POEPPEL, George Augustus
| Service Number: | 4579 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 September 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia , 6 November 1893 |
| Home Town: | Nundah, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Boys Central School, Maryborough, Queensland |
| Occupation: | Draper |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 2 February 1917, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension Plot II, Row M, Grave No. 4. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Clayfield Bowling Club Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4579, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 4579, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 4579, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Brisbane |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
George Poeppel was the son of Frederick and Eva Mary Poeppel of Nundah, Queensland. He played in one first-class cricket match representing Queensland against NSW in February 1915. He was only 21 years of age when he enlisted in September 1915 so his cricket career was cut short.
He served with the 15th Battalion throughout 1916 until they arrived at Gueudecourt on the Somme during February 1917, where the Australians faced the harshest winter weather: “driving bitter winds, snow-frozen ground, and sharp frosts”
On 1 February, near Gueudecourt, the 15th Battalion attacked a section of the German front line known as Stormy Trench. The party consisted of 150 men and six officers, or one and half companies. The attack started at about 7.00 p.m. on a frontage of 500 metres. Although the enemy trenches were only 100 metres from the Australian lines, inadequate artillery support and poor overall planning caused the attack to fail. A German counter attack at 11 p.m. was beaten off. In the face of relentless German shelling of the captured trenches, and a stronger German counter attack at 4.30 a.m. the Battalion was forced to retire. Although 52 German soldiers were captured, the 15th Battalion’s casualties were 33 men killed, 20 captured by the Germans and over 80 wounded.
George was so badly wounded that he could not be moved when the time came to retire. He was left in a dugout with several other badly wounded. It was discovered later that the Germans had buried him in the Hermies Cemetery, and that he died of his wounds in a German dressing station shortly after capture. His grave was well cared for and marked.
George Augustus Poeppel was one of two Australian soldiers buried at Hermies Communal Cemetery by the Germans, both mortally wounded and captured by the Germans on 1 February 1917. The other soldier was another 15th Battalion member, 3299 Sergeant Arthur Thomas Farr. These two were reinterred at Achiet-le-Grand cemetery in 1923 in graves beside each other.