BARNFATHER, Andrew Ernest Ralph
| Service Numbers: | 67, Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 58th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 6 August 1891 |
| Home Town: | Geelong, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | The Geelong College, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Killed In Action, France, 19 July 1916, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Geelong Barwon Rowing Club Honor Roll, Geelong Barwon Rowing Club War Memorial, Geelong College WW1 Roll of Honour, South Geelong Barwon Rowing Club Pictorial Honour Roll, V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Staff Sergeant Major, 67, 4th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Staff Sergeant Major, 67, 4th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Staff Sergeant Major, 67, 4th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne | |
| 23 Mar 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 58th Infantry Battalion | |
| 19 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, 58th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
BARNFATHER, Andrew Ernest Ralph (1891-1916)
Born on 6 August 1891, the eighth of nine children of Andrew and Maria (Shields) Barnfather. Ralph Barnfather entered the College as a day student in 1906. His enrolment address was Clarendon St, Chilwell. He was a prominent member of the Barwon Rowing Club, and Sergeant Major in the 29th Light Horse, Geelong, prior to his enlistment in the AIF during World War I.
He rowed in the winning crew in the AIF Inter-Regimental Eights in Melbourne, and again in Egypt, along with Murray Storrer, Geoff Mitchell and Bill Dunlop. He left Australia with the First Australian Division on HMAT A18 Wiltshire on 18 October 1914, as Sergeant Major of A Squadron, 4th Light Horse, and served through Gallipoli, obtaining his commission on his return to Egypt. He then applied for a transfer to 58 Battalion, which he received on 26 March, rather than remaining in Egypt with the Light Horse, and went to France with that unit on 17 June on HMT Transylvania. He was reported missing on 19 July 1916 at Fleurbaix, one of the first engagements involving Australian troops in France, and was later confirmed to have been killed on that day, as Lance Cpl LA Mills reported to the Red Cross Information Bureau: 'Informant states that on July 20/16 (sic) at Fleurbaix, south of Armentieres 2/Lt Barnfather he believes was killed in action. Lt Barnfather went out as one of the leaders in an attack on German trenches. They got into the trenches, but he is sure no English prisoners were taken'.
At the time of his death he had been promoted to 2nd lieutenant.
Barnfather’s brother-in-law, Driver Hector Alfred Sadler, the son of Henry and Euphemia Sadler, of Geelong, and husband of Isabelle Claire Barnfather, was killed shortly after him, on 30 July 1916, while serving with 106 Howitzer Battery, and was buried at Gordon Dump Cemetery, Oviller-la-Boiselle, France. Barnfather’s nephew, Flying Officer, Eliot Ralph Barnfather, the son of Thomas Stanley and Ruby Alice Barnfather, of Buckland Avenue, Geelong, and an Old Geelong Collegian, served with 218 (Stirling) Squadron, Bomber Command, RAF, and was killed in action on 18 May 1942 over Denmark during the Second World War, and is buried in Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery, Denmark. The three youngest children of Andrew and Maria Barnfather all suffered heavily in the two wars, with the loss of Ralph Barnfather, as well as Hector Alfred Sadler, and Eliot Ralph Barnfather, the son of Thomas Stanley and Ruby Alice (Beatty) Barnfather.
His brothers, Charles John Barnfather (1872-1906) and Thomas Stanley Barnfather (1888-1955) also attended Geelong College.
Source : The Geelong College - http://gnet.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au:8080/wiki/BARNFATHER-Andrew-Ernest-Ralph-1891-1916.ashx?HL=barnfather
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