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Australia

John Barr was born on 2 August 1894 in Echuca, Victoria. He was the son of Robert Albert Barr (1861-1958) and Mary Agnes Hehir (1863-1913). He was working as a Labourer in Queensland when he enlisted with his older brother George Henry Barr, a stockman in the AIF, on 28 December 1915. When they enlisted, they were allocated to the 11th Depot Battalion. It was not until 2 May 1916 that they were allocated to the 11th Machine Gun Company (MGC).

The 11th MGC was formed in April 1916 from Queensland recruits as 11th Brigade AIF’s machine gun company. This unit’s formation was part of the doubling of the AIF in preparation to send the infantry brigades to France. The battalions already in Egypt had their machine gun squadrons removed from their establishment and consolidated to provide brigade-level support.

The 11th MGC’s initial establishment was nine officers and 140 other ranks, including attached men and 1st Reinforcements. John was allocated service number 14. George was given service number 15. No machine gun training was undertaken before leaving Australia due to insufficient time before departure. The weeks before departure were spent teaching the men basic musketry, which they needed to pass under regulations before leaving Australia.

Given that they were a company of machine gunners, did it make sense for the men to spend their time perfecting the art of firing a rifle but spending no time firing a machine gun? Was it a case of mindlessly following regulations that made no sense and did not align with operational needs? Reading the war diary of the officer commanding 11th MGC, Captain Alexander Twigg Patterson, training machine gunners primarily on basic musketry while spending no time on the specific skills they would need—such as handling and firing a machine gun—suggests a potential disconnect between bureaucratic procedure and practical requirements. This kind of adherence to regulations at the expense of common sense frustrated the AIF’s soldiers and reinforced their view of certain orders as nonsensical or unhelpful.

On 3 June 1916, the company entrained at Brisbane to travel down to Sydney. There is a photo in the Australian War Memorial collection of members of the 11th MGC resting and eating their dinner at Roma St Railway Station in Brisbane. They are sitting by the side of the tracks. One man stands smoking a pipe, observing the surroundings, while others sit or stand casually. The background shows trees and a wire fence along the side, and the environment gives a sense of a rural setting despite this being in the centre of Brisbane. It captures a moment in time. The population of Brisbane at the time was just over 160,000.

After completing the train journey to Sydney, the Barr boys embarked together, with the rest of the 11th MGC aboard HMAT A30 Borda on 5 June 1916. On 6 July, the Borda docked at Port Said, Egypt, having travelled through the Suez Canal. The 11th MGC then travelled via train to the camp at Tel-el-Kebir. The time in Egypt was brief. The war diary records a few days of resting and inspections but does not document any training on machine guns. On 11 July, the company received orders to prepare to move to Alexandria. The next day, they boarded a train to the port, where they once again boarded HMAT A30 Borda and sailed to Marseilles, where they arrived on 19 July. The company then travelled to Le Havre via train, boarding a ship on 22 July to Southampton, England.

Unlike the infantry battalions that remained in France, the 11th MGC was in no way ready for frontline service. The men had never fired a machine gun. On 23 July, the 11th MGC entered Camp 24 at Amesbury on Salisbury Plain. The whole month of August 1916 was spent training the men in the use of the machine gun. However, John’s brother, George, was admitted to Bulford Hospital with VD on 22 August 1916. This illness would keep him in hospital for almost two months, meaning he missed a significant amount of training. Consequently, upon his discharge from hospital, George was sent to Command Depot 1 at Perham Downs to continue his training. He never returned to the 11th Machine Gun Company and would ultimately serve in France as a reinforcement with 3rd Machine Gun Company.

The training continued into September. On 27 September, King George V visited Salisbury Plain and reviewed the 11th Machine Gun Company.

Throughout October 1916, the company continued training in machine gun use. Two days were also spent receiving instruction on building dugouts and machine gun emplacements. On 21 November 1916, orders were received to prepare to move to France. The company boarded La Marguerite two days later and sailed to Le Havre. On 25 November, the 11th MGC boarded a train at Le Havre and moved to the forward area into billets at Petit Sec Bois, near Hazebrouck in northern France.

On 1 December, the 11th MGC moved into billets at Blanche Maison, where they stayed for two weeks before moving to Bailleul on 15 December, where they stayed for one week. At 9 am on 22 December 1916, the company marched to Armentieres, where A and B sections took up positions as the support line gun teams. At 10 am on 24 December 1916, the 11th MGC relieved 9th MGC in the lines. It had taken 12 months; however, John Barr had finally reached the war.
The company saw in the new year in the trenches. To date, only one company member had been wounded, Lieutenant Aubrey White, whom a stray bullet had hit on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day 1917, John was sent to hospital and did not return until 23 January. Throughout January 1917, 11th MGC was in the lines in the Epinette Section. Its task was to engage in indirect fire towards the wire and the German lines. On 22 January, the day before John returned from hospital, the company fired in support of a trench raid by the 42nd Battalion AIF. There were several men wounded during this tour in the lines, including 105 Private Charles Mills and 330 Private James Thomas Rudolph, who were severely wounded by a shell fired from a 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A.field gun on 19 January 1917. 282 Private Leslie Barrand and 143 Private Leslie Toms suffered shell shock from the same shell. However, 122 Private Thomas Joseph Quigley became the first man of the company killed, dying as a result of enemy shelling on the forward and support lines on 25 January.

