In this photo Hines is seen with his ‘German souvenirs’, the equipment surrounding him, money he’s counting and cap he’s wearing are all German. This is what gave him the nickname ‘Souvenir King’.
Name : John ‘Barney’ Hines, otherwise known as "Wild Eye" or "Souvenir King". Hines was given this name because of his passion for collecting German Soldier’s personal possessions, which he considered Souvenirs. Born in Liverpool in 1873, his early life was troubled, as it was suspected that he and his mother had little money. It is unknown if Hines lived with his father or whether he had siblings. It is known that he had a passion for the war and the army, enlisting many times, twice under false identities. He was of stocky build, was around 5’10 and had dark hair, with his limbs covered in tattoos. It is widely believed that he was illiterate, but he was able to sign his name. At age fourteen, Hines tried to join the British army, but was sent home after his mother protested. He tried to join the navy when he was sixteen, and was successful, but was sent home the following year after contracting…show more content… He arrived in Australia in 1914, looking for work. He joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1915, claiming to be twenty-eight years old. In reality, he was forty-two. He was forced to leave the AIF after less than a year on January 20th, 1916 after being deemed medically unfit. On May 8th, of the same year he successfully re-joined the AIF, giving a false age of thirty-six and seven months. The medical requirements for the Australian Imperial Force had become more lax since he was made redundant, because they required more soldiers to make up for casualties. Hines left Sydney and was to England on the 22nd of August 1916 on the HMAT A18 Wiltshire after being assigned to the 45th
