Archie Albert Barwick

Australian War Stories ANSWERING THE CALL When Britain declared war against Germany in August 1914, Australia – as a dominion of the British Empire – was also at war. The outbreak of hostilities was greeted with enthusiasm and, in 1914, Archie Albert Barwick was among 43,750 Australians from all walks of life who volunteered to serve King and Empire. By the end of the war, more than 330,000 Australians, including 3,000 nurses, volunteered to serve overseas between 1914 and 1918. An extraordinary number from a population of under five million. Their wartime journeys took them to far-flung battlefields at Gallipoli, on the Western Front and in the Middle East. For the ANZACs the adventure was to become a nightmare. In the quagmire that was Belgium and Northern France – where over 295,000 Australians served – 46,000 lost their lives and over 130,000 were wounded. For those who returned to Australia, many bore the scars of their experience for the rest of their lives. DISCOVER the personal story of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📄 ‣ First World War recruitment poster (Courtesy: State Library NSW) 🎞 ‣ Soldiers voices, dramatised and archival footage of the Western Front campaign (Courtesy: Sir John Monash Centre, © Commonwealth of Australia 2018)

Australian War Stories ALL SIGNED UP Australia had been at war for 16 days when Tasmanian-born Archie Albert Barwick joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 24 August 1914 at Sydney, NSW. Archie duly completed the AIF enlistment form – called the ‘Attestation Paper.’ He confirmed that his age at enlistment was 24. He noted that his marital status was single. Archie also stated that his 'trade and calling' was Farmer. In the final question Archie attested that his religious denomination was Church of England. On the second page of the Attestation Paper Francis made the following oath in the presence of the Attesting Officer: “I, Archie Albert Barwick, swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King in the Australian Imperial Force from 24 August 1915 until the end of the War … SO HELP ME, GOD.” Archie's rank was Private and he was assigned the AIF service number 914. DISCOVER the personal story of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📄 ‣ First page of the Attestation Paper signed by Archie Barwick, © Commonwealth of Australia (National Archives of Australia) 2019. 📷 ‣ Volunteers with their Attestation Papers waiting to enlist outside Victoria Barracks recruitment office in Sydney. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, A03406)

Australian War Stories FIT FOR ACTIVE SERVICE Like all new recruits Archie underwent a thorough medical examination. He was found to be free of a wide range of conditions that would “unfit him for the duties of a soldier”. Nor did he bear the tattooed letters D or BC, with which the British Army marked deserters and those of “bad character”. The Examining Medical Officer stated that Archie: “can see the required distance with either eye; his heart and lungs are healthy; he has the free use of his joints; and he declares he is not subject to fits of any description. I consider him fit for active service.” Archie was then issued with his uniform (including the famous slouch hat) and started basic military training. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at:australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Recruits undergoing their medical at Victoria Barracks in Sydney. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, A03616)

Australian War Stories THE GREAT ADVENTURE On 18 October 1914, Archie embarked from Sydney on the troopship HMAT Afric bound for the Australian training camps in Egypt. ‘His Majesty’s Australian Transport’ Afric was one of many ships requisitioned by the government for wartime service. She weighed 9,136 tons with an average cruising speed of 13 knots or 24 kph. HMAT Afric stopped at King George Sound in Albany, Western Australia, to take-on supplies before continuing on the long voyage across the Indian Ocean as part of the First Convoy that departed Albany on 1 November 1914. On-board there were rigorous training drills and exercise sessions. Troops were also expected to do their own washing, look after the horses, sweep the decks and carry out other chores. Three hearty meals a day were served; breakfast usually consisted of porridge, stew and tea. Lunch included soup, meat, vegetables and pudding. Meat, bread with jam and tea was served for dinner. Many of the troops experienced bouts of seasickness on the voyage. To alleviate boredom, sports carnivals were held with boxing matches, pillow fights and wheelbarrow races. The crossing the Equator ceremony, ‘Neptune’s Journey,’ was played-out on each troopship. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 🎞 ‣ The voyage from Australia to Egypt. (Courtesy: National Film & Sound Archive) 📷 ‣ HMAT Afric at sea. (Courtesy: WA Museum)

