Private Arthur Barnes from Womboota to the Western Front

The Womboota farmer, a husband and father of three children, enlisted for the war on July 5, 1916, at the age of 28.

His grandson Kevin Barnes has researched the life of his grandfather, who became a member of the Australian Imperial Force.

“There was a major drought at the time in 1914/15 (and) it was also out of a sense of duty,” he said.

In 1915, Australia had a population of just under five million people.

The Australian war effort saw more than 416,000 men enlist.

Private Barnes was among them, serving in the 58th Infantry Battalion with two brothers-in-law Peter and Jack Disher.

They headed to continental Europe and what would come to be known as the Western Front, stretching along Belgium, France and Luxembourg.

Other theatres of the war took place in the Middle East, North Africa and South-East Asia and the Pacific.

World War I saw Australian soldiers fight under the British flag as the AIF, under the direction of British commanders.

The Battle of Bullecourt is a rarely heard story that saw two failed assaults on a town in northern France.

The first took place on April 11 where 3000 soldiers died on the first attempt and a further 7000 during the second futile attempt.

Private Barnes sustained injuries during the second battle and wrote a letter to his family while in hospital on May 15, 1917.

“I have been wounded and sent to the (army) base,” he said.

“I have wounds in the fleshy part of my left thigh and in the right ankle. I’m feeling a lot better now as I was wounded on the 12th.

“I am treated very well here and the nurses can’t do too much for you, so as I can’t say much, I will close with my best love from your very loving Arthur.”

Sadly, Private Barnes developed sepsis (blood poisoning) and died on May 27, 1917, less than a year after he enlisted.

Australian military commander Sir John Monash spoke of the series of disasters that was the Battle of Bullecourt.

“Our men are being put into the hottest fighting and are being sacrificed in hair-brained ventures, like Bullecourt and Passchendaele,” he said.

Like Gallipoli, the Australian infantry servicemen bore the brunt of the fiercest fighting while in those trenches where little was gained for the many sacrifices.

For the Australian troops in the trenches, it was also a question of logistics as well as the (artillery) shells that never arrived.

The artillery was meant to work in concert with the infantry, according to Kevin.

“The tanks broke down,” he said.

“The 58th Battalion copped the worst of it.”

Private Barnes’s brother-in-law Peter Disher was killed after being struck by an artillery shell during the Battle of Bullecourt.

Kevin gave a vivid illustration with his hands, thrusting from a single point in his lap then into the air.

“He (Peter) simply disappeared,” he said.

Jack Disher survived the war but passed away sometime in the 1970s.

Many years later, Kevin’s wife Joy Barnes visited Private Barnes’s grave at Etaples in France.

“I just thought how sad it was, seeing all those grave sites,” she said.

“What a waste of life.”

More than 60,000 Australians were killed during World War I with a further 156,000 wounded, gassed or taken prisoner.

Private Barnes’s name adorns the Shrine of Remembrance at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Three generations of his family travelled to the nation’s capital in February this year for a special Last Post ceremony, acknowledging Private Barnes’s sacrifice for his country.

The family members were in attendance to lay a wreath and hear his letters home read out during the service.

His direct descendants will be among the many across the region paying their respects this Anzac Day.