Barnes, James Alfred

James Edward Barnes – RN/ 2784 – 44^th Battalion

James Edward Barnes was born in St Arnaud Victoria in 1891 to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Barnes. James was educated in Victoria but the family soon moved to Western Australia. James found employment with the Western Australian Postmaster General’s department as a postman. He worked for a time in the countryside but also worked out of the Fremantle office, living in Suffolk Street Fremantle.

James tried to enlist early when war was declared but he was knocked back due to defective vision. He continued to work as a postman and in 1916 he married Elizabeth Murray. They set up the family home at 29 Bellevue Terrace Fremantle.

Despite having already been knocked back for service James tried again on the 31^st May 1916 when he enlisted at the Fremantle Drill Hall. This time he was accepted for service and the medical officer recorded James’s physical attributes as;

Height:                                     5 feet 8 & ½ inches;

Weight:                                    150lbs;

Chest Measurement:               34-37 inches;

Complexion:                            Dark;

Eyes:                                       Grey;

Hair:                                        Dark;

Religious Denomination:         Church of England;

Distinctive Marks:                    Scar on right shin, top left of foot, under right eyebrow & on left knee, plus 4 vaccination scars.

                      After being accepted for service James was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.87 Training Depot. James was taken through the basics of infantry work for the next few weeks. On the 11^th November 1916 he was then transferred to the 6^th Reinforcements to the 44^th Battalion AIF. James had several weeks of training with this group while they waited for their embarkation orders to come through. These finally arrived and on the 29^th December 1916 James and his group boarded the HMAT Persic in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for England. The sea journey took over two months with the ship berthing at Devonport Harbour England on the 3^rd March 1917.

After being disembarked James’s reinforcement group was sent to the 11^th Training Battalion camp on the Salisbury Plains, however James did not go with them. It appears that he had fallen sick on the journey and he was therefore admitted to the Devonport Military Hospital. James’s condition was serious and he would remain in hospital until the 17^th May 1917. James was then transferred to the 11^th Training Battalion and he spent eleven days there, before being transferred to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth.

It appears that James was given a medical examination and he was found to be suffering from general debility and was classed as not fit for the Western Front. It was decided to return James to Australia and on the 21^st July 1917 he boarded the HMAT Euripides and set sail for home, arriving in Fremantle on the 12^th September 1917. After a medical examination at No.8 AGH in Fremantle James was sent home and was officially discharged from the AIF on the 18^th October 1917.

James then resumed employment with the WA Postmaster Generals Department. He and his wife Elizabeth would have two children, Les and Joan. The family later moved to Mt Hawthorn and lived at 63 Bondi Street. James Barnes died on the 4^th May 1948 and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery in plot Anglican WE 0389.