George Herbert BARNES

George Herbert BARNES Update Details

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BARNES, George Herbert

Service Number:	3118
Enlisted:	20 September 1916
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	51st Infantry Battalion (WW1)
Born:	Avoca, Victoria, Australia, 1885
Home Town:	Perth, Western Australia
Schooling:	Avoca State School, Victoria, Australia
Occupation:	Clerk
Died:	Killed in action, Belgium, 27 August 1917
Cemetery:	La Plus Douve Farm Cemetery, Wallonie, Belgium Plot VI, Row F, Grave No. 3.
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Maylands Methodist Church, Maylands War Memorial

World War 1 Service

20 Sep 1916:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3118, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1)
23 Dec 1916:	Involvement Private, 3118, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: ''
23 Dec 1916:	Embarked Private, 3118, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Berrima, Fremantle

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Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks

George Barnes was, perhaps best known on the football field through his many years’ association with the old ‘Highgates’ and later as a follower of some renown with the West Perth Club. A local newspaper stated “His figure on the field will be sorely missed; as he was one of the cleanest and best exponents of the Australian game.” He worked for many years with D. and W. Murray, who were a famous Australian drapery retail store at the time.

George was not in the front line for long, as he only joined the 51st Battalion at the front during July 1917. He was killed on 26 August 1917 when a heavy shell hit a trench near Messines, killing five or six men, including George Barnes. Several men in his Red Cross wounded and missing file noted that he was a champion footballer. He was the second son of Anthony and Annie Barnes to lose his life as his brother, 2790 Corporal Henry Barnes, also 51st Battalion, had been killed in action at Pozieres during August 1916.

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