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BARNES, Joseph Thomas, Pte.

Joseph Thomas Barnes was born in Glynde, Adelaide, South Australia in August 1879. He was son of David West and Charlotte (née Hanton) Barnes. On Christmas Eve in 1913 he married Muriel Thirza Cox in Adelaide. The couple lived in Payneham, a suburb in NE Adelaide. Joseph was head teacher at Wasleys School and the couple had two daughters.

Joseph had served in the junior cadets and, in July 1917, he enlisted in the 20th/27th Infantry. He was among a contingent of troops which left Melbourne on HMAT Aeneas on 30th July 1917 for England. After undergoing training at Fovant in Wiltshire, he left from Dover for Calais on 31st March 1918 to join the 48th Australian Infantry Battalion where it was blocking the German offensive at Amiens. On 3rd May 1918 he suffered a gunshot wound to the thigh and was shipped back to England. He was initially treated at Harefield Hospital in London and in September 1918 transferred to South Veny Hospital, Wiltshire.

Joseph had been on leave in Ireland before returning to duty with the Australian forces on the RMS Leinster and died in the sinking.