PARKINSON, George Wilton
| Service Number: | 2184 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 April 1915, Northam, WA |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Nhill, Victoria, Australia, 1891 |
| Home Town: | Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Memorials: | Clunes Soldiers Pictorial Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2184, 11th Infantry Battalion, Northam, WA | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 2184, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 6 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 2184, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Fremantle | |
| 7 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2184, 11th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 10 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, I ANZAC Corps Headquarters, France (attached as escort to General Birdwood until 31 January 1918). | |
| 31 Jan 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 11th Infantry Battalion, France | |
| 15 Apr 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2184, 11th Infantry Battalion, German Spring Offensive 1918, Hazebrouck | |
| 9 Aug 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2184, 11th Infantry Battalion, The Battle of Amiens | |
| 23 Aug 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2184, 11th Infantry Battalion, "The Last Hundred Days", GSW to neck sustained during the 1st Division assault on Chuignes. Evacuated to UK. | |
| 13 Apr 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2184, 11th Infantry Battalion, RTA 24 December 1918 and discharged as MU (wounds). |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
George Wilton Parkinson enlisted in the AIF at Northam, WA on 13 April 1915, aged almost 24. He embarked overseas on 6 June and was only in Egypt for a short time as he departed for Gallipoli on 31 July and was taken on strength of the 11th Battalion on 7 August 1915.
He returned from Gallipoli on 6 January 1916. The battalion left Egypt on 29 March and arrived in Marseilles on 5 April 1916.
On 10 April 1916, Pte Parkinson left the battalion and was attached as an escort to the commanding officer of I ANZAC Corps, Lieutenant General Sir William Birdwood. He remained in this role until 31 January 1918 when he transferred back to the 11th Battalion.
He saw action at Hazebrouck in northern France in April 1918 during the German Spring Offensive, and then again on 9 August 1918 on the Somme during the allied offensive of that month. A fortnight later, during the 1st Division assault on the village of Chuignes on 23 August 1918, he sustained a gunshot wound to the neck and was evacuated to hospital in England.
He never fully recovered and on 24 December 1918 he embarked for Australia. He landed back in Fremantle on 1 February 1919, where he was medically discharged from the AIF on 13 April 1919.
Source: Extract from "Clunes Soldiers Memorial Panel" by Robert Wight, June 2022.
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