Page 113 - QDG 2023

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards 111
a very charming email back on the same day! Apart from offering her support, Jill provided the details which she had collated over the years. In addition, she identified the man whose grave Pete had knocked over!!
John King deserves a mention after coming into contact with a veteran of the QDG. He was part of the famous, and somewhat disastrous, Burke and Wills expedition in 1860 to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpen- taria, a distance of approximately 2,000 miles. At that time, most of the inland of Australia and was largely unknown to the European settlers.
The expedition left Melbourne in winter in very bad weather, traveling on poor roads and broken-down horse wagons meant they made slow progress. The return journey was plagued by delays and monsoon rains. Burke and Wills themselves died and the expedition was decimated. Only one man survived the entire crossing, John King, an Irishman who had served in the 70th Regiment of foot. It would have been a suitable coin- cidence if he had fought at Waterloo! But alas, the regiment was in fact in Canada!
Back on mission...
Jill was a mine of information and our understanding of Barlow is increasing daily. In addition to supplying us with all sorts of snippets, she has kindly agreed to assist with permissions that we need for a memorial This is a laborious task and involves filling out endless forms including statutory declarations to hand back to Melbourne General Cemetery. Once complete, we intend to erect a memorial fitting to someone who had a major influence upon the regiment.
We have uncovered an enormous amount of information on him, including letters that he himself wrote. As one would expect, he led a fascinating life and was a serious character. There is sufficient information to put together a book...
But what is clear is that he would not have been out of place in today’s regiment.
I would very much like to thank those who have helped in putting this article together.
Jill Birtwistle has provided us with all her hard work which took several years to piece together. She patiently dealt with my avalanche of questions and is kindly helping to get permissions for our monument to Barlow. Thank you.
Pete Jones has meticulously applied all those skills he learnt as a recce soldier. He devoted serious time to find the site of Barlow’s grave and always responds instantly to any and all requests for help. Your hard work is very much appreciated.