Remembrance Day 11th of the 11th

REMEMBRANCE DAY

11^th Hour of the 11^th Day of the 11^th Month

This year we will be having our commemorative service for Remembrance Day at the Barraba Lawn Cemetery on Friday, 11^th November at 11.00am. We will particularly remember the achievements of the 33^rd Battalion as so many Barraba men were members of this Battalion. The 33^rd Battalion was formed in early January 1916, being one of the 4 battalions of the 9^th Brigade and along with the 7^th and 8^th Brigades, forming the 3^rd Division, commanded by General Monash. The 33^rd Battalion was commanded by Lt- Colonel Moreshead and was trained at Armidale, NSW. The composition of the 33^rd was made up as follows: Men from Armidale and Tamworth made up the bulk of A company, B company from Walcha, Uralla, Barraba, Bingara and Manilla, C company from Narrabri, Moree and Inverell and D company from Glen Innes, Guyra and Tenterfield. On the 24^th January, 1916, 80 men enlisted from Barraba and Bingara. After initial training, the 33^rd Battalion was moved from Armidale to Rutherford camp near Maitland for brigade training under the command of Brigadier Jobson.

      The battalion departed Sydney aboard the H.M.A.T. Marathon on the 4^th May, 1916, for the journey to England taking 67 days with some 1100 officers and men on board. They arrived at the Larkhill training camp on Salisbury Plains, 80 miles from London, in mid July, some said it was the coldest place this side of the South Pole. After months of hard training the battalion left for France arriving on the 22nd of November,1916 at Le Havre and thence to the Armenitieres sector. This was regarded as a quiet sector and was an ideal introduction for the latest recruits of the 3^rd Division. Their first major battle was to be the battle of Messines, which lasted from the 7^th to 12^th June, 1917. The 33^rd Battalion has a brilliant war record, in all its active service the battalion never failed to take a position it attacked and was never evicted from one it held. Among its greatest achievements was the taking of the whole of the German right flank at the battle of Messines. It occupied the heights of the Passchendale Ridge and held the position for 6 days and at Villers-Bretonneux, in company with the 34^th, it was the first of the allied army to halt the victorious oncoming German army and drive it back. Reinforced by the 36^th battalion it was in the van of General Monash’s magnificent victory of August 8th, 1918, and from then on fought successfully at Bray, Bouchavesnes, Mont St Quentin and the Hindenburg Line.

      The battle of Messines was regarded as a major victory, but the casualty figures were horrendous, costing the Allies 13,900 casualties. The 33^rd lost 8 officers and 382 men of other ranks, of the 58 Barraba men that enlisted with the 33^rd battalion, 20 were killed in action while many others were wounded, some several times during the course of the war. Four men were awarded military medals, W. D. Booth, L.J. Clifton, C.W. Spencer and H. I. Spencer while C. S. Crowley received the distinguished conduct medal. Many other cases of remarkable merit were never officially recognized, such as the case of Sid Witten of Barraba who was wounded no less than 3 times at Hangard Wood, yet fought on to the end. “Crab” Wallace of Barraba was also highly regarded for his courage under fire and was one of only 19 of the first enlistment men into the 33^rd to fight continuously through to war’s end.

     We also remember on this day all those who fought in the conflicts following World War 1, World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and many others. The names of the men and women who participated in many of these conflicts are proudly recorded on the Barraba War Memorial Clock or on the 4 plaques diagonally opposite the clock.

Lest We Forget

Thank you to Bill Crowley for this information and pictures