Wyndham History

S. J. Barrett (1893-1964)

Item

Placeholder image - Veteran.png

Dublin Core

Type

Title

S. J. Barrett (1893-1964)

Contributor

Date

1916

Publisher

Wyndham City Libraries

Format

text

Language

eng

World War One Veterans Item Type Metadata

Name

S. J. Barrett (Known as Simms John Barnett)

Birth Date

Birthplace

Service Number

5935

Enlistment Date

Next of Kin

Mrs Grace Barnett
Mother, (Father deceased)

Address at time of Enlistment

Duncan’s Road,
Werribee

Occupation

Marital Status

Single

Death Date

Place of Burial

Unknown

Biographical Text

No.5935  Private Simms John Barnett
[Listed on RSL Honor Board as S. J. Barrett , but correct name is Simms John Barnett]

Simms John was born to Simms Barnett and Grace Alberta Jemisson Laskie in 1893  at Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia. 
He had the following siblings:
Electoral rolls show Simms living in Werribee, Duncan’s Road 1914 to 1916 as a farmer.
Family tree records note that his father died in Hawthorn in 1915.

War Service
Simms enlisted into the Army at Melbourne, Victoria on 22 January 1916. He noted his first name as Sim. He was aged 24 years and he was 5 feet and 3 and 3 quarters tall. Sim weighed 126 pounds and had a chest measurement thirty third and a half to thirty seven and three quarter inches. His complexion was listed as Dark, with brown eyes and black hair. 
All of this was recorded at the time of his enlistment. 

His registered address on enlistment is Duncan Road Werribee.  His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A71 Nestor on 2 October 1916 for Plymouth, England. H e was with the 16th Reinforcements for the 22nd Battalion.

Sim disembarked at Plymouth on 16 November 1916 and proceeded to France on 4 February 1917.  He was injured in France on 23 May 1917 and was then sent to hospital on 26 May 1917.

Sim rejoined his battalion on 1 November 1917 but went back to hospital in France on 14 December and was then transferred to England on 27 December 1917. Medical report during the 1917 hospital stays, advises that Sim was gassed. Sim then spent 1918 and 1919 in England until returning back to Australia on 4 January 1920.

During the time of 4 July 1919 to 4 October 1919 he completed a course of motor engineering at the Buckingham Gate Motor Works. 

He was discharged from the AIF at Melbourne – Medically unfit – gassed on 14 April 1920.
 
Post War
Sim married Sarah Annie Margaret Crisp in 1925, in Victoria, Australia.  Her maiden name was Hough and had married Henry Charles Crisp in 1910.  He passed away 25 July 1919.

Sarah passed away in 1968 in Park, Victoria at the age of 82 years.

Three brothers Lawrence Walker Barnett, Sim John Barnett and Sydney Laskie Barnett  - NOK was Grace Barnett who lived at 847 Burwood Road Hawthorn.

There were no Barrett's with the initials L.W., S.J. or S.L. that enlisted.  It is believed that the change from Barrett to Barnett was just an early typographical error.

Medals and Entitlements:
  • British War Medal - 28 May 1923
  • Victory Medal - 28 May 1923
British General Service Medal was to be given to him in 1928, the 22nd Battalion Association in Windsor was looking for him to hand it over to Sim.

Bibliography

AIF project
http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8080/index.html

Ancestry
http://search.ancestry.com.au

National Archives of Australia
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/

Medals and Entitlements

British War Medal
Victory Medal

Citation

“S. J. Barrett (1893-1964),” Wyndham History, accessed September 28, 2023, http://www.wyndhamhistory.net.au/items/show/2530.

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