February 1917 was spent in the lines, the war diary recording on most days that the company was engaged in the ‘normal programme of fire’, rotating two sections at a time in and out of the front line. The risk from enemy shell fire was an ongoing risk in the trenches, with multiple men wounded throughout the month. 19 Private Rowley Bull was killed in action from a shell on 26 February 1917, the only man in the war diary recorded as KIA for the month.

In the company, each section contained four machine guns under the command of a Lieutenant. The four section commanders of 11th MGC were all Duntroon graduates. Each gun in a section was commanded by a sergeant, with six men allocated to a gun, with one man firing the gun, a second man feeding the ammunition, two men supplying the ammunition, a fifth acting as a scout and holding a rifle and the sixth man operating as the range-taker.

For the first week of March, all sections were in the trenches carrying out the ‘usual night firing programme’. This programme involved firing at roads and gaps in the wire to disrupt any German movement. “A” section was engaged in support of a raid by the 44th Battalion on 13 March, during which the position was hit by shrapnel, resulting in three company men, including 94 Private Neil MacDonnell, who was severely injured in the chest, suffering wounds. Two days later, the 11th moved from Armentieres into the Le Bizet and Ploegsteert sector and relieved 1st New Zealand Machine Gun Company. On 17 March, the War Diary recorded that Neil MacConnell died of his wounds, whilst a sniper wounded 2nd Lieutenant Thomas Seddon. Seddon was an original member of the company. However, he started the war as a private with the 25th Battalion and was promoted to Corporal whilst serving at Gallipoli. He had then contracted enteric fever, resulting in him being returned to Australia to recuperate. He had embarked as a Corporal with the 11th Machine Gun Company and then been promoted in the field to Second Lieutenant. On 28 March 1917, he died of his wounds.

On 30 March 1917, John Barr was promoted to Lance Corporal.

All of April was spent in the line around Armentieres. There were no casualties recorded. On 1 May 1917, the unit commenced a four-day march into the back area for training. The route took them via Steenwerck, Strazelle, Hazelbrouck, Renescure, Hallines and Wizernes, Bayenghem, Lex Seninghem, and then entering billets in Watterdal, a distance of over 100 kilometres. The unit spent the next two weeks resting and training before marching back to Armentieres, where they relieved the 9th and 207th Machine Gun Companies on 23 May.
At 3.10 am on 7 June 1917, mines were exploded, and the Battle of Messines commenced. “C” and “D” sections were engaged in firing barrage tasks under orders of the Divisional Machine Gun officers whilst “A” and “B” sections were held in reserve.

For most of July 1917, the unit was out of the line training. On 30 July, 14 guns moved into the trenches east of Messines, and two were held in reserve. These guns were used in a divisional barrage the next day. The guns were used in a divisional barrage again the next day. The 11th Machine Gun Company suffered five casualties, including two killed in action, 58 Lance Corporal William Finnimore and 541 Private Alban Armitage. Armitage had joined with the 8th Reinforcements and had only been with the company since 17 June. Three other Lance Corporals were also wounded: 332 Harold Staton, 508 John Hill and John Barr. John had suffered a gunshot wound to his hand. He was lucky. Hill had been hit in the head and would be sent home to Australia. John was transferred to England, where he was admitted to hospital in Reading. This wound kept him away from the unit when it recorded its most devastating day on the Western Front.

On the night of 29 September 1917, when the unit was out of the line south of Poperinghe, the men were billeted in tents when a German plane dropped two bombs on the camp, killing nine men of the unit and wounding 42 others. John’s wound also kept him away from the unit when it fought at Passchendaele on 12 October 1917. In this engagement, the unit suffered one officer and 15 other ranks killed and 15 other ranks wounded.

Recovering from his wounds, John rejoined the unit on 19 February 1918. He had returned just in time for the reorganisation of the machine gun companies of the AIF. The 9th, 10th, 11th and 23rd Machine Gun Companies were concentrated at Bournonville on 8 March 1918 to form the 3rd Australian Machine Gun Battalion, attached to the 3rd Australian Division. They would keep their company designation but no longer operated as independent companies.

