This Soldier was a hero on the same scale as York. He just would not give it up. He got the German machine gun into working order by carrying a part with him for weeks the Germans would strip out of the guns when they laid in the field before they were policed up and re issued on advice of an NCO. At one point the gun heated up and rather then run away he found a can of thin oil and dumped it into the cooling can. A German 77 field gun hit the tank twice and he had to re gain his composure in the mean time the gunners thought he was dead. He emptied a can of ammo at them 600 yards away and the gun gave him no more trouble.
When his lines of communications were cut to the phones in his FWD observer post he could have just made his way back to the CP. But he set up a one man ambush instead and lived to talk about it. Unlike York this Soldier was really all alone.
William
Henry County MO Archives Military Records.....Barkley, John L. 1918 WWI 4th Infantry, 3d Division, Co. K ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/mo/mofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 8, 2007, 10:40 pm Congressional Medal Of Honor Citation John L. Barkley, private, first class, Company K, 4th Infantry, 3d Division. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Cunel, France, October 7, 1918. Pvt. Barkley, who was stationed in an observation post half a kilometer from the German line, on his own initiative repaired a captured enemy machine gun and mounted It in a disabled French tank near his post. Shortly afterwards, when the enemy launched a counterattack against our forces, Pvt. Barkley got into the tank, waited under the hostile barrage until the enemy line was abreast of him, and then opened fire, completely breaking up the counterattack and killing and wounding a large number of the enemy. Five minutes later an enemy 77-millimeter gun opened fire on the tank point-blank. One shell struck the driver wheel of the tank, but this soldier nevertheless remained in the tank and after the barrage ceased broke up a second enemy counterattack, thereby enabling our forces to gain and hold Hill 253. Residence at enlistment: General delivery, Blairstown, Mo. Additional Comments: Extracted from: CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS AND THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL ISSUED BY THE WAR DEPARTMENT Since April 6, 1917 Up to and including General Orders, No. 126, War Department, November 11, 1919 COMPILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1920 File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb...rkley59gmt.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mofiles/ File size: 2.1 Kb
When his lines of communications were cut to the phones in his FWD observer post he could have just made his way back to the CP. But he set up a one man ambush instead and lived to talk about it. Unlike York this Soldier was really all alone.
William
Henry County MO Archives Military Records.....Barkley, John L. 1918 WWI 4th Infantry, 3d Division, Co. K ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/mo/mofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 8, 2007, 10:40 pm Congressional Medal Of Honor Citation John L. Barkley, private, first class, Company K, 4th Infantry, 3d Division. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Cunel, France, October 7, 1918. Pvt. Barkley, who was stationed in an observation post half a kilometer from the German line, on his own initiative repaired a captured enemy machine gun and mounted It in a disabled French tank near his post. Shortly afterwards, when the enemy launched a counterattack against our forces, Pvt. Barkley got into the tank, waited under the hostile barrage until the enemy line was abreast of him, and then opened fire, completely breaking up the counterattack and killing and wounding a large number of the enemy. Five minutes later an enemy 77-millimeter gun opened fire on the tank point-blank. One shell struck the driver wheel of the tank, but this soldier nevertheless remained in the tank and after the barrage ceased broke up a second enemy counterattack, thereby enabling our forces to gain and hold Hill 253. Residence at enlistment: General delivery, Blairstown, Mo. Additional Comments: Extracted from: CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS AND THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL ISSUED BY THE WAR DEPARTMENT Since April 6, 1917 Up to and including General Orders, No. 126, War Department, November 11, 1919 COMPILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1920 File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb...rkley59gmt.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mofiles/ File size: 2.1 Kb
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