6/3524 Lieutenant John Haddin Barr, 6/12/1891-15/9/1916. "great promise as a musician"

KILLED IN ACTION.

Much sympathy will be extended to Mr Barr, of Messrs Paterson and Barr, who received the sad news yesterday that his only son, Lieut. John Haddin Barr, had been killed in action in France. Lieut. Barr, who was about 24 years of age, was employed in his father's warehouse before he enlisted. In a letter received by his parents recently he stated that he had spent more than a month in the trenches without having his clothes off. The deceased, who was a well-known member of the Dunedin Anglican Harriers, showed great promise as a musician.   -North Otago Times, 26/9/1916.

John Barr's Army record shows that he was killed on the day his Battalion (2nd Otago) joined the attack on German positions in the Battle of the Somme.  In the usual laconic way, his record describes him as suffering from "gsw multiple) - multiple gunshot wounds.  He died in a dressing station behind the lines.

Southern Cemetery, Dunedin.