GEAL, George
| Service Number: | 2168 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 59th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Preston, Victoria, Australia, 1895 |
| Home Town: | Nunawading, Whitehorse, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Vermont State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Pottery worker |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 2 June 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
Etretat Churchyard Extension Plot II, Row D, Grave No. 16, Etretat Churchyard Extension, Etretat, Le Havre, Haute-Normandie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Blackburn Memorial, Box Hill (Shire of Nunawading) War Memorial, Mitcham War Memorial, Shire of Nunawading Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 58th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2168, 58th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 2168, 58th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 2168, 58th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Orsova, Melbourne | |
| 2 Jun 1918: | Involvement Private, 2168, 59th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2168 awm_unit: 59th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-06-02 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
George Geal was the younger brother of 4821 Private Albert Geal 59th Battalion AIF, who was killed in action at Fromelles on 19 July 1916.
The Geal family lived in Springvale Road, Tunstall (listed as Tunstall Pottery) when the brothers enlisted, an area now known as Nunawading. Their father managed the pottery.
He embarked with the 58th Battalion and was coincidentally transferred to the 59th where his elder brother had served.
George Geal was wounded in chest and right calf in March, 1917 and was re-classified to light duties in England (running up an impressive list of minor offences along the way) and did not return to France until January, 1918.
He was wounded in the left thigh (resulting in a fractured femur) and hand on Anzac Day, 25 April 1918 and was admitted to the 1st American (Presbyterian USA) General Hospital at Etretat, France where he died around five weeks later.