Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From 52nd Battalion AIF

 
James BARR  joined up on 2 September 1915, at the age of 18. His occupation was listed as a telephonist. He embarked in January 1916 with the 13th reinforcements to the 15th Bn on board HMAT A55 (SS Kyarra). Arriving in Egypt, he was transferred to the 47th Bn and proceeded to France in June 1916. He was hospitalised with influenza in January 1917, which was serious enough to have him evacuated to England. He eventually returned to France in October 1917, being transferred to the 52nd Battalion. He had undertaken training as a signaller and undertook further courses on using pigeons and power buzzer instruction in Febuary and March 1918. He was killed by a German shell. He is probably the last man in the 52nd to die in the field, before the unit was disbanded.

Son of John Thomas and Jane Barr of Esk, Queensland

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

"Mrs J. T. Barr of Esk, has received a letter from Lieut. N. Cameron Croker, officer in charge of signals, relative to the death of her son Signaller J. V. Barr who was recently killed in action. The letter states that the late Signaller Barr was doing duty in the line as a signaller, and was doing excellently, when an enemy shell entered the dug out in which he and another man were work-ing. Poor old Victor received a nasty wound in the head, and died before he regained consciousness. His mate was only slightly wounded. I have returned all private effects to the base, and you should receive them in due course."

Corporal R. Verrill, of the same battalion, has also forwarded a letter, in which he states:- "It may comfort you to know that his end was sudden, and that he experienced no pain. A shell burst in the trench he was occupying, and he was badly hit in the head. He was carried to a dressing station where he died upon arrival. Next day he was buried by a Church of England clergyman of Queensland. A substantial cross was erected over the grave. We have lost in him a brave soldier and a good honourable, upright, clean living lad. He was very well liked, and his death is deplored by all who knew him." - from the Brisbane Courier 27 Jul 1918 (nla.gov.au)

# 4138  BARR James Victor                            15th/47th/52nd Battalions
 
James Barr, who preferred to be known as Vic, was born In the Brisbane suburb of Clayfield to parents John and Jane Barr.  Vic’s father had been apprenticed to a blacksmith in Ardstraw in Ireland and after emigrating to Queensland, took up blacksmithing in Esk. Young Vic attended school in Esk after which he was employed by the Postmaster General’s Department; probably originally as a telegram deliverer before training as a telephonist. Vic was working as a telephonist at Crow’s Nest, fifty kilometres west of Esk, when war was declared.
 
Vic attended the Brisbane Recruiting Depot in Adelaide Street on 2nd September 1915. He stated his age as 18 years and 2 months and because he was underage presented the recruiters with the signed consent of both parents. Once accepted into the AIF, Vic proceeded to Enoggera Camp where he was placed into the 13th Reinforcements of the 15th Battalion. Vic’s training at Enoggera continued to 3rd January1916 when the 13th reinforcements embarked on the troopship “Kyarra.” While Vic was at sea on his way to Egypt, his father John enlisted. John Barr stated his age as 44 years and 11 months but this is most probably untrue. The cutoff for enlistment in the AIF was 45 years. Perhaps John thought that by enlisting he could be close to Vic.
 
When Vic and the other reinforcements landed in Egypt in February, they were sent to one of the many Australian infantry camps dotted along the west bank of the Suez Canal. Early 1916 saw an expansion of the AIF from two to four divisions as well as an increase in artillery and logistics. New battalions had to be formed and Vic found himself transferred to the 47th Battalion, part of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division AIF.
 
The 47th Battalion was raised from a core of Gallipoli veterans from the 15th Battalion. This splitting of existing units to provide the core for two new units was generally carried out ensuring a roughly even amount of experience among officers and non-commissioned officers. However, in the case of the 47th, the battalion war history, “Battle Scarred,” notes that the Commanding Officer of the 15th Battalion had used the opportunity to unload officers and NCOs who had, in his opinion, underperformed. An inconsistent and disorderly regime of leadership within the battalion reduced the effectiveness of the training that was so vital for the new battalion to operate effectively. In addition to the unevenness of the officer group, almost all the ordinary ranks of the 47th Battalion were made up of reinforcements with the entire 11th, 12th and 13threinforcements for the 15th Battalion being taken on by the 47th. With such an inexperienced makeup of personnel, the 47th Battalion remained in Egypt for some time and was one of the last AIF battalions to be shipped out to France and the Western Front. Drunkenness was a problem amongst the officers as much as the ordinary ranks. Several officers were sacked upon arrival in France. The vast majority of the 47th’s ordinary ranks and junior NCOs took their tasks seriously and were probably dismayed at the weak response by the officers towards misbehaviour. Vic was only 18 years old and given his protestant Irish upbringing, he may have been looking for some stern discipline.
 
