WOOD, George Preston
| Service Number: | 4569 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Preston, Western Australia, Australia, 1897 |
| Home Town: | Donnybrook, Donnybrook-Balingup, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Donnybrook State School, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 4 August 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Donnybrook Preston Road Board, Donnybrook War Memorial, Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4569, 28th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 4569, 28th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 4569, 28th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Shropshire, Fremantle |
Help us honour George Preston Wood's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
George Preston Wood of Donnybrook Western Australia was the son of Georgina Wood, his father having died during 1910.
George was seen by mates to be mortally wounded in the trenches on the 4 August 1916. He was 18 years and 11 months of age.
His younger brother, 2472 Pte. Richard Henry Wood 51st Battalion AIF was killed in action only 11 days later, 15 August 1916, aged only 17 years.
Another brother, 376 Private Alfred John Wood, served with the 11th Battalion and was wounded at Gallipoli, before being returned to Australia on account of the death of his two brothers, for ‘family reasons.’
Biography contributed by Geoff Tilley
George Preston Wood was born at Preston via Donnybrook, Western Australia in September 1897 to parents Abraham and Georgina Wood (nee Bishop). He had three sisters and two brothers.
George’s grandfather William Wood was one of the early settlers in the Donnybrook area taking up land farming. George’s schooling was at Minninup Farm, Donnybrook which he attended with his brother Richard.
In June 1910 George’s father was severely injured when he was engaged in hauling timber piles at Seven Mile Siding, Preston Valley. The timber piles where being used in construction of the Busselton Jetty. His father was conveyed to the Bunbury hospital, but later died from his injuries.
In February 1916 George enlisted into the AIF at Bunbury, he was eighteen years of age conducting his training at Blackboy Hill military camp.
In March 1916 he embarked for overseas service aboard HMAT Shropshire from Fremantle. He was a part of the 11th reinforcements of the 28th Battalion.
Arriving in Egypt, George conducted further training until May 1916 when he embarked from Alexandria bound for the Western Front in France.
It was on the night of 4th August 1916 that George was involved in an attack north of Pozieres against the German trench system known as OG1 and OG2.
George was moving from the support trenches into the front line and was in no man’s land when he was hit by an artillery shell receiving a leg wound. One of his mates tendered to his wound leaving him in the shell hole to be collected by medics. This was the last time George was seen alive.
On returning, George was missing from the shell hole with his exact fate unknown.
Private George Preston Wood, service number 4569 was killed in action on the 4th August 1916 at Pozieres France. He was eighteen years of age.
George has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial France.
George’s younger brother was killed in action serving with the 51st Battalion on the 15th August 1916. He was seventeen years of age.
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