British War Medal 1914-20 : Stoker 1 E T Barry, Royal Navy

British War Medal 1914-20. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

Edward Thomas Barry was born at Coolcappa, County Limerick, Ireland, on 9 July 1893. His Royal Navy service number, K25851, indicates that he entered the navy as a boy seaman, probably in 1907 or 1908, and undertook training as a stoker. Thomas served in submarines during the First World War and later emigrated to Australia, where he was listed as a member of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve. Barry was recalled to service, as a leading stoker, soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, transferred to the Royal Australian Fleet Reserve, and was assigned the service number PM2615. He served initially in HMAS Bombo, a coastal steamer requisitioned in May 1941 and converted to an auxiliary minesweeper, patrolling waters between Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney. In May 1942 Barry was promoted to petty officer and posted to the newly commissioned minesweeper corvette HMAS Kalgoorlie. In September Kalgoorlie transported Australian troops to Timor where they operated behind Japanese lines. On 25 September, in company with HMAS Warrnambool, she evacuated the crew of HMAS Voyager, which had run aground at Betano Bay, in Timor. In November Kalgoorlie operated in support of Operation Lizard III, a clandestine Services Reconnaissance Department operation, again in Timor. In early December 1942 Kalgoorlie, under sporadic air attack herself, searched for survivors from another minesweeper corvette, HMAS Armidale, which had been sunk by Japanese aircraft on 1 December. Kalgoorlie rescued 20 crewmen from the ship's damaged motor launch on 6 December, and a further 29 survivors from the Armidale's whaler on 9 December. She continued convoy escort duty between Darwin and Thursday Island until February 1943 when she returned to the Australian east coast. Petty Officer Barry left the ship on her return and spent the rest of the war working in Melbourne and at HMAS Cerberus in Westernport Bay. He was discharged on 8 October 1946.