BARKELL, Henry Luke
| Service Numbers: | 1463, 50, 348 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 August 1914, Broadmeadows, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Field Ambulance |
| Born: | Clunes, Victoria, Australia, 1876 |
| Home Town: | Clunes, Hepburn, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Hairdresser |
| Memorials: | Clunes Soldiers Pictorial Honour Roll |
Boer War Service
| 1 Jan 1901: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, 1463, 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles |
|---|
World War 1 Service
| 23 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 50, 8th Infantry Battalion, Broadmeadows, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 50, 8th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 50, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Melbourne | |
| 26 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 50, 8th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 12 Aug 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 1st Field Company Engineers, Gallipoli. Allocated new SN 348 | |
| 10 Dec 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, Depot Battalion , Egypt | |
| 21 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 1st Field Company Engineers, Egypt | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 348, 1st Field Company Engineers, Battle for Pozières | |
| 1 Jan 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 1st Field Ambulance, France | |
| 15 Apr 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 348, 1st Field Ambulance, The Outpost Villages - German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line | |
| 20 Sep 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 348, 1st Field Ambulance, Third Ypres | |
| 11 Jul 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 348, 1st Field Ambulance, RTA 5 April 1918 (nursing staff) and discharged as MU (debility). |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
Henry Barkell, who had served in the Boer War with the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, was aged 38 when he enlisted in the AIF. He missed the Gallipoli landing due to illness and eventually joined the 8th Battalion there on 26 May 1915.
On 12 August 1915, he was transferred to the 1st Field Company Engineers, however further illness meant he spent several weeks in hospitals on Malta and in Egypt. Once recovered, he embarked for France in March 1916 where he witnessed first-hand the horrors of trench warfare on the Somme at places like Pozieres and Mouquet Farm.
Still in France, on 1 January 1917 he was transferred to the 1st Field Ambulance, and in September 1917, his unit moved to Belgium and was involved in the Battle of Third Ypres, or Passchendaele as it is also known.
In late November 1917, he again became ill and was eventually hospitalised in England with general debility. He never returned to active service and departed for Australia on 5 April 1918, where he was discharged as medically unfit in Melbourne on 11 July 1918.
Source: Extract from "Clunes Soldiers Memorial Panel" by Robert Wight, June 2022.
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