Australian War Stories STOPOVER IN COLOMBO The HMAT Afric arrived in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), to take on supplies for the final part of the voyage. Archie wrote in his journal: “The town looks very pretty from a distance, snuggled away among palm trees. This was our first sight of the East & very good it looked.” From Colombo, the convoy sailed on to Aden. Shortly after leaving there they learnt they would be disembarking in Egypt. The men were disappointed to not be headed to Europe, but war had recently had been declared on Turkey – and there was space in the desert around Cairo for unlimited numbers of Australian and New Zealand troops. DISCOVER the personal story of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Vintage postcard of Colombo. (Wikipedia Commons) 📷 ‣ Wheelbarrow race on-board a troopship near the Port of Aden. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, P00117)

Australian War Stories IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRAMIDS HMAT Afric reached the Suez Canal in Egypt where Archie and his comrades disembarked. It was here, in the shadow of the pyramids, that the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps would be first grouped together under the now hallowed acronym ‘ANZAC’. From the port at Alexandria they travelled by rail to one of the Australian camps in the desert near Cairo to prepare for the battle ahead. The training was arduous, usually eight hours a day, six days a week, including marching and bayonet exercises. There was limited time allowed for leave, but Archie and his mates were able to take in the sights of Cairo and the pyramids. The iconic landmarks impressed Archie, who wrote how “very fine they looked in the moonlight with a light fog hanging round them.” DISCOVER the personal story of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Kangaroo mascot at Mena Training Camp, Egypt, 1915. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, C0258)

Australian War Stories 1ST BATTALION Archie was a member of the 1st Infantry Battalion. A battalion is made-up of roughly 1,000 men with four battalions grouped together to form broader brigades. The 1st Infantry Battalion was the first AIF battalion recruited from New South Wales. At Gallipoli the Battalion were among the first to land on the morning of 25 April 1915 and took part in the Battle of Lone Pine. They were evacuated in December 1915, and after further training in Egypt, the 1st Battalion travelled to France. It took part in many of the main Western Front battles including Pozieres in July and August 1916 and later the Battles of Flers and Menin Road. The Battalion played a decisive role in turning back the German Spring Offensive of 1918 which led to the Armistice. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Australian infantry troops marching near Amiens, August 1918. (Alamy, DRHT4F) 🎞 ‣ ‘Australians in France’ 1916. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial)

Australian War Stories INTO THE INFERNO Archie and members of the 1st Battalion were among the first to go ashore at Anzac Cove early on the morning of 25 April 1915, landing in the second and third waves. There was initial confusion with men separated from their companies, and after four days, the battalion withdrew to the beach to re-group. The next few weeks were mostly spent digging trenches and trying to consolidate their positions. Archie wrote: “I never felt the slightest fear the first day or two; it was when we began to realise that bullets hurt when they hit you, that we knew what fear was. The first time that fear came to me was on the third day … and men were being killed all round me. I felt frightened, and I am not ashamed to say that I had a terrible fight with myself that day: one part of me wanted to run away and leave the rest of my mates to face it, and the other part said no, we would stop and see it out at any cost rather than show the white feather. This sort of thing went on for about an hour and a bayonet charge settled the argument for me. I was fairly right after that.” The 1st Battalion helped repel the massive failed Ottoman attack on 19 May, and remove the dead from no man’s land during the armistice on 24 May. After some time on relief, the men were back in the front line by early July. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ A lifeboat carrying men of the Australian 1st Divisional Signal Company towards Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, A02781) 📷 ‣ Phillip Schuler’s image of Anzac Cove from the sea. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, PS1472) 📷 ‣ Burial armistice on Gallipoli, 24 May 1915. More than 3,000 Ottomans and approximately 160 Australians were killed during the 19 May offensive. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, P02648.025)

Australian War Stories SWIMMING WITH THE ENEMY Despite the danger posed by Turkish artillery fire, Archie and his mates took to the water off the peninsula whenever they could. Not only did the activity offer an escape from the heat, it killed lice and other pests living in the soldiers’ filthy uniforms, and was a small moment of reprieve from the horrors of war. But the men played a dangerous game. During one swim in mid-July, a Turkish shell burst on the swimming barge with Archie on it. Two of his friends were killed. This and other moments like it later served as inspiration for the swimming scene in Peter Weir’s 1981 film Gallipoli. For many soldiers, however, the risk was worth it. Official historian of the war Charles Bean remarked in a dispatch sent on 17 May 1915 that the threat “had not the least effect on the bathers, who might just as easily have been killed ashore.” 📷 ‣ Bathers at Anzac Cove, colourised. (Courtesy: Walter Dexter family) 📷 ‣ The swimming scene from Peter Weir’s 'Gallipoli'. The actor Mark Lee (left) played Archy Hamilton who in the film is killed in the charge at The Nek. (Courtesy: Associated R&R Films)

