JOHN ALBERT "BERT" BARLOW
Regimental No. 10/3180
9 January 1892 – 27 November 1917
Private John Albert Barlow, known as Bert, was the eldest son of Alice and Henry Rupert Frederick Barlow. He was born on the 9th April 1892 in Plymouth, England. On the 28th October 1908 the family, comprising Henry, Alice, and four children - John Albert, William Kitchener, Henry James, and Mary Kathleen (Molly) sailed on the SS Salamis from Plymouth, bound for Sydney, NSW. According to the passenger list Henry was a fireman. They arrived in Sydney on 14 December 1908.
The family must have travelled on to New Zealand early in 1909 as their 5th child - Joseph Douglas was born and registered in New Zealand in September 1909. Three years later (1912) Henry and Alice’s 6th and final child – Annie Ursula - was born. According to the 1911 Electoral Roll Henry and Alice lived in Nelson Street, Petone. They were still in Nelson Street in 1914 but at a different number.
Four days after war was declared on 5 August 1914 Bert signed up. Three days later, on the 12th of August, he was on his way to Samoa, though he and the others in the Samoan Advance didn’t know this was their destination initially. At the time he signed up, Bert was working as a labourer for the Wellington Meat Export Company, and was living/boarding with a Mrs Marshall in Paparangi, Newlands. He would have been able to walk to work to his job at the bottom of the Ngauranga Gorge. His medical examination on the 10th August 1914 in Wellington pronounced him fit for military service, with good eyesight and hearing, good limbs and chest, a normal heart and lungs, good teeth and free of any “slight defects”. It was recorded that he was 5ft. 6 1/2 inches tall, with grey eyes and light brown hair, and he was passed as fit for service. He was issued with the military no. 1/444. His religious beliefs were that of the Church of England and his next of kin was his mother Alice Barlow.
His time in Samoa was short, though – he was discharged from there on 16 September, having served 36 days overseas. His military personnel file gives no indication why Bert was discharged after such a short time, or how he returned to New Zealand.
Presumably Bert went back to work for the Wellington Export Company on his return, as nearly 12 months later, when he signed up again on 22nd August 1915, he stated that he worked for them, this time as a driver. He was also again living with Mrs Marshall in Johnsonville. This time he was assigned regimental number 10/3180.
He then embarked on the 13 Nov 1915 with the 1st Battalion, Wellington Infantry Regiment, as part of HMNZT 35 or 36, sailing on either the “Willochra” or “Tofua”, and arriving on 9 Jan 1916 at Suez, Egypt.
Unusually Bert’s military personnel file provides almost no information about his movements after arrival in Egypt. Presumably he received some training before being sent to the Western Front where he served for nearly two years. There is no record on his file of any illness or wounds requiring hospitalisation during this time, nor of any further training, leave periods, or postings to and from different companies.
Eventually though Bert was one of the many men killed in the prolonged and bitter fighting around and through the Belgian village of Passchendaele. The Ministry of Culture and Heritage website NZHistory vividly captures the events of this campaign:
“Since 1917 Passchendaele has been a byword for the horror of the Great War. The name conjures images of a shattered landscape of mud, shell craters and barbed wire, and of helpless soldiers mown down by machine-guns and artillery. The capture of the Belgian village of Passchendaele (Passendale), near Ypres (Ieper) in Flanders, became an objective that cost the lives of thousands of people, including many New Zealanders. The ridge leading to the village was the site of the worst disaster, in terms of lives lost, in New Zealand’s history since 1840.
For the New Zealand Division, part of II Anzac Corps, major operations in Belgium began in June 1917 with the capture of Messines (Mesen) ridge. The battle for Passchendaele reached a climax in early October when a successful assault on Gravenstafel (Graventafel) Spur on the 4th was followed by a devastating defeat at Bellevue Spur on the 12th.”
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/passchendaele-the-battle-for-belgium
Bert managed somehow to survive Passchendaele, and would have been in the general area of Polygon Wood until the 29th November 1917, when he was finally killed. He was only 25 years old when he died. The family may have been informed that he was killed in action somewhere near Ypres, as the In Memoriam notices they placed in the Evening Post for many years afterwards often referred to this.
Bert’s name is amongst the 378 officers and men of the New Zealand Division inscribed on the Buttes New British Cemetery (NZ) Memorial, Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke, West-Viaanderen, Belgium who died in the Polygon Wood sector between September 1917 and May 1918, and who have no known grave.
Bert was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal, all of which were sent to his mother who was living at 20 Onepu Road, Kilbirnie, Wellington. She later moved to 23 Lawrence Street, Newtown, Wellington. She and Henry seem to have separated sometime shortly after the birth of their last child as Henry appears from time to time in the Evening Post as being in arrears of maintenance payments and liable to a short sentence if payment was not made within one month.
Bert was remembered by his mother, brothers and sisters every year from 1917 to 1937 in notices in the Evening Post and in the New Zealand Roll of Honour Memorials published in the same paper.
Regimental No. 10/3180
9 January 1892 – 27 November 1917
Private John Albert Barlow, known as Bert, was the eldest son of Alice and Henry Rupert Frederick Barlow. He was born on the 9th April 1892 in Plymouth, England. On the 28th October 1908 the family, comprising Henry, Alice, and four children - John Albert, William Kitchener, Henry James, and Mary Kathleen (Molly) sailed on the SS Salamis from Plymouth, bound for Sydney, NSW. According to the passenger list Henry was a fireman. They arrived in Sydney on 14 December 1908.