The 3rd MG Battalion was engaged in defending Villers-Bretonneux during the German Spring Offensive in March and April. The 3rd Division’s front extended from the River Ancre between the villages of Treuz and Ville-sur-Ancre to the River Somme between Sailly-le-sec and Sailly-Laurette. The line consisted of isolated posts pushed well out front. There were no long lines of trenches. The Germans aimed for Amiens, a central logistics hub for British forces. The 11th MGC was stationed at Sailly-le-sec when, at 3 pm on 4 April, it received a German artillery bombardment that killed Lieutenant William Surtees.

John Barr was promoted to Temporary Corporal on 10 April 1918 to complete the company's establishment. The previous day, the 11th MGC Headquarters had received five direct hits from enemy shells.

On 10 May 1918, the Battalion completed another tour. The 3rd Battalion had spent 42 strenuous days in the line. They were able to enjoy a few days' rest. The 3rd MG Battalion War Diary describes what the men got up to during their time away from the line.

‘The couple of days out gives the men a chance of a spell, swim and change of clothing. The weather of late has been real surfing weather, and a daily sight in the area is to see some men swimming, others, clothed perhaps in a “digger” hat, meandering up and down the Somme in all sorts of weird tubs ranging from horse troughs to “classy” gondolas. Their serenity is not disturbed in spit of the occasional whine of a H.V. (Heavy Velocity) shell or the bursting of a “woolly bear” and other types of Hun shrapnel.’

A ‘woolly bear’ was what the Australians called a big German high explosive shell.

He was promoted to Corporal on 25 May 1918. The company was still in the line around Villers-Bretonneux, where wounding from enemy shell fire remained a constant danger.

The June 1918 summary for the 3rd Machine Gun Battalion contained in the war diary indicates a relatively calm period for the unit, with no significant attacks from the enemy. The Germans had suffered enormous casualties during their offensives during March and April. The battalion focused on improving and fortifying their defensive positions, constructing deep dugouts for protection, especially for machine gun placements. Work parties, averaging 30 men per night, dedicated themselves to building these defences under the guidance of the Commander Royal Engineers of the 3rd Australian Division. The dugouts were well-designed and comfortable, dug out of the hard chalk underneath the surface, providing the men with a greater degree of safety than they had previously experienced when in the line. Training continued at Lamotte-Brebières, including exercises with machine guns and other weapons. Harassing fire on enemy positions was maintained, with an expenditure of around 26,500 rounds daily for most of the month, aiming to keep pressure on the enemy. The battalion came out of the line on 29 June, a tour that was 40 days in length.

On 4 July 1918, the Hamel offensive commenced. The 11th MGC was given the task of accompanying the advancing infantry. Twelve of its sixteen guns were detailed to go forward. In addition to the machine gun, they took a tripod and spare parts, 16 filled belts of ammunition, two picks, two shovels, 32 sandbags, 32 grenades and two tins of water. The company captured four Light Machine Guns and ten prisoners during the battle.

On 12 July, the 11th MGC moved from Allonville to a position near Aubigny, where it was the divisional reserve. On 24 July 1918, John was admitted to hospital. He did not return to the unit until 26 September 1918. He was just in time for the 3rd Battalion’s operation on 27 September 1918. This operation supported the Australian Corps attack on the St. Quentin Canal, which, if successful, would mean a breakthrough of the main defence of the Hindenburg Line. The 3rd Australian Division was attacking on a two Brigade frontage with 11th Brigade on the right and 10th Brigade on the left. The four companies of 3rd MG Battalion were all used in the battle, with 11th MGC commencing as the Divisional Reserve but being ordered to maintain close liaison with 10th Brigade to protect the division’s left flank. At 7.30 am on 29 September, the 11th MGC left their bivouac and soon received word that the left divisional flank was held up. The company prepared to go into action to relieve the pressure on the flank. The operation was a complete success, although the company suffered six other ranks wounded. On 3 October, 11th MGC moved into billets out of the line at Buire.
On 5 October, the company entrained at Peronne and moved to Airaines, then marched to Le Quesnoy-sur-Airaines, where they rested. The remainder of the month was spent training, resting and engaging in sporting events. The 3rd MG Battalion was resting at Hornoy when news of the Armistice was received on 11 November 1918. The battalion band played a special programme in the Market Square to celebrate. The next day, the men trained as per the syllabus. It was only an armistice, after all.

The first quota of men to return to Australia left the 3rd MG Battalion on 17 February 1919. These were all Victorian. Due to a shipping shortage, the second quota could not leave until the middle of March. These were men from NSW. Undoubtedly, many of the men from the 11th MGC, being from Queensland, would have felt disappointed that their departure was not yet known. As an 11th MGC original, John Barr was approaching his third anniversary in the AIF.

He returned to Australia aboard SS Wahehe on 10 May 1919. The Germans had surrendered this ship as war reparations.

John Barr was discharged from the 1st Miltary District in Brisbane on 15 September 1919. He died on 24 March 1963.