was diagnosed with a mitral insufficiency. This was a problem with his heart where the mitral valve which connected the left atrium and ventricle regurgitated blood. Once this had been discovered he was discharged and marched for embarkation on the HMAT A32 Themistocles which he left upon on 4/5/1917. He arrived back in Australia on 2/8/1917 in Victoria.
It seems, however, that he had moved houses by 25/10/1917 and from that point lived at 10 Marshall, St. Moonee Ponds, Victoria. While living here he also received a pension increase from 30 shillings to 45 shillings and later, on 6/6/1918, his pension was increased to 60 shillings which was all probably due to his mitral insufficiency seeing he never fought in a battle. Barrett died on 7/6/1934 at the age of 51. He was then buried a day after at Coburg Pine Cemetery. Barrett had a short lived military career which at the very least rewarded him with an increased pension for his efforts even though he never fought.
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