The family must have travelled on to New Zealand early in 1909 as their 5th child - Joseph Douglas was born and registered in New Zealand in September 1909. Three years later (1912) Henry and Alice’s 6th and final child – Annie Ursula - was born. According to the 1911 Electoral Roll Henry and Alice lived in Nelson Street, Petone. They were still in Nelson Street in 1914 but at a different number.
Four days after war was declared on 5 August 1914 Bert signed up. Three days later, on the 12th of August, he was on his way to Samoa, though he and the others in the Samoan Advance didn’t know this was their destination initially. At the time he signed up, Bert was working as a labourer for the Wellington Meat Export Company, and was living/boarding with a Mrs Marshall in Paparangi, Newlands. He would have been able to walk to work to his job at the bottom of the Ngauranga Gorge. His medical examination on the 10th August 1914 in Wellington pronounced him fit for military service, with good eyesight and hearing, good limbs and chest, a normal heart and lungs, good teeth and free of any “slight defects”. It was recorded that he was 5ft. 6 1/2 inches tall, with grey eyes and light brown hair, and he was passed as fit for service. He was issued with the military no. 1/444. His religious beliefs were that of the Church of England and his next of kin was his mother Alice Barlow.
His time in Samoa was short, though – he was discharged from there on 16 September, having served 36 days overseas. His military personnel file gives no indication why Bert was discharged after such a short time, or how he returned to New Zealand.
Presumably Bert went back to work for the Wellington Export Company on his return, as nearly 12 months later, when he signed up again on 22nd August 1915, he stated that he worked for them, this time as a driver. He was also again living with Mrs Marshall in Johnsonville. This time he was assigned regimental number 10/3180.
He then embarked on the 13 Nov 1915 with the 1st Battalion, Wellington Infantry Regiment, as part of HMNZT 35 or 36, sailing on either the “Willochra” or “Tofua”, and arriving on 9 Jan 1916 at Suez, Egypt.
Unusually Bert’s military personnel file provides almost no information about his movements after arrival in Egypt. Presumably he received some training before being sent to the Western Front where he served for nearly two years. There is no record on his file of any illness or wounds requiring hospitalisation during this time, nor of any further training, leave periods, or postings to and from different companies.
Eventually though Bert was one of the many men killed in the prolonged and bitter fighting around and through the Belgian village of Passchendaele. The Ministry of Culture and Heritage website NZHistory vividly captures the events of this campaign:
“Since 1917 Passchendaele has been a byword for the horror of the Great War. The name conjures images of a shattered landscape of mud, shell craters and barbed wire, and of helpless soldiers mown down by machine-guns and artillery. The capture of the Belgian village of Passchendaele (Passendale), near Ypres (Ieper) in Flanders, became an objective that cost the lives of thousands of people, including many New Zealanders. The ridge leading to the village was the site of the worst disaster, in terms of lives lost, in New Zealand’s history since 1840.
For the New Zealand Division, part of II Anzac Corps, major operations in Belgium began in June 1917 with the capture of Messines (Mesen) ridge. The battle for Passchendaele reached a climax in early October when a successful assault on Gravenstafel (Graventafel) Spur on the 4th was followed by a devastating defeat at Bellevue Spur on the 12th.”
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/passchendaele-the-battle-for-belgium
Bert managed somehow to survive Passchendaele, and would have been in the general area of Polygon Wood until the 29th November 1917, when he was finally killed. He was only 25 years old when he died. The family may have been informed that he was killed in action somewhere near Ypres, as the In Memoriam notices they placed in the Evening Post for many years afterwards often referred to this.
Bert’s name is amongst the 378 officers and men of the New Zealand Division inscribed on the Buttes New British Cemetery (NZ) Memorial, Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke, West-Viaanderen, Belgium who died in the Polygon Wood sector between September 1917 and May 1918, and who have no known grave.
Bert was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal, all of which were sent to his mother who was living at 20 Onepu Road, Kilbirnie, Wellington. She later moved to 23 Lawrence Street, Newtown, Wellington. She and Henry seem to have separated sometime shortly after the birth of their last child as Henry appears from time to time in the Evening Post as being in arrears of maintenance payments and liable to a short sentence if payment was not made within one month.
Bert was remembered by his mother, brothers and sisters every year from 1917 to 1937 in notices in the Evening Post and in the New Zealand Roll of Honour Memorials published in the same paper.
The New Zealand Memorial to the Missing (above) in the Buttes New British Cemetery is one of seven which are located in cemeteries close to locations where the New Zealanders fought. This one records the names of those from New Zealand 'who fell in the Polygon Wood Sector September 1917 to May 1918 and whose graves are known only to God'. It is a large and impressive structure, and 378 men are named on the memorial, from a number of different New Zealand Battalions, including an Entrenching Battalion. The 'window spaces' in the front of the memorial are barred and provide an interesting aspect to look out at the cemetery and the Australian Memorial.
http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/polygonwood.html
http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/polygonwood.html
Research conducted by Vivienne McIsaac with supplementary input by Barbara Mulligan
SOURCES
Archives New Zealand: http://archway.archives.govt.nz/
Auckland Museum Cenotaph Database: http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/locations
Commonwealth War Graves Commission: http://www.cwgc.org
National Library of New Zealand – Papers Past: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast
SOURCES
Archives New Zealand: http://archway.archives.govt.nz/
Auckland Museum Cenotaph Database: http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/locations
Commonwealth War Graves Commission: http://www.cwgc.org
National Library of New Zealand – Papers Past: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast