The untold stories of World War I veterans

IT TOOK three days of war for Archie Barwick to feel fear at Gallipoli. But when it came, he not only had to fight the fear of death — but also the part of him that wanted to run. Listen to the incredible story of the soldier of the 1st Battalion AIF.

Landing at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli.

ARCHIE Barwick was in a “perfect hell of bullets”, and his mates were dying around him.

It was the first time he had felt fear in three days since landing on the shores of Gallipoli in 1915.

Until then, the 24-year-old soldier from the 1st Battalion AIF said “no one seemed afraid, we were laughing and joking as we went along”.

“It was when we began to realise that bullets hurt when they hit you, that we knew what fears was,” Barwick says in his gripping diary that features in the 100 Years of Untold Stories: Anzac to Afghanistan project to commemorate the Centenary of World War I.

News_Rich_Media: Anzac Diaries: Archie Barwick

“I felt frightened, and I am not afraid to say that I had a terrible fight with myself that day. One part of me wanted to run away and leave the rest of my mates to face it, and the other part said no, we would stop and see it out at any cost, rather than show the white feather.”

Also featured is Frances Brewer of the 20th Battalion, whose dispatches from the Western Front are truly heart-stopping.

News_Rich_Media: Anzac Diaries: Francis Brewer

Henry Parsons, from the 13th Battalion, only saw one day of combat — but it was in the bloody mess that was the First Battle of Bullecourt. He was then captured and spent 20 months as a prisoner of the Germans.

News_Rich_Media: Anzac Diaries: Henry Joseph Parsons

Hector Brewer, from the 54th Battalion, not only landed at Gallipoli and went on to survive some of the biggest battles of the Western Front — he also met the love of his life.

News_Rich_Media: Anzac Diaries: Hector Brewer

If you have a tale of service, from any war from the Great War to Afghanistan — contact us here and we’ll look at preserving it for history.