SUMMERS, George Arthur
| Service Number: | 5650 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Maryborough, Queensland, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Biggenden, North Burnett, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Grazier |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 10 March 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Biggenden Honour Roll, Biggenden Residents of Degilbo Shire War Memorial, Coalstoun Lakes & District Honour Roll, Gayndah District Honour Roll, Gayndah War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5650, 25th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 5650, 25th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Clan McGillivray embarkation_ship_number: A46 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 5650, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Clan McGillivray, Brisbane |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Ian Lang
# 5650 SUMMERS George Arthur 25th Infantry Battalion
George Summers was born at Tinana outside Maryborough to Thomas and Susan Summers. The family which included a number of children lived at “Broadway” at Lakeside just outside Biggenden where George attended school. In all likelihood, George worked on the family property mustering cattle from when he was a teenager. Like many young men at that time, he was obliged to engage in compulsory military training and according to his attestation papers, George served with the Biggenden Troop of Light Horse for 7 years.
George presented himself for enlistment in Brisbane on 19th February 1916. He stated his age as 25 and occupation as grazier. George was placed in the 11th Depot Battalion at Fraser’s Paddock, Enoggera, to begin preliminary training. In May 1916, George was allocated to the 15th reinforcements of the 25th Infantry Battalion. His training continued and he was granted a period of home leave in August to take the train home to Biggenden to farewell his family and friends prior to his departure for overseas.
The reinforcements boarded the “Clan MacGillivray” in Brisbane on 7th September to head to England via South Africa, a voyage of two months. Conditions on board transports were usually cramped with ordinary ranks sleeping in hammocks slung on the mess decks. In such confined spaces, infectious diseases were easily spread and when George arrived in Plymouth, he was admitted to the Devonport Military Hospital with mumps. When George was discharged from hospital, he joined the rest of the reinforcements in the 7thTraining Battalion Camp at Durrington on Salisbury Plain.
During 1916, the battalions of the AIF in France had suffered heavily during engagements at Pozieres, Mouquet Farm and Flers. When the fighting finally drew to a temporary close for the winter, the troops had to endure freezing conditions in mud filled trenches. This situation created a need for reinforcements and George was shipped to the British Transit and Training Camp at Etaples on the French Coast on 13thDecember 1916. He remained at Etaples until he received movement orders to join his battalion, marching in to the 25th Battalion lines on 5th February 1917.
The situation on the part of the Western Front in the Somme region had remained relatively unchanged throughout the offensives of 1916; the British front had only advanced some 15 kilometres in 8 months. This movement had created a bulge or salient in the German defensive line into which an excessive number of troops needed to be placed to hold the position. The German command resolved to use the lull in fighting to straighten the line by constructing a heavy defensive position on higher ground almost 50 kilometres behind their 1916 positions, to which troops would be tactically withdrawn in the spring of 1917. The new defensive positions were referred to as the Seigfreid Position but the British named it the Hindenburg Line.
As the German forces began their withdrawal from the areas around Bapaume in February and March of 1917, battalions attached to the 7th Infantry Brigade of the AIF, which included the 25th Battalion began to cautiously follow the German forces. On 2nd March 1917, the 25th relieved the 27th Battalion in the line opposite a position named Malt Trench on the Loupart Bastion near Bapaume. The 25th was tasked with digging a series of jumping off trenches in front of their position in preparation for an assault against Malt Trench. On 4th March, probably while working on the jump off trenches, George received gunshot wounds to his right buttock and face. He had been with his battalion for only a month and this occasion was the first time he had been in the front line and seen action.
George was taken by stretcher bearers to the 5th Field Ambulance in the rear areas before being placed on an ambulance train on 7th March. He was admitted to the 3rd Australian Stationary Hospital at Rouen the following day; but unfortunately died of his wounds at 1:35am on 10th March 1917. George was 26 years old.
George was buried in the Saint Sever Military Cemetery, Rouen, with the Reverend J. Bevan in attendance. In due course, his family back at Lakeside received a parcel of his personal effects which included letters, cards, a watch and strap, a fountain pen and two five franc notes.
One curious item in George’s file is a detailed handwritten official French death certificate. The existence of such a document is most unusual as all AIF death certificates were issued by the Australian Military Authorities, not the French Civil Authorities. The certificate is dated 20th January 1919.
When permanent headstones were being erected by the Imperial War Graves Commission in the 1920’s, George’s father chose the following inscription:
DEAR BOY HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US ALL
FATHER MOTHER BROTHERS SISTERS