Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Born 1891

Father William Rye and Mother Ann Rye, of Chilton Farm, Kearsney near Dover, Kent, England.

George emigrated to Australia and became a farm labourer at Hillview Farm, Wagin, Western Australia.

Brother:  John Rye

John was born in Temple Ewell in 1892. His name appeared in the 1901 census aged 8 and living in South Alkham. By the time of the 1911 census he is 19 years old and living at Little Cauldham Farm in Capel Le Ferne where he is a servant in the Hambrook household working as a ‘Pigman on Farm’.

John enlisted as Private TF/6498 in the 1st/7th Battalion Middlesex Regiment at Purfleet, Essex. He was ‘killed in action’ on 16/9/1916 at which time his regiment was involved in the third and final general offensive of the Battle of the Somme in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15th–22nd September) where he would have witnessed the first use of tanks in warfare. Specifically the 1st/7th were involved in the fighting for High Wood. On 15/9/1916 “The 1/1st Londons went over the top at 06.20 and took the first objectives before becoming pinned down. A runner was sent back requesting reinforcements and at 08.20 the 1/7th Middlesex were committed. Passing through the Londons they got no further than 10 yards more before enfilade fire decimated the battalion”. It may be that John was killed in this action as dates of death during periods of such intense fighting could be inaccurate or he may have been killed in some of the counter attacks which followed on the 16th.

John was 24 years old when he was killed and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme.

Described on enlisting as 24yrs 10mths old; single; 5' 2.5" tall; 136lbs;
fresh complexion; blue eyes; light brown hair; Westlyan

30/12/1915   enlisted in Perth, WA

23/3/1916     appointed to 16th reinforcements, 16th Battalion, Bunbury, WA

31/3/1916     embarked from Fremantle, WA, onboard HMAT A9 Shropshire
                    as a Private in the 44th Battalion

24/4/1916     transferred to Cyclist Camp

18/5/1916     transferred to 4th Cyclists Corps

29/5/1916     embarked for overseas onboard HMT Britton, ex Alexandria
2/6/1916       disembarked in Plymouth, England

10/9/1916     marched out to 28th Battalion, England

30/9/1916     taken on strength 44th Battalion from 28th Battalion

Wife: Lucy Louisa Rye from 3 Burrow Road, Folkestone, England
Son: George William Arthur Francis Rye

25/11/1916   proceeded overseas to France, ex Southampton

“The 44th Battalion spent the bleak winter of 1916–17 alternating between service in the front line, and training and labouring in the rear areas. This routine was broken by only one major raid, an ill-fated effort involving almost half the battalion on 13/3/1917”. Of this action, known as “the big raid”, C.E.W. Bean, Vol. IV.

The AIF in France 1917 p.568 has this note:
"The force, 6 officers and 400 men, assembled in No-Man's Land in spite of a German searchlight playing on the area, and at midnight when the barrage fell, the troops advanced. Progress was difficult in the mud; and the borrow-pit in front of the German breastwork was so deep in water that part of the troops had to move through it holding their Lewis guns and rifles above their heads. Though bombed by the Germans, that particular party and one other entered the German trench. But the bulk of the force was still struggling in the wire and the mud and seeing that all arrangements had broken down and confusion must ensue, Lieutenant Taylor, commanding the assault, came to the bitter decision to order the troops back".

It seems probable that it was this action that resulted in George’s death.

14/3/1917     killed in action

Buried in:      Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres
                    Plot V, Row A, Grave #37

Medals:         British War medal (34500), Victory medal (34265) and
                    Memorial Plaque and Scroll (315749)

Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan.  1/7/2016.  Lest we forget.

Thank you to Mark Robson, for his information.

He had a son, George William Arthur Francis Rye born in Kent in 1917. He probably never saw him.

He was 26 and the husband of Lucy Louisa Rye [nee Baker] of 7 Burrow Road, Folkestone, Kent. They married in Kent in 1916.

He is commemorated on the Alkham War Memorial in Kent. The memorial is in the form of a granite column and can be found in the grounds of St Anthony's Church, Alkham. The memorial was unveiled and dedicated on 8th October 1919. It was repainted and the lettering was refurbished in 1981.