LUCRE, George Henry
| Service Number: | 467 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 30th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 11 May 1893 |
| Home Town: | Cooks Hill, Newcastle West, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Machinist, Railway Permanent Way Driller |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Fromelles, France, 20 July 1916, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery Plot III, Row D, Grave No 7 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 467, 30th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 467, 30th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Beltana embarkation_ship_number: A72 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 467, 30th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Beltana, Sydney | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 30th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
George Henry LUCRE (Service Number 467) was born on 11th May 1893 in Sydney. He first worked for the NSW Government Railways in the Northern Division of the Permanent Way Branch as a shop boy from 4th July 1910. He became a driller in 1914, and it was from this role that he was released to join the Expeditionary Forces on 16th July 1915.
He enlisted at Liverpool on 21st July. He described his job as ‘Machinist, Government Railways, Newcastle, and gave his mother, who was living at Cook’s Hill, as his next of kin. He had spent 18 months with the Senior Cadets. Ellen Maud Lucre (his mother) died on 8th June 1917, and at that time George’s father became next of kin.
He embarked on HMAT ‘Beltana’ at Sydney on 9th November 1915. He reached Suez (Egypt) on 11th December. After six months further training he embarked HMAT ‘Honorata’ at Alexandria on 16th June 1916, reaching Marseilles a week later. He quickly travelled to northern France.
He was killed in action between 19th and 20th July at Fromelles. There are numerous reports of his death from a gunshot to his head, but all agree that an overwhelming German counterattack forced a retreat with no chance of recovering Lucre’s body.
His death was confirmed by a German death list and the subsequent delivery of his identity disc to Allied authorities. Lucre was buried in a mass grave by the Germans, but its location was lost and not re-discovered until 2009. Although individual bodies could not immediately be identified (their ID discs had been collected by the Germans), subsequent DNA analysis allowed identification of many. All of the soldiers’ remains are now buried in individual graves at the new Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
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