WETZEL, George Thomas
| Service Number: | 669 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 September 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 12th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, 18 March 1890 |
| Home Town: | Renmark, Renmark Paringa, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Builder's Labourer |
| Died: | Drowned, Renmark, South Australia, Australia, 6 February 1926, aged 35 years |
| Cemetery: |
Renmark Old Cemetery, South Australia Section C, Plot 88 |
| Memorials: | Glandore State Wards & Orphans Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 669, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Sep 1914: | Involvement Private, 669, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Sep 1914: | Embarked Private, 669, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Melbourne | |
| 4 Nov 1915: | Discharged AIF WW1, 669, 12th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour George Thomas Wetzel's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Paul Lemar
George was born on the 18th of March 1890 in Toowoomba, Queensland to George Valentine WETZEL and Catherine nee McKAY.
He had seven siblings.
Sadly, George, then of Gepps Cross, drowned in the Murray River at Renmark on the 6th of February 1926.
Military
George WETZEL enlisted in the AIF on 3 September 1914 at Morphettville and attached to the 12th Battalion. He gave his next of kin as his wife Mrs. G.F. WETZEL of 215 Franklin St, Adelaide.
He embarked at Melbourne on 17 September with the 12th Battalion and disembarked in Egypt. He landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. The 3rd Brigade was the covering force for the ANZAC landing on 25 April 1915 and so was the first ashore at around 4:30am. Lieutenant Colonel L. F. CLARKE, commander of the 12th Battalion, was killed by a sniper within hours of the landing. The battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the front line of the ANZAC position, and in August contributed two companies to the attack on Lone Pine. It was the only battalion in the brigade to do so. The 12th served at ANZAC until the evacuation in December.
On 1 June, he was evacuated to Malta with strained eyes. According to Cpl WETZEL’s medical report, it was due to a shell explosion but his record does not say he was ‘Wounded in Action’. He was invalided to Australia with myopia, which is near sightedness. There is a note on his file that on 6 June 1915, he was wounded and transferred to Malta.
Cpl. WETZEL was invalided to Australia, disembarking at Melbourne on 4 October 1915 and discharged as permanently medically unfit from the AIF in Adelaide on 4 November 1915. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
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