Australian War Stories BATTLE OF LONE PINE Archie and his 1st Battalion comrades fought in one of the major battles of the August Offensive at Lone Pine. The battle was planned as a diversion to engage the Ottomans and their reinforcements at this location, while a major offensive took place to take command of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. During four days of fighting, from 6 to 9 August, Archie and the 1st Battalion were engaged in constant close-quarters trench-fighting, involving desperate bombing and the use of rifle and bayonet. The narrow trenches quickly became congested with troops, and there was no escape from the constant rain of bombs. At one point, Archie found himself one of only three men holding 30 metres of trench. He thought his time had come, but he made it through, although the battalion lost around 400 men in four days. More than 2,000 casualties were incurred by the Australian 1st Division. Ottoman losses numbered closer to 7,000. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Australian troops in the Turkish trenches at Lone Pine, captured by the 1st Brigade on 6 August 1915. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, A02022)

Australian War Stories EVACUATION 20,277 men departed Anzac Cove over two nights of December 18 and 19 – Archie among them. Lord Kitchener had visited Gallipoli on November 13 and decided there was no possibility of victory. An Australian, Brigadier General Cyril Brudenell Bingham White, was given the task of devising the detailed evacuation plan. It contained some ingenious elements, such as “silent stunts”, lengthy periods in which there was no artillery fire or sniping to buy time once the actual retreat began, and the famous “drip rifle” – a self-firing mechanism using two old cans, water and a candle that allowed sporadic firing from the unmanned trenches after the Allies had left. Overall, the Gallipoli campaign had taken the lives of more than 100,000 men – Turks and Allies. Of the Australians, 362 officers and 7,779 men had been killed in action, died of their wounds or succumbed to disease. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Colourised photo of Anzac Cove in late-1915 (Courtesy: State Library of Victoria)

Australian War Stories TO THE WESTERN FRONT Archie and the 1st Battalion left Alexandria on 22 March aboard the Ivernia. They disembarked at Marseille, France, six days later. Archie’s first view of France was through the windows of a train, as the 1st travelled through the beautiful Rhone Valley and north to the Western Front. With the rest of the 1st Brigade, Archie’s battalion went to Steenbecque, near Hazelbrouck in a “quiet sector” of French Flanders, and then marched about 19 kilometres east, into billets around Strazeele. The soldiers received a warm welcome from girls who lined the streets throwing fruit and flowers. Yet all too soon, such scenes were exchanged for the horrors of trench warfare. Archie and his mates were issued with new accessories: tin helmets and gas masks. On April 18, the men went into the Western Front trenches for the first time, almost a year after landing at Gallipoli. Here they would spend the next two years of their lives in the slow, agonising and deadly grind of trench warfare. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Portrait of Archie Barwick. (Courtesy: Elizabeth Barwick)

Australian War Stories BATTLE OF POZIERES After being promoted to lance-corporal, Archie rejoined the 1st Battalion from furlough on 18 June. A month later, he and comrades fought in the deadly Battle of Pozieres during July and August 1916. The battle at Pozieres was the first major operation in France for the 1st Battalion. It was the battalion’s most fiery ordeal, causing their greatest loss of casualties during the war. The tiny village of Pozieres was the strongest point of the German defence at that time. Approaching the front line at Pozieres on the night of 19–20 July 1916, the 1st Battalion suffered casualties from gas shells. The advance began on 23 July, and although conditions were difficult, Pozieres Trench was captured with little resistance. Positions were consolidated along the main road through the devastated village. The German response began with heavy artillery fire, and casualties soon mounted among the Australians digging communication trenches. A further advance was decided upon, but on 25 July the German shelling became devastating: the trenches were obliterated and losses were appalling. Archie wrote: “[A]t 6 o’clock exactly this morning the expected storm broke, not as we expect with whizz bangs & 6 in. but 9.2 & 12 inchers. They would frighten the bravest man on earth I bet, these enormous great shells … They throw earth & stone, & men too, or rather what is left of them, to a height of easily 300 feet. Words fail to make anyone understand the terrible power possessed by these engines of destruction … “I think everyone breathed a silent prayer when they got clear of it – I know I did for I never expected to come out alive.” Archie and the 1st Battalion were relieved on 26 July. The battalion recorded 107 killed, 375 wounded and 48 missing. On 1 August 1916, ten new officers, including Corporal Archie Barwick, were appointed after the heavy losses at Pozieres. After receiving reinforcements to make up numbers in their shattered force, the 1st Battalion returned to the front line. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Artist Frank Crozier’s rendition of the Bombardment of Pozieres, July 1916 (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, ART00240) 📷 ‣ The remains of the French village of Pozieres as it appeared shortly after its capture by the Australians (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, EZ0144)

