ARMSTRONG, George
| Service Number: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 February 1915, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Skellow, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, 1885 |
| Home Town: | Macclesfield, South Australia, Mount Barker, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Carpenter/Joiner |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Ploegsteert, Belgium, 18 December 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais Plot II, Row R, Grave No. 32 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Macclesfield ANZAC Memorial Gardens |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 2, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 31 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 2, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide | |
| 16 May 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant | |
| 14 Oct 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
George Armstrong was born in 1885, in Skellow, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. As a young boy, he grew up in the same place. George was a boy with blue eyes wispy brown hair and a fair complexion. In Yorkshire, George completed school and went on to be a carpenter and owned his family shop at one point which helped with carpeting needs. George grew up with his mum and his dad but sadly when he was 25 his mother died, and he only had his dad left.
By 1915, at the age of 33 and a half, George had moved to Geelong, Victoria, Australia. There he signed up for the war. When George signed up, he was 154 lbs, single, 5 foot 5, and the date was 2 February, 1915. George was given service number 2 and he was sent to training with the newly-raised 27th Battalion.
After being sent to Egypt, George went to Gallipoli in September 1915 and served there until the evacuation. He arrived back in Egypt in January 1916 and, as part of the general reorganisation of the AIF, was transferred to the 2nd Pioneer Battalion in early March. He was also promoted Sergeant but spent much of 1916 hospitalised with an infection.
After a brief period in the field, he went to the 2nd Australian Divisional School in January 1917. Returning to his unit, he was promoted Second Lieutenant in May 1917 and Lieutenant in October 1917.
Sadly, on December 18th George was killed during the battle in Belgium, near the border between France and Belgium. George was repairing the phone lines at about 8:30 and all of a sudden reportedly a huge bung of shrapnel was fired and kill him, all of the other soldiers were fine but because he was by himself fixing phone lines, he was stuck by himself and was targeted.
All of George's things were sent to his dad who still lived in Yorkshire and had taken back overrunning the carpeting business. At the end of the war, George was awarded 3 medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal. George was buried in the field but was later dug up and was buried on Plot II, Row R, Grave No. 32 Trois Arbores Cemetery, France.
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