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Cenotaph record

Alfred Trevor Barton

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Image of Able Seaman Alfred Trevor Barton with Egypt in the background. Image kindly provided by Janine Buckleton-Reid (July 2020). Image is subject to copyright restrictions.

Image of Able Seaman Alfred Trevor Barton with Egypt in the background. Image kindly provided by Jan …

Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Alfred Trevor AWMM
  • Surname
    Barton AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
    Trevor AWMM
  • Service number
    WWII A/1509 AWMM
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    31 May 1913 Family source Te Kuiti, Waikato Family source
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    WW2 Olive Christina Barton AWMM
  • Relationship status
    Married/WWII AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    • Inter War 8 August 1932 AWMM
    • WW2 2 April 1940 Statement of Service
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes

Last known rank

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Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • Enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1932.

      Participated in Operation Demon in April, 1941 while serving on HMS Phoebe. Source: Certified Statement of Service. AWMM
    • 28th May
      “Came out of dock at 8.30 am. I went to our berth in stream. At 11 am, rear admiral King came aboard with 18 of a staff. We are going to be the flagship for a while during our next operations. At 7.30 pm, we sailed and the buzz is it’s for Crete, with us is a number of warships so it looks as if something big is on."

      29th May
      “At 7 am, Admiral King told us we were going to evacuate Crete and that we had a difficult job ahead of us. At 9.35 am, we went into action against dive bombers, which lasted for one hour. With us is four cruisers, one troop carrier and three destroyers. At 2.25 pm, we were attacked again by planes, three of which we brought down. At 11.20, we arrived at the South end of Crete (Sphakia) and started loading troops. The soldiers were all done in and a bundle of nerves. Told us there were still thousands coming this way, but were fighting a rear-guard action. Told us the sights ashore were horrible and a nightmare. 20 of the soldiers we took on had to be put in Robinson stretchers and looked in as they were bomb happy. Flares were dropped about two to three miles away by the German planes and for a while, we thought we were in for a pasting, but with God’s grace and wishes, we were left alone to carry on the job of getting the boys aboard."

      30th May
      “Left Crete at 3.30 am doing high speed for Alexandria. At 7 am, we had our first attack by dive bombers, the HMS Perth stopped one by her galley, killing 10 men. Only one plane was brought down in this attack. This action was followed up by a much bigger one, over 50 planes taking part. The Dido stopped a direct hit on B. turret, wiping it clean over the side. The HMS Orion following close astern of us had a stick of four bombs dropped on her, the first over hit but on H. turret, taking it clean over the side. This ship suffered over 400 dead with a large number of casualties. One of the bloodiest sights of the war. Phoebe registered several near misses, but upon reaching Alex, we were still in one piece, thank the Lord. We were in action with the bombers right up to within 20 miles of Alex, the heaviest attack we have had up to date. We arrived in Alex at 10 PM. Seven sailors from the battle ships and shore bases were there to refuel, and re-ammunition us on arrival, for we are leaving again for Crete as soon as possible. Admiral Cunningham was down to meet us on arrival and told us he had decided to give it another go to get more men off."

      31st May
      “While the oiling and ammunitioning of the ship was underway, the ship’s company had a couple of hours sleep. They were laying down anywhere some even sitting up sleeping for we haven’t had any sleep for three days and nights and it’s been action all the time with very little let up. Today is my 28th birthday and my only wish is we get through to Crete and take off what men are left. God be with us. We left Alexandria for Crete at 5.30 am, with us is the minelayer Abduhl and two destroyers. At 10.30 we went into action against four torpedo bombers, two of which we brought down. Action against enemy aircraft continued all day without success for the enemy. Had some very near misses. At midnight we arrived at Crete and started to immediately load troops. The first batch that came aboard told us the Germans were not far behind and that they had been bombed and machine gunned all day. Quite a number of the boys were wounded and many of them a little bomb happy, believe me it was far from a pleasant sight." Public - Ronan Harris - Direct descendant - 2 May 2022 - Trevor's personal wartime diary
    • 1st June
      "Left Crete at 5 am. The Phoebe is carrying 1,400 soldiers. Just before we left Crete a number of soldiers on the beach asked our officer for some food and told him they were not coming back as they were going back into the hills to some of their pals who were wounded. Among the soldiers were two Greek girls dressed in soldier’s clothes. The Phoebe being in charge of operations ordered speed of 33 knots all the way. At 9 am we went into action and believe me things looked bad for a while. At noon we sent a signal for help as we were running out of ammunition but none arrived. At 5.30 pm we arrived off of Alexandria tired and worn out but with a full load of soldiers who had faced overwhelming odds without air support and good fighting equipment. May this effort and courage be a standing inspiration for our days to come and thanks to the almighty power above."

      2nd June
      “Taken to 64 general hospital, sick and too tired to worry.” Public - Ronan Harris - Direct descendant - 2 May 2022 - Trevor's personal wartime diary
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    2 September 2003 Family source
    Age 91 AWMM
    Red Beach, Auckland Province Family source
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name

Roll of Honour

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Sources

Sources

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  • External links
    Record Book of Naval Personnel - c.1920-1945 - Lists Navy number, alphabetical list of names of ratings trained in England, numerical lists of officers. Archives New Zealand, R21346617, AAYT 8495 N12
    https://collections.archives.govt.nz/en-NZ/web/arena/search#/entity/aims-archive/R21346617
    Further Reference
  • References
    • Information kindly provided by family AWMM
    • Record Book of Naval Personnel - c.1920-1945 - Lists Navy number, alphabetical list of names of ratings trained in England, numerical lists of officers. Archives New Zealand, R21346617, AAYT 8495 N12 AWMM

Contributors

Command item
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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
02 May 2022Ronan HarrisAucklandDirect descendant

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