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John Edward Barker - Information

John Edward Barker was listed in The Campbelltown Herald as a local boy completing war service. He was almost 26 years old and working as a dairyman when he enlisted at Holsworthy in September 1915. After training, he was shipped out upon the HMAT Euripides from Sydney on the 2nd of November 1915. John was assigned to the 7th Light Horse Regiment, and landed in Egypt at the end of December. Here, he was placed with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Maadi, before going to the 2nd Reserve Unit.

On the 1st of April 1916, John was transferred to the 10th Field Artillery Brigade as a Gunner and was marched out to the 39th Battery. In June, John’s new unit left Alexandria for the Western Front in France. John served throughout the devastating campaigns which dominated 1916, where the success of the artillery was fundamental to operations. Thus these units became prime targets for enemy fire. Then on the 15th of February 1917, despite charges for disobeying orders and neglecting his duty, John was promoted to Temporary Driver.

John remained with the 10th Field Artillery Brigade for the duration of the war. In December, with the bitter onset of winter, he was taken out of the line with bronchitis and taken to hospital in Rouen. He recovered the following year, and rejoined the Brigade in February. After the war ended, John was struck with the dreadful Spanish Flu, a deadly epidemic that killed more people than the war. He was taken to hospital at Hurdcott in England in March 1919. After surviving the war and influenza, John was finally able to go home. He left Devonport onboard the China in May and headed for Australia.