Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arrived in Australia in 1913. Son of George William Hook and Annie Hook of Murgon, QLD

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

#3109 HOOK George William 12th Field Company Engineers
 
George Hook was born in Hastings, England, the son of George and Annie Hook. The family emigrated to Queensland in 1913 when George was around 17 years of age, and took up a farming block at Merlwood just outside Murgon in the South Burnett. There is evidence in the Red Cross files that George had informed some of his colleagues he had been employed by Queensland Railways and he was a skilled axeman, perhaps sleeper cutting.
 
When George presented himself for enlistment at Brisbane on 14th September 1916, he stated his age as 20 years and 8 months. He also stated his occupation as wheelwright; whether this was previous occupation is uncertain. George named his mother Annie of Merlwood, Murgon as his next of kin. George was taken on strength at Enoggera on 13th October and by 23rd October he had been allocated to the 7th reinforcements of the 4th Pioneer Battalion. After a very short period of training at Enoggera, the reinforcements boarded the “Kyarra” in Brisbane on 17th November and sailed for England.
 
George disembarked in Plymouth on 30th January 1917 and was marched out to the Australian Training Depot at Fovant where he spent the next five months. On 10th July 1917, George was transferred to the 4thDivision Engineers and in October, sailed from Southampton for France. He was finally taken on by the 12thField Company Engineers in the rear areas near Ypres in Belgium on 23rd October.
 
In the latter half of 1917, the AIF in Belgium had had a fairly rough time, both at the hands of the enemy and the Flemish weather which had turned the battlefields of Passchendaele into a sea of mud which had the capacity to swallow men, animals and equipment. The engineers had worked tirelessly through these battles in an effort to keep the roads and tracks open. By the end of October when the entire front was closed down for the winter, the entire AIF and particularly the engineers and pioneers were in need of a rest. The war diary of the 12th FCE reveals a period of rest, sports and relaxation followed by a return to work improving drainage, constructing camps, laying duck boards and corduroy roads.
 
A much-anticipated German offensive began on 21st March 1918 heading for the strategic city of Amiens. The British 5th Army which held the line astride the Somme River near Peronne was completely overrun, with men falling back in disarray. Realising that if Amiens was taken the war would be lost, Haig; the British Commander in France, began to order units of the AIF south to take up holding positions. Individual units packed up and moved by bus, train and forced march to the Somme.
 
The 12th FCE was nominally attached to the 12th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Division AIF; and it was battalions of this brigade which were the first to be relocate to the Somme. The 12th FCE in support of the four battalions in the 12th Brigade arrived at Dernacourt on the 2nd April where they took up positions on a ridge overlooking a railway embankment and the village of Dernacourt across the rail line. The two Australian brigades were facing a combined enemy force of at least two and a half divisions. When the Germans attacked on 5th April several companies from the 47th Infantry Battalion were overrun. A counterattack by the 48th Battalion, supported by several sections of the 12th Engineers fighting as infantry finally saved the day. The sappers had probably never been so close to live action.
The thrust of the German advance continued to threaten the city of Amiens and the sappers were kept busy laying demolition charges on the many bridges which spanned the Somme and the Somme Canal, as well as laying large landmines at strategic points on important roads which could be blown to create craters that traffic could not get around. It was not until 25th April that with the retaking of the village of Villers Bretonneux that the German advance was halted, but the situation remained grim. The enemy had not been defeated and continued to pose a threat.
 
The Australian Divisional Commander Major General John Monash devised a program of “peaceful penetration” whereby the Germans would be harassed by aggressive patrolling of no man’s land; particularly at night. This method allowed for small gains in territory as well as damaging morale. When Monash was promoted on 1st June 1918 to the rank of Lieutenant General, he assumed the role of Corps Commander in command of the five divisions of the AIF in France and began planning for a counter offensive.
 
