KING, George
| Service Numbers: | 601, 602 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 March 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom, 14 April 1893 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Shunter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 26 July 1916, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 601, 20th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool. | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 601, 20th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 601, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Sydney | |
| 5 May 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 602, 20th Infantry Battalion, Gunshot wound to the eye. Treated on No. 17 Ambulance Train and the 26th General Hospital at Etaples. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
George KING (Service Number 601) was born on 14th April 1893 at Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom. He commenced work with the NSW Government Railways on 9th May 1913 as a temporary junior porter in the Traffic Branch in the Sydney District. In August he became permanent and on 14th April 1914, his 21st birthday, he became a porter. A few days later he became a 3rd class shunter.
He was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces on 17th March 1915 and enlisted at Liverpool two days later. He gave his calling as shunter. He was unmarried and nominated his father Alfred, still living in Norwich as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion and left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Berrima’ on 2nd June 1915. After a short time in Egypt he proceeded to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 16th August. In November he was admitted to the 5th Field Ambulance with Jaundice, and from there transferred to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station and then to the Hospital Ship ‘Maheno’, and to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital at Heliopolis, Egypt. As he recovered, he was transferred to the New Zealand and Australian Convalescent Depot at Helouan (Egypt).
By the time he was fit the Gallipoli Campaign was over. He did not re-join his unit, the 20th Battalion until they had left the Dardanelles and reached Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt, on 10th January 1916. Here he was disciplined for being Absent Without Leave and for this received three days Field Punishment No. 2.
On 18th March 1916 he embarked from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Forces in France. He passed through Marseilles on 25th March. He was wounded with a gunshot to his eye on 5th May. This was treated on the No. 17 Ambulance Train and then the 26th General Hospital at Etaples. He re-joined his battalion on 1st June. He was admitted to the 7th Field Ambulance only eight days later with ‘Septic Adonis’, and then transferred to the 2nd Australian Division Rest Station. He rejoined the Battalion on 20th June 1916.
He was killed in action in France on 26th July 1916.
He has no known grave and is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Picardie, France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.