We would like to thank VWMA for material in this story which was compiled by Geoff Stewart on 15 July 2019 and acknowledge Julian Drape, Newscorp AAP Europe Correspondent for their coverage of Bill’s 2013 Pheasant Wood identification and interment.

William (Bill) Bromell Drake Barber was born on 29 August 1872 at Goolwa, South Australia to William and Elizabeth (nee Hennessy) Barber.  He was the fourth eldest of seven children in the family, six boys and a girl. Bill went to school in Goolwa and then moved to the Lipson area on the Eyre Peninsula, where worked as a labourer on the Warratta Vale Station until he joined the Army at Keswick, SA in July 1915 at the age of 43.

On enlistment, Bill was sent to 2nd Depot Battalion at Mitcham, South Australia for training before being allocated to 32nd Battalion. The 32nd was raised on 9 Aug 1915 in Mitcham as part of the AIF and was initially made up of personnel from South Australia and Western Australia. Many of the recruits were miners and farmers. The full Battalion was consolidated in South Australia for further training before leaving Australia. The 32nd embarked on HMAT Geelong from Adelaide on 18 November 1915, bound for Suez, Egypt, arriving on 10 Dec 1915. It arrived amidst the aftermath of the failed Gallipoli campaign.

After a several months of further training,  they were on the  move again, this time to Alexandria. There they before boarded the HMAT Transylvania on 17 June 1916, bound for Marseilles, France, disembarking on 23 June 1916.

The Battalion immediately moved to the Western Front and was deployed into the Armentieres sector.  They were into the front line for the first time on 16 July 1916.

Three days after taking up position in the trenches, the battle began. The 32nd Battalion’s position was on the left flank, with only 100 metres of no man’s land to get the German trenches. As they advanced they were to link up with the 31st Battalion on their right. However, their position on the extreme left flank made their job more difficult, as not only did they have to protect themselves while advancing, but they also had to block off the Germans on their left, to stop them from coming around behind them.

All were in position by 5.45 PM and the charge over the parapet began at 5.53 PM. Bill’s A Company and C Company were the first and second waves to go, B & D were the third and fourth. They were successful in the initial assaults and by 6.30 PM were in control of the German’s 1st line system (map Trench B), which was described as:

Unfortunately, with the success of their attack, ‘friendly’ artillery fire caused a large number of casualties. They were able to take out a German machine gun in their early advances but were being “seriously enfiladed” from their left flank.

By 8.30 PM their left flank had come under heavy bombardment with high explosives and shrapnel. Return bombardment support was provided and the 32nd were told that “the trenches were to be held at all costs”.

Source AWM4 23/49/12, 32nd Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 12

Fighting continued through the night. Up ahead, the Australians made a further charge at the main German line beyond Trench B, but they were low on grenades, there was machine gun fire from behind and from the emplacement at Delangre Farm and they were so far advanced that they were getting shelled by both sides. At 4.00 AM the Germans began an attack from the Australian’s left flank, bombing and advancing into Trench A (map).

Given the Australian advances that had been made earlier, the rear Trench E had been left almost empty, which then enabled the Germans to be in a position to surround the soldiers of the 32nd. At 5.30 AM the Germans attacked from both flanks in force and with bombing parties. Having only a few grenades left, the only resistance they could offer was with rifles:

What was left of the 32nd had finally withdrawn by 7.30 AM on the 20th. The initial roll call count was devastating – 71 killed, 375 wounded and 219 missing. To get some perspective of the battle, when Charles Bean, Australia’s official war historian, attended the battlefield two and half years later, he observed a large amount of bones, torn uniforms and Australian kit still on the battlefield. The final impact was that 225 soldiers of the 32nd Battalion were killed or died from wounds sustained at the battle and, of this, 166 were unidentified.

As of 2024, 41 of these soldiers have been identified from the German mass grave at Pheasant Wood found in 2008. D Company’s Lieutenant Sam Mills survived the battle. In his letters home, he recalls the bravery of the men:

Bill was among the missing and further news came slowly. This must have been an extremely stressful time for his family, as the series of letters between them and the Army would attest. A record dated 24 Nov 1916 states that he was a prisoner of war based on a list received from the Germans, but it also states “DEAD”. A German letter dated 2 August 1916 in his file and states “19.7.16 in Gegend Fromelles gefallen” – fallen in the area of Fromelles. On 13 Mar 1917 his identity discs were returned from Germany.

Source NAA: B2455, Barber, W – First AIF Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, pages 17, 36

The War Office formal records declared that:

Bill’s medals and other awards were not available until after his father’s death and there was difficulty determining who was the next of kin. In late 1922 it was determined that his medals and personal effects would be sent to his eldest brother, six years after Bill’s death.

He was awarded the 1914/15 Star Medal, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and a Memorial Plaque and a Memorial Scroll. He commemorated at VC Corner (Panel 4), Fromelles, France and the Tumby Bay Memorial, near Lipson.

In 2008, a mass grave was found at Fromelles, a grave the Germans dug for 250 Australian bodies they recovered after the battle. As part of the 32nd Battalion Bill was positioned near where the Germans collected soldiers and he was named on the German Death List. Extensive efforts have been ongoing since that discovery to find family members for DNA matching to identify the soldiers in the grave. In 2013, Bill was one of those identified.

The following extract about Bill’s reburial is from a Newscorp article written by Julian Drape, Newscorp AAP Europe Correspondent, July 20, 2013:

We would like to know more about William and his family. If you know any family contacts for William, please contact the Fromelles Association.