A small but highly significant battle at Hamel on 4th July became the blueprint upon which Monash would base his planning for a major battle to take place on the 8th August, usually referred to as the Battle of Amiens. The engineers and particularly the 4th Division Engineers would have a significant role in that battle. Monash himself was an engineer with vast experience in civil engineering and he made sure that the sappers were well prepared. Stockpiles of road mending material were established to allow for rapid repair of shell craters on roads, and there were 32 tip drays already loaded and parked ready for work. The 4thDivision engineers would support the advance of the 4th Infantry Division as it advanced eastwards with the Somme River and Canal on their left. Pontoon building teams, which had been training for a month in anticipation of the attack, were positioned so that they could be sent in if the Germans destroyed any of the bridges in the line of the battle.
 
Of particular concern to Monash was a finger of high ground on the northern bank of the Somme; Chipilly Spur, which was in German hands, and from which artillery and long-range machine-gun barrages could rain down on the advancing Australians. A British Division was charged with advancing along the northern bank keeping pace with the Australians across the river but Monash, as did many other AIF commanders, doubted the ability of the British to fulfill their role in protecting his flank.
 
As the 4th Division troops leapfrogged the 2nd Division on the advance to the red line (2nd objective), Monash’s fears were realised when it was clear that the British had not kept pace with his advance and his left flank was exposed to the enemy on the Chipilly Spur. Lieutenant Ralph Hunt of the 12th FCE accompanied by two sappers, Williams and Hook were sent to reconnoitre a suitable place to lay down a pontoon bridge to allow an infantry strike across the Somme to the Chipilly Spur. Upon reaching the Canal on the outskirts of Cerisy, Lt Hunt sent Williams back with an initial report while he and Sapper Hook crossed over to the enemy side.
 
According to written evidence provided by Lt Hunt, while scouting the enemy bank, Sapper Hook was hit with a burst of machine gun fire in the leg. Lt Hunt began to carry George back across the river when George was hit by a second burst of gun fire to the head, causing George to lose consciousness. Hunt carried the unconscious and bleeding man over 200 yards when upon reaching the rest of the company, George was handed over to a stretcher party who conveyed him to a field ambulance. From there, George was presumably taken to a Casualty Clearing Station.
 
It could not be explained why George was not wearing his identity disc, which all involved on the 8th August were instructed to do; but given the fact that he was not conscious he was not able to be identified verbally by Field Ambulance Staff. When George died and was buried near the CCS, his grave marker would have simply read “Unknown Australian Soldier”. To compound the problem of identity, Lieutenant Hunt had removed George’s paybook from his pocket for safe keeping. Lt Hunt was eventually awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his gallantry on 8th August.
Perhaps in the hope that the unidentified soldier might eventually be known, a post mortem photograph was taken and passed on to relevant authorities which did eventually result in a positive identification, but not sadly the location of his final resting place.
 
Another Engineer officer, Lieutenant Keesing, wrote to George’s parents providing details of the 8th August, up until the time George was sent out to the Field Ambulance, but was unable to add anything further. There are extensive statements by Hunt and Keesing as well as other witnesses in both George’s official file and the Red Cross Wounded and Missing reports. There are also extensive accounts of the attempts made by both of these officers to identify the Casualty Clearing Station at which George died, and therefore have some clue as to the whereabouts of his grave.
 
Annie Hook received a parcel of her son’s personal effects which included a wallet, cheque book, razor, letters cards and photos. George Hook was listed as Killed in Action, no known grave. He was 24 years old.
 
In 1938, some 20 years after the events of 8th August, the newly crowned King George VI accompanied by his wife, Queen Elizabeth dedicated the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. The memorial lists on its stone tablets, the names of over 10,000 Australians who died in France and have no known grave. A perusal of the Australian War Memorial’s Roll of Honour shows Spr George Hook was commemorated at Villers Bretonneux.
 
However, a search of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database revealed that as a result of recent research, Spr George William Hook’s grave had been identified at Vignacourt British Cemetery in 2022. The notation attached reads “recent research has shown that George William Hook is buried here.” The cemetery is some 50 kilometres from the front as it was on 8th August 1918. In August 1918, there were two Casualty Clearing Stations in the area and it is another indication of the planning that went into the battle that casualties could be evacuated so swiftly from the forward areas.
 

Following the identification of George’s grave, 104 years after his death, descendants of George and Annie Hook were contacted by the Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties Unit to arrange for a new headstone which identifies their lost relative and carries the inscription:

BELOVED SON OF

GEORGE AND ANNIE HOOK