The AIF Project

Patrick BARRY

Regimental number5339
Place of birthEnnis, Clare, Ireland
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationLabourer
AddressBurren Street, Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation43
Height5' 10"
Weight142 lbs
Next of kinBrother, D Barry, Burren Street, Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date15 March 1916
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll15 March 1916
Place of enlistmentSydney, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name3rd Battalion, 17th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/20/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A40 Ceramic on 14 April 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll55th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularEnlisted 15 March 1916 - 3rd Bn, 17th Reinforcements. Taken on strength, 55th Bn, 3 August 1916.
FateKilled in Action 22 October 1916
Place of death or woundingFrance
Date of death22 October 1916
Age at death44
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
160
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Disembarked HT 'Ceramic', Port Said, 16 May 1916; re-allotted to 14th Training Bn, Tel-el-Kebir, 20 May 1916.

Embarked Alexandria on HMT 'Ivernia' and proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Force, 21 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 29 June 1916; taken on strength of 55th Bn from reinforcements, 3 August 1916.

Killed in action, France, 22 October 1916.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, BARRY Patrick

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