Australian War Stories BATTLE OF FLERS Archie was promoted to sergeant “in the field” on 26 October. The following month, he and the men from the 1st Battalion fought in the Battle of Flers, about 17 kilometres north-east of Albert in the Somme. Their objective was to attack Fritz’s Folly and Hilt and Bayonet Trenches near the village of Gueudecourt. The area had been deluged with rain, and the attacking Australian troops were sucked down by the mud. They became easy targets for German machine-gunners in some of the worst fighting conditions ever suffered by the AIF. Up against the strongly prepared Germans, this was the first and last time the battalion failed to reach their objective. Archie felt the loss strongly, writing: “I could have cried with disappointment and rage when we got the order to get back to our own trenches. It was the first time we ever had to acknowledge defeat and I can tell you it hurt some. The worst of it all was that in spite of the bravery displayed by the boys all our losses were in vain.” Casualties were heavy: nine officers and 161 other ranks from the 1st Battalion were reported killed, wounded or missing. The two AIF brigades who took part in the offensive suffered 1,027 casualties. Archie himself was “slightly wounded” as he led his section. Official historian Charles Bean wrote that morale had “reached the bottom of the curve.” DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Infantry of the 5th Australian Division marching through the Somme, Northern France, 1916. (Courtesy: State Library Victoria)

Australian War Stories WINTER ON THE SOMME The 1st Battalion spent much of the winter of 1916–17 alternating between billets, training, and the front line at places such as Mametz, Becourt, Bazentin, Bresle and Fricourt, in the region around the ruined city of Albert. The weather was the worst France had experienced in about 35 years. Trench foot in particular was rife. “The Australians, essentially a warm climate people, were thrust into this deadly winter,” a unit diary noted. “Is it any wonder that so many broke down?” In his diary entry dated 3 January 1917, Archie wrote: “It is difficult to imagine more dreadful weather than that in which we heve settled down for the winter campaign. Often we are knee deep in water with howling winds & gusts of rain. When the wind drops a whitish fog creeps out of the ground, forming a horrible coverlet of moisture upon everything; rifles are too clammy to touch … you may guess it will be stick-in-the-mud warfare for some time yet but it is far from restful for shrapnel is mixed plentifully with the raindrops.” DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Soldier writing home from a farmhouse in the Somme, November 1916. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, E00030) 📷 ‣ Gueudecourt during the harsh winter of 1916. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial, E00578)

Australian War Stories DEMICOURT AND BULLECOURT Allied battle plans changed with news of German retreat. At the start of April 1917, the 1st Battalion took over the front line near Doignies, with the famed Hindenburg Line only two or three miles away. Hermies fell and Demicourt was the next object of capture. There, Archie was wounded in action for the second time. By the time Archie rejoined his battalion on 22 April they had driven off a strong enemy attack and were preparing to move forward to Bullecourt. From 3 May, in the second battle of Bullecourt, the battalion faced some of the heaviest fighting it had ever experienced. Under continual bombing and counter-attacks, and a heavy rain of shells and sniping, the 1st Battalion managed to extend their line through the aid of Stokes mortars. The Germans were unable to dislodge them. While many of the enemy were captured and killed, the battalion also sustained heavy casualties. Five officers and 44 other ranks were killed, and 240 wounded. “We have had some terrific bombardments and the one today is very severe,” Archie wrote on 5 May 1917. “… I’m hanged if you could see ten yards in front for the dust and earth raised by the bursting shells and this combined with the fumes, smoke and stinking irritating tear gas, of which they put over huge quantities, made life almost unbearable and almost certainly very precious.” Just a day after this account, Archie heard he was being transferred to the 1st Training Battalion at Tidworth, England. He undertook training at the Officers’ Instruction School and then worked as an instructor, training new reinforcements as they arrived from Australia. He remained there until he rejoined his battalion in mid-October 1917. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Aftermath of the Battle of Bullecourt (Courtesy: Shrine of Remembrance)

