19537
CARTER, George James
| Service Number: | 2094 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Port Augusta, South Australia, 19 December 1890 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Davenport, South Australia, 27 October 1931, aged 40 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Port Augusta Carlton Parade Cemetery UL Section Block 92, Plot 11 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 2094, 9th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 2094, 9th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 2094, 9th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Anchises, Adelaide | |
| 2 Aug 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, 2094, 9th Light Horse Regiment |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Paul Lemar
George James CARTER was born at Port Augusta on 19.12.1890 to Thomas CARTER and Eliza Harriett SPINDLER nee TAYLOR.
George James CARTER joined the AIF on 01.12.1915 at Adelaide at the age of 25 years and was allocated service number 2094. He was posted to the 9th Lighthorse as a trooper. The 9th LH Squadron was an Adelaide raised battalion. He gave his next of kin as his mother Eliza CARTER of Port Augusta extension and his occupation as a camel driver.
Pte. CARTER embarked for Egypt with his battalion on 16.03.1916. In Egypt, he was transferred to the 3rd Double Squadron of the LH. It appears however that a lot of his time in Egypt saw him being admitted to hospital on numerous occasions with severed dysentery.
He was eventually recommended for discharge due to ongoing ill health. His file is marked that he was discharged due to ongoing dysentery and defective vision and not due to misconduct. Another file notes dysentery and defective hearing.
He was returned to Australia on 21.11.1916 and officially discharged on 08.02.1917. He was granted a military pension of 1 pound, 10 shillings per fortnight from 09.02.1917. On 16.08.1917, the pension payment was cancelled at his own request.
He was awarded both the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
The 9th Lighthorse Squadron
Following the outbreak of WW1, the 9th Light Horse Regiment was formed in Adelaide and trained in Melbourne between October 1914 and February 1915. Approximately three-quarters of the regiment hailed from South Australia and the other quarter from Victoria. As part of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, it sailed from Melbourne on 11 February and arrived in Egypt on 14 March 1915.
Light Horse were considered unsuitable for the initial operations at Gallipoli, but were subsequently deployed without their horses. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade landed in late May 1915 and was attached to the New Zealand and Australian Division. The 9th was fortunate to be the reserve regiment for the Brigade’s disastrous attack on the Nek on 7 August, but the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Albet Miel and several soldiers were killed in their reserve position. The Regiment was committed to the last phase of the August offensive battles (its sister Regiments the 8th and 10th having been decimated at the Nek), The 9th Liht Horse subsequently suffered 50 per cent casualties, including its new Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Carew Reynell, attacking Hill 60 on 27 August. Exhausted and under-strength, the 9th then played a defensive role until it finally left the peninsula on 20 December 1915.
Back in Egypt, the 3rd Light Horse Brigade became part of the ANZAC Mounted Division and, in March 1916, joined the forces defending the Suez Canal from a Turkish drive across the Sinai Desert. The Turks were turned at Romani. Although it didn’t take part in the actual battle, the 9th Light Horse was involved in the advance that followed the Turks’ retreat back across the desert.
By December 1916, this advance had reached the Palestine frontier and the 9th was involved in the fighting to secure the Turkish outposts of Maghdaba (23 December) and Rafa (9 January 1917), both of which were captured at bayonet point. The next Turkish stronghold to be encountered was Gaza. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade, now part of the Imperial Mounted Division (later re-named the Australian Mounted Division), was involved in the two abortive battles to capture Gaza directly (27 March and 19 April 1917) and then the operation that ultimately led to its fall - the wide outflanking move via Beersheba that began on 31 October.
With the fall of Gaza on 7 November 1917, the Turkish position in southern Palestine collapsed. The 9th participated in the pursuit that followed and led to the capture of Jerusalem in December. The focus of British operations then moved to the Jordan Valley.
In early May,1918 the 9th was involved in the Es Salt raid. It was a tactical failure but did help to convince the Turks that the next offensive would be launched across the Jordan. Instead, the offensive was launched along the coast on 19 September 1918. The mounted forces penetrated deep into the Turkish rear areas severing roads, railways and communications links. The 9th Light Horse took part in the capture of Jenin on 20-21 September and Sasa on 29 September. It entered Damascus on 1 October, and was on the road to Homs when the Turks surrendered on 31 October.
While awaiting to embark for home, the 9th Light Horse were called back to operational duty to quell the Egyptian revolt that erupted in March 1919; order was restored in little over a month. The regiment sailed for home on 10 July 1919.