There were three Barwick boys who fought in World War I. Archie was the oldest brother. Norman Stanley (known as Stan), was two years younger. Stan enlisted in 1916 in the 12th Battalion. Leonard (Len), the youngest, was twenty when he enlisted just a few months after Archie in 1914. Len was initially recruited into the 13th Battalion but was transferred into the 1st and served alongside Archie at Gallipoli. Archie and Len went on to fight on the Western Front.  Stan was killed in action in Belgium in October 1917 in the 3rd Battle of Ypres. Archie writes in his diary about the day he found out that his brother had been killed:

 “This afternoon I found out where the 12th Battalion were camped, over in Ypres in the Belgian Barracks, so I went over to see Stan, strange to say I had a dread of enquiring for him, something seemed to tell me that I would hear bad news, & I was not very far out, you can imagine what kind of a shock I got when they told me he had been killed, the world seemed to stand still for a few secs, & I nearly fell, but I recovered my balance & forced myself to keep quiet …

Heaven only knows how they will take it all home, they will be cut up properly, poor Stan could be ill spared, of the 3 of us I reckon he was the best, & to think that he is the first to go, though now he has gone Len & I might follow quickly, for the lucks been broken. I'm out for revenge for the future, & God help the German that comes into my hands its he & I for it. Stan was killed on October the 8th just close to "Reims Wood" between Zonnebeke & Passchendale.” 

Archie Barwick 

MLMSS 1493/Box 2/Item 11 pp. 85-86.

At the conclusion of World War I, Archie Barwick returned to the New England region in May 1919 to a ‘welcome home’ celebration. On the first few pages of the first volume of Archie’s Diary, he mentions his employer, Mr. Alex Mitchell, who welcomed him home. The celebrations were reported in the local newspaper, the Daily Observer:

“Sergeant A. A. Barwick received a hearty welcome home to Woolbrook on Saturday last after a strenuous military career of 4 1/2 years (writes a Woolbrook correspondent). He was the first volunteer from Woolbrook, enlisting on August 24, 1914. Being an inch under the regulation height, he contrived to dodge the tape, and so got to Kensington for training, and then to Egypt. He landed at Gallipoli on the memorable 25th of April, and went right through the campaign, being in the Lone Pine charge and the evacuation. Proceeding to France, he was engaged in the attacks at Pozieres, Fleurs, Hermes, Demicourt, Bullecourt, Paschendaale, and Strazelle. During his four years of active service he was off duty, for only ten day's leave, and ten weeks in hospital from wounds, till he was finally knocked out on April 6, 1918, by a piece of shell, and was sent to Birmingham Hospital for sixteen weeks, and was then invalided home, arriving in Melbourne last January. At Paschendaale he received the Croix de Guerre, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant at Fleurs in 1916. He also spent four months in training Australian soldiers in England. The sergeant has kept a complete diary of his experiences from start to finish, containing in all some 4,000 pages, which form exceedingly interesting and occasionally thrilling reading. At the reception Mr. Alex Mitchell, of Rutherglen, in whose employ Sergeant Barwick had been prior to enlisting, occupied the chair, and spoke highly of the guest as a citizen and soldier, and heartily welcomed him back, and trusted he would see his way clear to settle in the district. Various other speakers testified to the popularity 'Archie,' as he is familiarly known, and all wished him much happiness and success in the future. Quite a number of presents were made, including a gold medal and set of military brushes from the residents. Refreshments and a musical programme completed the afternoon's entertainment.” 

SOLDIERS OF THE NORTH Daily Observer (Tamworth, NSW: 1917 - 1920) 7 May 1919, p. 5.