Barfield, John Henry

5985 Private John Henry Barfield - 11th Battalion AIF

John Henry Barfield was born in Taraunga New Zealand in 1884 to William and Annie Barfield. He was one of eight siblings, and was educated in New Zealand with the family moving to Victoria in 1891 and the Western Australia in the early 1900's.

John initially found employment as a Dairy Worker in the Jandakot district.

In 1914 in Beaconsfield WA he married Hetty Willis at St Pauls Church in Beaconsfield and a son William was born in 1914 followed by another son John in 1916.

During this time the family were living at 67 Hampton Road Fremantle (later renumbered 41 Hampton).

On the 25th February 1916 in Fremantle John enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service with the medical examiner recording John's physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 4 & 1/2 inches;

Weight - 130lbs;

Chest Measurement - 34-37 inches;

Complexion - Fair;

Eyes - Blue;

Hair - Light.

Upon his successful enlistment John was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.58 Training Depot. He had a few weeks in this base camp and on the 11th April 1916 was transferred into the 19th reinforcements to the 11th Battalion AIF.

On the 9th August 1916 John and his group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Miltiades. The ship then set sail for England, reaching Plymouth on the 24th September 1916.

The men were then disembarked and sent into the 3rd Training Battalion at the Salisbury Plains. He had the next few months in England training. On the 4th December 1916 John was shipped across to France. He was sent into the 1st Australian Division Depot at Etaples and would spend the next few weeks there.

On the 26th December 1916, John was taken on strength of the 11th Battalion AIF. The Battalion was then in the line on the Somme battlefield undergoing a very cold French winter.

On the 15th January 1917 he was evacuated sick with scabies and had a few weeks out of the line under medical care, but returned to the 11th battalion on the 29th January 1917.

At the end of February 1917 the Germans began their withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. It was a fighting withdrawal as it was pressed all the way by the Australian and British units. The 11^th Battalion saw action at Le Barque in February 1917 and at Morchies in March, while in April 1917 they held an outpost line in front of Boursies and Lagnicourt.

On the 15^th April the Germans launched a heavy assault on this line and they were initially successful as the Australian posts weren’t connected and they were able to make their way through the posts, surrounding and capturing the men in many of the positions. The Germans were eventually repulsed and there were large casualties for both sides. John was initially reported missing from this action.

John's brother in law Percy Willis was in the 11th Battalion and survived the action at Lagnicourt and he had written home saying he had heard that John had been killed in action.

However news soon came through that John was alive and had been captured at Boursies/Lagnicourt and that he had been badly wounded. During the action a German grenade had exploded close to John's face, with the result that he lost the sight in both eyes. On his return from the war John stated that;

We advanced on the morning of the 14^th and dug in about 1200 yards in front of the enemy 1^st line of trenches. Fritz counter attacked us on the Saturday morning. Part of C Company moved up to support us. Fritz was shelling all the day. He again counter attacked on the following morning, just before daybreak. It was a few hours later that I was hit in the face by a hand grenade. My chin was slightly bleeding and my eyesight gone and Fritz came over and bandaged my chin.

John's fellow Battalion mates he was holding the post with had largely been killed or wounded, and German medics later bandaged his eyes up and helped him back as a Prisoner of War. He was taken for medical care to a German hospital and was then transferred to the prisoner of War Camp at Limburg.

John spent the rest of 1917 as a Prisoner of War but due to being blinded he was put forward for an early repatriation by the Germans. On the 12th January 1918 John left Germany and was sent into Holland. He spent a week in Holland and on the 20th January 1918 arrived in England.

John was initially admitted to the 1st London general Hospital at Camberwell and was then sent to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield. He was then transferred to St Dunstan's hospital and he would spend the next year and a half here.

According to the Australian War Memorial St Dunstan's was;

A charitable organisation established in 1914 by newspaper proprietor Arthur Pearson (later Sir Arthur Pearson G.B.E), St Dunstan's sought to assist blind ex-servicemen and women in attaining as normal a life as was possible and earn a living. During the First World War, the newly founded rehabilitation and training centre was based at St Dunstan's Lodge, a large residence in Regent's Park that was loaned by the American banker Otto H. Kahn. "St Dunstaners" could train in physiotherapy, shorthand typing, telephone operating, poultry farming, carpentry, basket and mat making and shoe repair. Braille was also taught. Sport was key part of rehabilitation and they enjoyed rowing, swimming, walking races and tandem cycling.

John would remain at St Dunstan's till August 1919.

On 14th March 1919 an article on John was published in the Fremantle Times;

OUR BLINDED HEROES,

Miss Bertha Willis, daughter of one of Fremantle's oldest and most highly

esteemed citizens, gave the following story to our special reporter:—"My brother-in-law, Jack Barfield, enlisted in 1915 in the 11th Battalion Reinforcements, and after some severe fighting in France, was taken prisoner at Pozieres, and removed to a German hospital. From this place, he, on several occasions, wrote to his friends in his usual handwriting, but advised them that one eye needed an operation, which was to be performed in a few days. A German doctor operated on Private Barfield, and bandaged his eyes up, insisting that the bandages were not to be touched. The prisoner meanwhile was repatriated to England, and was daily expecting to have his bandages off, so that he might write to his friends. Dr. Anderson, of Fremantle, Registrar at Harefield, was approached by the British authorities, and requested to break the painful news to Private Barfield, that the GERMAN DOCTOR HAD TAKEN BOTH HIS EYES OUT. The sound one as well as the injured one. It was a terrible shock to the man, and revealed the perfidy of the Hun. Being an inmate of the Dunstan's Blind Hospital, where all the blind cases are being taught occupations, Private Barfield has learned to use a typewriter (badly at first, but now perfectly), and he types his letters to his friends. He can also find his way about the hospital and grounds, and a quaint story of Armistice night is that he, and two other blind comrades, venturing outside the hospital gates, got carried away in the densely packed crowd, and were lost for hours...Private Barfield was picked up in the early morning, and restored to the hospital by a milk-delivery girl: Apropos of this, it may be mentioned that his pre-war occupation was running a flourishing dairy farm outside Fremantle, so it was most appropriate that he should "go home with the milk." His wife and two children reside in Fremantle, and are naturally eagerly awaiting his return; He is the first Fremantle boy to be totally blinded during the war.

On the 28th August 1919 John boarded the transport ship HT Kanowna and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 15th October 1919.

On arrival back in Fremantle, John was sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace for a medical checkup. It was stated that as well as suffering from the loss of his eyes John was suffering from slight deafness but his health was overall fair.

John was discharged from the AIF on the 1st December 1919.

Hetty was very glad to haver her husband back home as her brother Percy had been killed in Belgium in October 1917.

Hetty and John continued to add to their family as another son George was born in 1921, followed by Marjory in 1923, Leslie in 1925 and Frederick in 1929.

John and Hetty were very heavily involved in the Association for blind soldiers and in 1926 John was granted a life membership of the RSL.

During this time the family were living at 41 Hampton Road Fremantle.

John Henry Barfield died on the 27th August 1952. He was buried in Fremantle Cemetery plot Anglican MON A5 0268.