ANZAC DAY – 2025 Remembering Sir Eric Harold Barrowclough
Major General Sir Harold Eric Barrowclough led an extraordinary life. A heroic foot soldier, field commander, and noted lawyer, he crowned his career serving as Chief Justice of New Zealand.
Coming of age just before the start of World War One, young Harold embarked on a career studying law at the University of Otago in 1913, cutting it short in 1915, when he volunteered to serve with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
A natural leader, he received a commission as second lieutenant within four months of enrolling, and by the time of embarkation in October of that year he earned a promotion to lieutenant, rostered to serve with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade’s 2nd Battalion in the Middle East.
Based in Egypt, the young lieutenant’s leadership faced its first test battling the forces of Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi who had recently declared jihad against the Allied Powers. Clearly he performed well—Harold earned a promotion to captain just before the battalion departed for their next deployment in France, where he was given command of a company.
FRANCE
It was a very serious responsibility. This was the Battle of the Somme, a gruelling conflagration which killed or wounded one million soldiers, making it one of the deadliest battles in the history of mankind. Proving himself more than adequate, young Barrowclough showed unstinting bravery in the pivotal Battle of Flers-Coucelette. It was not an easy win: fighting at close quarters with grenades and bayonets, the New Zealanders managed to capture the German-occupied Switch Trench, allowing for the forces to at last link up with the British 47thDivision. The battle resulted in some 8,000 casualties with 2,100 fatalities—a toll not far off that of the Gallipoli campaign.
For this action Barrowclough was awarded the Military Cross and the French Croix de Guerre for his coolness and bravery in what was vicious trench warfare.
WOUNDED
Of course, the fighting did not end there. In June 1917 Harold was wounded in the back and was sent to convalesce in London. Undeterred, he accepted a temporary appointment as a major, and was placed in command of the NZ Rifle Brigade’s reserve battalion, after which he was made a temporary lieutenant colonel commanding the 4th Battalion. He lost no time in again proving his bravery and skill.
In September 1918 Harold was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for “conspicuous gallantry and able leadership,” during fighting at Havrincourt Wood where he led his battalion against a fortified and position thought to be unassailable after conducting personal reconnaissance operations under fire. In the course of the operation, the Germans fiercely counterattacked. True to form, Barrowclough rallied his men leading from the front, eventually driving the enemy back at the point of bayonets. This feat was soon followed in November at the battle for Le Quesnoy, where Harold led the battalion liberating the town by famously—and bravely—scaling the walls with ladders.
Second Lieutenant Leslie Averill, the battalion’s intelligence officer had located an apparently unfortified section of the town’s ramparts. Barrowclough ordered him to make an approach under cover of mortar fire, allowing Averill and his cohort to cross the moat and erect a 9 metre ladder which Averill scaled followed by Barrowclough and the rest of the battalion. Their speed and ingenuity left the German’s unable to mount a counterattack.
(Leslie Averill’s father was Archbishop Alfred Walter Averill who is buried at Purewa Cemetery.)
AFTER THE WAR AND BEYOND
After the war Barrowclough finished his studies and began practicing law, eventually settling in Auckland where he joined a prominent firm in 1931.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, Harold volunteered for service. Given his record, he was made a brigadier general and appointed to command the 6th Infantry Brigade in 1940. Perhaps his most notable battles in the war occurred during the infamously ruthless and vicious fighting around Sidi Rezegh during Operation Crusader, where his brigade captured elements of the leadership of Rommel’s Afrika Korps.
In due course Barrowclough became commander of the Northern Division as a major general. After the war, he was appointed Chief Justice of New Zealand, serving from 1953 through 1966.
Harold was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth during her visit to New Zealand in 1954.
Harold Barrowclough died in Auckland in 1972 at the age of 77.
Sir Harold was cremated at Purewa on 08/03/1972 and his ash remains scattered on Purewa’s lawn.
