Barter, Gilbert Manning
598 Sergeant Gilbert Manning Barter - 28th Battalion AIF
Gilbert Manning Barter was born in Fremantle WA in 1895 to Robert and Annie Barter. He had an older brother Robert born in Fremantle in 1893. Their father Robert was a Captain of fishing and pearling luggers who operated out of Broome through the 1890's and 1900's. Though Robert senior was up at Broome for much of the time, his family resided in Fremantle and the boys were initially educated at Fremantle Grammar School.
When he retired from the Fishing luggers Robert senior became a Justice of the Peace in the Fremantle region. He then bought some land south of Fremantle in Rockingham. The census had the family living at "Allington" Rockingham Road Rockingham.
Robert Barter (Senior) signed the consent form for his son Gilbert to enlist. (Excerpt from National Archives Australia)
On the 6th March 1915 Gilbert enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording Gilbert's physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 6 inches;
Weight - 155lbs;
Chest Measurement - 34-36 inches;
Complexion - Dark;
Eyes - Brown;
Hair - Dark.
After his successful enlistment Gilbert was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was initially assigned to No.12 Training Depot. He spent a month here being taken through the basics of infantry training. On the 16th April 1915 he was then transferred to "D" Company of the 28th Battalion AIF.
This battalion trained in WA until the end of June 1915. On the 29th June 1915 the 28th Battalion embarked from Fremantle WA aboard the H.M.A.T. “Ascanius” and made their way to Egypt. Upon arrival in Egypt the 28th Battalion spent August training in the desert and in early September made their way to Alexandria and were embarked for Gallipoli. After the 28th Battalion arrived at Anzac they were sent to part of the newly captured territory to hold the new trenches around positions such as the Apex and Rhododendron Spur. The 28th were not involved in any major actions on Gallipoli but still had a steady stream of casualties. Gilbert came through the last few months of the Gallipoli campaign unscathed.
The 28th Battalion was withdrawn from the peninsula in late December 1915. The 28th Battalion firstly was taken to Mudros and then returned to Egypt on the 10th January 1916.
Gilbert trained with the 28th Battalion for the next two months in the Egyptian desert as they also held a portion of the Suez Canal defence line. On the 16th March 1916 the 28th Battalion arrived at Alexandria Harbour and proceeded to board a troopship which took them to France, where they arrived at Marseilles on the 21st March 1916. The men were then entrained for the north. They arrived near Armentieres and took up a position on the Western Front for the first time near Fleurbaix. On the 19th April Gilbert was sent to the 8th Casualty Clearing Station suffering from pneumonia. He spent a month in hospital in Etaples and then on the 15th May was transferred to England.
The illness was serious and on arrival in England Gilbert was sent to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield. He would spent the next five months here recovering.
On the 14th October 1916 Gilbert returned to France and after a few weeks at the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot, he rejoined the 28th Battalion on the 12th November 1916.
The 28th battalion were then situated on the Somme battlefield near Flers and Delville Wood and during November 1916 were heavily involved in actions around the German position known as the Maze. Gilbert survived this and on the 25th November he was appointed Lance Corporal.
The 28th Battalion remained on the Somme through the 1916/17 French winter. Conditions were horrendously muddy and then the ground froze over when the temperatures plummeted.
On the 25th January 1917 Gilbert was evacuated with mumps and spent the next few weeks under medical care at the 39th Casualty Clearing Station and various rest camps. He rejoined the 28th Battalion on the 7th March 1917.
In February 1917 the Germans began to withdraw to their pre-prepared defensive positions at the Hindenburg Line. They conducted a fighting withdrawal and hotly contested the advance of the Australians and British. The Australians fought bravely to capture the Hindenburg Line Outpost villages.
On the 26th March 1917 the 28th Battalion supported the 26th Battalion to capture Lagnicourt. Gilbert came through this action safely. The 28th Battalion saw further action through April and May 1917 including at Bullecourt. On the 6th May 1917, while the 28th Battalion were fighting at Bullecourt, Gilbert was promoted to Corporal.
Gilbert survived Bullecourt unscathed and on the 31st May 1917 was seconded for duty to the 7th Training Battalion at Rollestone Camp in England. During his time here Gilbert also attended the School of Musketry at Tidworth Camp through July 1917. He passed the course and qualified with a working knowledge of the Lewis Gun.
Gilbert remained in England on duty with the 7th Training Battalion through to the end of September 1917. On October 2nd 1917 Gilbert returned to France and was taken back on strength of the 28th Battalion on the 8th October 1917.
The 28th Battalion were then situated in the Broodseinde Ridge-Passchendaele section of the Ypres front line. He was not far from where his younger brother was serving, when Robert Barter was killed in action while serving with the 48th Battalion on the 12th October 1917.
The 28th Battalion then spent the 1917/18 winter in the line in Belgium. They were holding portions of the front line between Ypres and Messines up to March 1918.
As a result of the Germans offensive of March 21st 1918 which broke through the British front line further south, the Australian divisions in Belgium were sent south to the Somme to help stop this German advance.
The 28th battalion went to the Ville-sur-Ancre and Morlancourt sectors and were in action here from April to June 1918. The 28th Battalion then moved to the Villers Bretonneux sector.
On the 23rd June 1918 Gilbert was evacuated sick with influenza and he was sent to the 55th General Hospital at Boulogne. He spent around six weeks recovering and rejoined the 28th Battalion on the 10th August 1918. The 28th Battalion were then taking part in the advance, which had begun on August 8th 1918, and which had broken through the German line.
For the next six weeks the Australian infantry were constantly on the advance. On the 21st August 1918 Gilbert was promoted to the rank of Lance Sergeant.
Through late August and early September 1918 the 28th battalion were in action around Peronne and Mont St Quentin when these places were successfully taken. On the 6th September 1918 Gilbert was promoted to Sergeant. He then served for the next month in the front with the 28th Battalion and was with them at their last action at Montbrehain on the 3rd/4th October 1918.
The 28th battalion were then withdrawn for a well deserved rest period away from the front. On the 30th October 1918 Gilbert was sent on a two week furlough to England. It was timed well as the Armistice was announced while Gilbert was in England.
He then rejoined the 28th battalion in France on the 17th November 1918.
Once the Germans had withdrawn behind their own borders, the Australians were sent into what had been German occupied parts of Belgium and France. The 28th battalion were sent to the Charleroi region in Belgium.
On the 20th January 1919 Gilbert returned to England and was sent to No.4 Command Depot Camp at Hurdcott. He would remain here while waiting to be assigned a berth on a troopship home.
On the 7th April 1919 Gilbert boarded the troopship Trasos Montes and set sail for Australia, reaching Fremantle on the 14th May 1919. After being disembarked Gilbert was sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle for a medical check.
Gilbert was discharged from the AIF on the 13th July 1919. Sadly his father Robert had died in Fremantle in December 1918.
In 1919 Gilbert accompanied his mother on a trip to England and Europe. they would have been also hoping to see where Robert Barter had been buried in Belgium but sadly he would have no known grave and would be commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres.
In March 1924 at Scots Church in Fremantle Gilbert married Mabel McKee. They initially lived in Fremantle but then moved to Swanbourne and then Congdon Street Cottesloe.
During this time he was working as a Customs Clerk.
1949-53 Gilbert was a member of the Cottesloe Roads Board.
Gilbert applied for his Gallipoli medallion on the 22nd March 1967 from his home at 25 Congdon Street Claremont
Gilbert died on the 17th March 1983 aged 88. He was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery.