Portrait of 588 Trooper (Tpr) Brian Templar Barton who was born at Wellington, NSW, the son of ...

Portrait of 588 Trooper (Tpr) Brian Templar Barton who was born at Wellington, NSW, the son of Charles Hampden Barton and Annie Barton of Nanama, Wellington. He was educated at Kings School, Parramatta, partly trained as a surveyor and spent time as a grazier before enlisting at Wellington on 7 December 1914 to join the 6th Light Horse Regiment. In late 1914, Barton embarked on HMAT Suevic for overseas and served for some time at Gallipoli Peninsula. It was here that he contracted enteric fever and returned to Australia in late December 1915. On recovery from his illness, Barton returned to the Middle East and rejoined his unit, the 6th Light Horse Regiment which was engaged in various operations in Palestine such as Romani, Gaza and Beersheba during the Allied drive northward. In late November 1917, the Allied forces had reached an area east of Jaffa in which there was a prominent position known as Bald Hill, then occupied by Turkish forces. A few days later, C Squadron, 6th Light Horse Regiment, was ordered to capture the objective known as the Ypres Salient adjacent to Bald Hill. An artillery barrage was ordered to cover the advance of the attacking troops and timed to cease before the advance started. In the event, the cessation of the barrage was delayed and Barton and an officer, Lieutenant (Lt) O W Tooth, were already advancing and were killed. This action took place on 3 December 1917. Barton and Lt Tooth are both buried in the Ramleh War Cemetery, Palestine.