Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Harrison Barrie # 5033 15th /41st Battalion

John Barrie was one of at least five brothers, four of whom enlisted for active service. His brother Charles Barrie, when completing the Roll of Honour Circular reported that John had been born in Kangaroo Point and had attended both East Brisbane and Maryborough State Schools. The home address and address of next of kin for each of the brothers is often different on the official records and indicates that either the parents lived at different addresses or moved frequently.

In the case of John Barrie, he gave his next of kin as his father, Alexander, with an address of C/- Brown and Crowther Engineering. The address for Alexander stated on the embarkation roll is C/- Mr A. Barrie, Temple Street, Coorparoo. This would indicate that John Barrie (as well as his brothers) had a relative living in Coorparoo, even if they had not lived there themselves.

John Barrie enlisted on 29th October 1915. He was 27 years old, single and gave his occupation as dairyman, although the embarkation roll lists him as a carter. John allotted 3 shillings of his daily pay to be payed to Miss Agnes Disher, not his parents as was the usual practice. It may well have been that John was engaged to Miss Disher.

After originally being drafted into the 15th Battalion, John departed Sydney on 30th March 1916. Upon arrival in Egypt on 18th May, John was transferred to the Cyclists Corps. A month later, upon arrival in Plymouth, John was transferred again to the 9th Battalion. These transfers are evidence of the efforts being made by the AIF to adequately reinforce the expanded Australian divisions. On 24th November 1916, John arrived in France and was again transferred, this time to the 41st Battalion. Soon after his arrival at the 41st, John was admitted to hospital with mumps. He did not return to his unit until after Christmas of that year.

The beginning of 1917 saw the 41st Battalion located in Flanders. After the poor success of the Somme offensives in 1916, Haig turned his attention to Flanders where he hoped to be able to achieve success and gain possession of the Belgian Ports, split the German defences and thus win the war. Since 1914, the British had been holding the line at Messines and it was here that Haig planned to open the campaign. The 41st Battalion was performing a supportive role in the lead up to the battle and did not enter the line until after the Messines Ridge had been taken in the early days of June 1917.

On the 6th July, while the battalion was manning the newly won positions on the ridge, John Barrie received a gunshot wound to the hip. He was evacuated to the 11th Casualty Clearing Station. The following day, the Casualty Clearing Station was attacked by German aircraft and John sustained multiple wounds, from which he died. John was buried at the nearby Bailleul Communal Cemetery.

Normal practice was for clearing stations and hospitals to be clearly marked with red crosses and under the normal rules of war, were designated as non combatant and not to be attacked. The outrage of a German air raid on the CCS must have been keenly felt by the troops in the area and no doubt provided even more proof of the “beastliness of the Hun”.

Base records followed usual procedures in notifying next of kin, although there is some discrepancy about whether John died of wounds or was killed in action. The Red Cross were requested to enquire into the circumstances of John’s death by a Mrs Simpson of Glasgow. It is unclear if Mrs Simpson was enquiring on behalf of the family or Miss Disher. Sister Cribb of the 11th Casualty Clearing Station reported that John Barrie had been admitted on 7th July and was killed outright during the air raid of 8th July.

John’s personal effects were returned to his father in 1918 as were his service medals in 1923. Base records were unable to find an address for John’s mother (see Herbert Barrie above) and after placing a notice in the newspaper, Charles Barrie of Henson Road, Salisbury replied that he was the eldest surviving next of kin. Either Laura Barrie had died or the brothers had lost all trace of her.

Surprisingly, John Barrie is not listed on the Shire Memorial at Langlands Park yet his brother Herbert is. This raises an interesting question about how the list of those who died in the war was collated.