Upon arrival in France, the 47th travelled by train to the northern sector of the front where they began to acclimatise to the routines of trench warfare. The battalion spent a short three days in the front line at Fleurbaix before being withdrawn for fatigue work.
 
On 1st July 1916, General Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Forces in France and Belgium launched his big push with the opening of the Battle of the Somme. The battalions of Kitchener’s new army, suffered appalling losses; 60 000 casualties on the first day of whom 20,000 were killed. The gains of the offensive were minimal but Haig was committed to pushing on. By the middle of July, Haig ordered that three of the four Australian divisions in France and Belgium be moved south to the Somme where they would be thrust against the might of the German Armies. The primary objective was the high ridge on which nestled the village of Pozieres. The 1st Australian Division successfully took the village on the 24th July. The 2nd Division eventually took two lines of trenches and a blockhouse on the crest of the ridge above the village. The 4thDivision was put into the line at Pozieres on 7th August 1916, not to prepare for an attack but to simply hold the line and endure what was described by survivors as the heaviest and most relentless artillery barrage of the entire war. For most of the men of the 47th, the experience at Pozieres was their first taste of modern industrial warfare. The 47th spent nine days in the trenches just sitting and waiting for a counterattack that never came. When the battalion was relieved, casualties amounted to almost 400 out of a strength of 950.
 
While the 12th Brigade had a brief respite at billets in Warloy, attention had shifted from the heights of Pozieres a short distance along the ridge to a farm shown on the maps as “Ferme de Mouquet.” The farm buildings had long since been reduced to rubble but the site contained numerous bunkers and redoubts making for a formidable obstacle. On 30th August, the 47th was put back into the line at Mouquet Farm with the task of digging a jumping off trench. The trench needed to be completed in time for an assault which was to take place on 2nd September. The task of digging the trench was bungled with the Battalion Commander not ensuring that sufficient men and equipment were in place to complete the task. The 12th Brigade Commander, when learning that the task had not been finished was furious. The 47th’s Commander, Lt Col Snowden, was intercepted on his way back to Albert and told to go back to Brigade headquarters to explain himself. Snowden’s explanation was not sufficient to save his job. He was relieved of command and ultimately resigned his commission. Perhaps with a new leader the battalion could shake off its dubious reputation. Pozieres and Mouquet Farm claimed almost 20,000 Australian casualties and Vic was indeed fortunate to have come through unscathed.
 
The 4th Division moved north to Belgium on 14th September for a brief period of front line duty in the Ypres salient before returning to the Somme at the end of October. The battalion moved up to the front line at Bernafray Wood where the new Battalion Commander, Flintoff, was severely wounded by machine gun fire. He never returned to front line duty and was repatriated back to Australia in early 1918. As the harshest winter in over 40 years set it, the men of the 47th began to suffer from frostbite, trench foot and influenza. On 9th January 1917, Vic Barr reported sick to the 5th Field Ambulance. He was sent on to the 38th Casualty Clearing Station and from there admitted to the 12th General Hospital at Rouen. Vic’s file lists the illness as PUO (pyrexia of unknown origin) but from the length of time he needed to recover it was probably trench fever, caused by bacteria spread by body lice.
 
When Vic’s condition did not improve, he was transferred to the Reading War Hospital near London where he spent several weeks before being discharged to a furlough of two weeks. Upon his return from furlough, Vic reported to the convalescent depot at Perham Downs in Wiltshire. In April 1917, Vic was transferred to the 69th Battalion, a training battalion which it was proposed would form part of a 6th AIF Division. Vic remained in the 69th based in England until the authorities realised that there were never going to be enough recruits available from Australia to make up the 20,000 or so required for a new division while still maintaining sufficient numbers for the five divisions already in the field. On 19th September, Vic was transferred on paper back to the 47th Battalion.
 
When Vic reported to the 12th Brigade Training battalion at Codford, it seems that someone in authority realised that Vic had been trained in the use of telegraph and telephone by the Postmaster General’s Department and that he may make a useful signaller. Vic was sent off to the 4th Division Signal School, probably for a refresher course in telegraphic (Morse) code.
 
