BARWELL, George
| Service Number: | 4566 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ashley, North Canterbury, Aotearoa, New Zealand, 1963 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Loburn Public School, North Canterbury, Aotearoa, New Zealand |
| Occupation: | Farmer and Miner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 6 August 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Sunken Road Cemetery, Contalmaison |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Southern Cross War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 4566, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Miltiades embarkation_ship_number: A28 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 4566, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Miltiades, Fremantle | |
| 6 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 4566, 48th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4566 awm_unit: 48 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-08-06 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Suzie Best
"George Barwell - Australian Imperial Force - Private, 48th Infantry Battalion, Service No. 4566, previously of Ōtautau.
George Barwell was born during 1863, in Ashley County, Canterbury NZ. He was the son of Samuel and Dinah Barwell and the second of his family to go to war. Although his early years were spent in Canterbury and George went to the Loburn Public School, his parents owned a farm near Ōtautau at Ringway for some years, that the brothers Barwell worked on, and which was sold in 1902 then their father died.
George's elder brother Private Charles Henry Barwell - when he was alive, had seen service in the Boer War - but was killed in South Africa in 1905, while their father was Sergeant Samuel Barwell, who served in the Crimean and Kattir Wars, and going back further still, their grandfather Lieutenant Barwell had been in the Royal Navy. It seems serving in the military was commonplace in this family.
In 1882 George came to Southland and was farming at Ōtautau, where he involved himself thoroughly in the affairs and events of the community there. After trying his hand at the diggings from Preservation Inlet NZ, to Mt Jackson, Australia - with a time of farming at Ōrawia in between - and George was still mining in Western Australia when the war broke out, and despite being older than most, he still signed up to give his service to the empire. He left for Egypt and on to France, where he gave his life on 6th August 1916, during battle in France. George is buried at the Sunken Road Cemetery, Contalmaison, Somme, France, aged 53."
Researched and written by Suzie Best, Digitising Archivist and Online Museum Manager at 'Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive' in Aotearoa NZ.
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