Australian War Stories THE FINAL BATTLE The 1st Battalion spent the winter training and resting at Meteren. On 5 February 1918 Archie learned he was to be awarded the Croix de Guerre, a Belgian award for valour on the battlefield. The next serious engagement for the battalion came in mid-April 1918, with the defence of Hazebrouck, the location of an important railhead. It would be Archie’s last battle. Though the 1st Battalion played mainly a supporting role in the battle, Archie received a severe wound during enemy shelling while defending the hill of Strazelle. He spent 16 weeks in a civilian hospital in Birmingham, England, recovering. His diary entry for 25 April 1918 read: “Shells, big ones at that, were falling thick and fast and quite a number were getting knocked. I remember hearing the screech and howl of a big shell coming towards me … The next thing I remember was a frightful red-hot searing pass across my right side and I staggered from the blow. I knew I was hit but I did not know how badly… “I had got it in almost the thinnest part of my body on the right side and it had cut a great gash, almost showing the ribs. Oh she looked a beauty. The crack did not trouble me in the slightest once I saw it was bad enough to get me to Blighty.” Archie’s award of the Croix de Guerre was published in the London Gazette on 12 July. He was still in England on 11 November when the Armistice came into effect. “At last the great day has come,” he wrote. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Sergeant Archie Barwick of the 1st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. (Courtesy: Elizabeth Barwick)

Australian War Stories PEACE AT LAST At 11am on 11 November 1918, Germany signed the Armistice that would bring the war to an end. In cities and towns across Australia people celebrated in the streets. The headline on the front page of the Melbourne Argus read: ‘The City Rejoices’, and a report in The Sydney Morning Herald noted that the Inspector of Police had instructed his officers “to give reasonable latitude to persons who may be inclined to be somewhat boisterous in their peace celebrations.” And so it was across the country, finally at peace after a war that had left over 60,000 Australians dead and 156,000 wounded – proportionally one of the highest casualty rates of any of the Allied countries. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Returned soldiers and supporters celebrating Armistice in Sydney. (Fairfax Photos) 🎞 ‣ Armistice on the Western Front - dramatised and archive footage. (Courtesy: Sir John Monash Centre, © Commonwealth of Australia 2018)

Australian War Stories HOMEWARD BOUND Archie sailed for home on the Port Hacking 3 December. He was “woefully seasick … but luckily I have some good mates & they are looking after me.” His final diary entry is dated 28 January 1919, written as the ship approached Melbourne: “I can’t realise that we are now even in Australia, yet once we hit the land we will understand.” For his service, Archie was awarded the 1914/15 star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. In 1935, Archie and his wife Mona bought a property east of Armidale, NSW, where they raised three children. Tassie lad Archie Barwick died in Armidale in 1966, aged 76 years. His war diaries were published by Harper Collins in 2013, under the name In Great Spirits. DISCOVER the personal journey of your ANZAC hero at: australianwarstories.memories.com.au 📷 ‣ Archie and his son John working on ‘Talgai’, the family property east of Armidale, NSW, 1951. (Courtesy: Elizabeth Barwick) 📷 ‣ Archie Barwick’s service medals. (Courtesy: Elizabeth Barwick)

Australian War Stories ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Australian War Stories and Memories gratefully acknowledge the support of News Corp Australia in honouring our first ANZACs. 📷 ‣ Proud great-granddaughter Elizabeth Barwick photographed at King George Sound, Albany, Western Australia, from where Archie departed by Convoy for the battlefields. 📄 ‣ Enlistment and embarkation details sourced from digitised records in the public domain held at the National Archives of Australia and the Australian War Memorial. Images and video from the Australian War Memorial, National Archives of Australia, National Film & Sound Archive and the Sir John Monash Centre © Commonwealth of Australia and reproduced using Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia and International 4.0 licences. Content curated and produced by Mediality Pty Ltd © 2022. IMPORTANT NOTE: While every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this memorial Timeline content, including personal data, enlistment and embarkation details, on occasion primary sources contain conflicting detail and omissions.