On his return, Vic was posted to the 52nd Battalion, part of the 13th brigade of the 4th Division AIF on 1stNovember 1917. The battalion, as indeed the entire 4th Division, was in desperate need of a rest after the horrors of the mud at Passchendaele. It was a time for re-equipping and taking on what few reinforcements were available; most of whom were returning from wounded or sick. In February 1918, Vic was sent on a Pigeon Course (pigeons were one of the most reliable of message systems) and in early March he attended a Power Buzzer Course for which he received a congratulatory letter from the divisional commander. The power buzzer was a device for signalling over short distances without the use of telegraphic cable which in forward positions was often cut by shell fire. The power buzzer probably made pigeons obsolete.
 
With the coming of spring in 1918, the German commander Ludendorff took advantage of a temporary numerical superiority of troops to launch a surprise offensive against the British on the Somme. So successful was this offensive that in a few days the Germans had retaken all of the ground surrendered earlier in the war during 1916 and 1917; and were even threatening the vital communication hub of Amiens. In response, Haig ordered the 3rd and 4th Australian Divisions to be rushed south from Belgium to form a defensive line in front of Amiens. The first units to be mobilized were battalions of the 12th and 13thBrigades; which included the 52nd Battalion. The men boarded buses and trucks for the journey south on 25th March but only got about half way to their destination before orders were changed and they spent 24 hours awaiting new orders.
 
The two brigades were ordered to make their way to Dernacourt, a small village on the railway line between Amiens and Albert. This deployment required a forced march of almost 30 kilometres through the night with the entire German army somewhere out on the left. There were reports that German armoured cars were on the roads but the cars proved to be French farm machinery. Upon arrival at the assigned position, battalions were ordered to take up positions on a ridge facing the gathering Germans on the other side of the railway line. There were no trenches and the men had to dig shallow pits while under enemy artillery fire. Over the next four days, a forward defensive line was established on the railway embankment. The enemy were only a few hundred metres away, massing in large numbers for an attack. Almost opposite the village of Dernacourt was a railway underpass which had been chosen as the boundary between the two brigades with three companies of the 47th Battalion on the left of the underpass and two companies of the 52ndBattalion on the right.
 
A massive attack by up to three German divisions began at dawn on 5th April. The situation appeared desperate as German storm troopers poured through the railway underpass driving a wedge into the defensive line which was then exploited as the companies of the 52nd withdrew and A Company of the 47thwas surrounded; most of whom were either killed or captured. According to an eye witness, “the dead and wounded of the 47th lay everywhere under foot.” The German assault troops pushed on over the railway embankment and by the evening were almost up to the ridge line when a counterattack by 48th and 49thBattalions, supported by remnants of the 47th and 52nd forced them back to Dernacourt village. Two brigades of AIF had faced three German divisions and won the day. It was probably the greatest feat of arms by the AIF in the war.
 
The remnants of the 13th Brigade were transferred to the southern bank of the Somme soon after withdrawing from Dernacourt. They joined the defensive line in front of Villers Bretonneux on 25th April when the German advance south of the Somme was finally halted and Amiens was safe. The 52nd Battalion continued to occupy positions around Villers Bretonneux for the first two weeks in May. In that time, active patrolling of no-man’s land was carried out at night by patrols consisting of one officer and ten ordinary ranks. Although the battalion war diary does not record any casualties during this period, Vic’s file records that he was killed in Action on 12th May 1918, almost certainly by artillery shell. Vic was 20 years old. The 52nd Battalion was disbanded four days later due to insufficient numbers and all battalion records ceased.
 
Vic was buried in a temporary grave near Villers Bretonneux. His mother was at home alone when the telegram concerning Vic’s death arrived; John Barr was at that time still overseas. A Mr Thomas Pryde of Esk wrote to the authorities on Jane Barr’s behalf enquiring about a death certificate so that a claim may be made against a life assurance policy. Vic’s father, John, arrived back in Australia in October 1918 having been discharged from the 6th Field Company Engineers due to rheumatism. A parcel of letters, cards, photos, an identity disc and six books of views of the places Vic had been during his two years abroad arrived at Esk in 1919. In the 1920s, Vic’s remains were exhumed and reinterred in the Adelaide British Cemetery at Corbie. His headstone bears the inscription: HE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT.