War hero Lieutenant George Barnes lived in Collie and was a very private person who rarely spoke of his war time experiences, not even with his family.
Lieutenant Barnes would have turned 100 this year, but passed away aged 90.
It was not until after his death in 2007, that his war time experiences came to light.
On October 23, 1942 at 2200 hours the 25 years old Lieutenant George Barnes lead 13 platoon of C company, 2/28 Australian infantry Battalion on a suicide mission against a German stronghold at El Alamein in Egypt.
The raid by a platoon of 30 was designed to confuse the enemy into thinking that it was under a major attack by the 2/28 battalion and marked the start of the Second Battle of El Alamein.
They moved forward blowing up a barbed wire entanglement then charged at the enemy position only to encounter a second barbed wire barrier. As they tried to cut through the wire the withering machine gun fire took its toll.
Lt Barnes gave the order for the platoon to withdraw before he was hit in the stomach by two machine gun bullets, falling back into a bomb crater, and lapsing into unconsciousness.
After being left for dead on the battle field, he regained consciousness some hours later and realised that he must try to save himself.
Lt Barnes tied an ammunition belt to his stomach to hold his intestines in place while he crawled back to the Australian lines, drawing on sheer courage and determination to get him there.
The cold conditions on the battlefield had helped Lt Barnes to survive by preserving his severe injury.
At dawn on October 24, the decoy mission had been hailed a success and a main attack was launched further along the allied front.
‘The Barnes Raid’ resulted in five killed and ten wounded, representing causalities of almost half of the platoon.
Lieutenant George Barnes, recovered from his massive wounds and rejoined the 2/28 battalion and fought in Papua New Guinea for the remainder of the war.
Lieutenant Barnes returned to Collie where he lived with his wife and three children.
With his brother-in-law he later started a bulldozing business, and in his spare time he cleared land on his 1000-acre beef cattle farm at Worsley.
His farm is now owned by South32 Worsley Alumina. George Barnes remained an active member of Legacy for the rest of his life.