Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

George William Bonsall was born July 3rd, 1897. He lived in Beecroft Peninsula, Shoalhaven Shire, New South Wales where he would then attend Sydney Technical High School in 1911(1). He worked as a clerk when he had enlisted as a private in the military.(2) He was known for his caring nature and was highly regarded by people in both his primary and Sydney Tech. His Primary School records show that he had been very helpful and cooperative, contributing to his schools’ fete raising money for the Belgian fund. Before attending Sydney Technical High School in 1911, his father, Samuel Bonsall, had sadly passed away(3).While at Sydney Tech he had enjoyed engineering. (4). He left high school school in 1915. 

Bonsall enlisted on the 4th June 1918. Records show that he embarked on 17th July 1918 (5) as a private, in the 12th reinforcement from New bound for the UK. His enlistment papers show that George William was a healthy man, at 5 foot 4 120 pounds and had his inoculation from any disease on the 1st of July 1918.

Bonsall left Australia on 17the July 1918 arriving in England two months later in September. He completed training at Fovant in England. After the war ended he proceeded to France from Southhampton in January 1919 to assist with the clean-up. 

After World War One, George Bonsall married Ethel D Marshall, in 1930 at New South Wales. His hobbies and employment weren’t stated anywhere in the records, although he had enjoyed engineering in his time at Sydney Tech so we can assume that he had taken on an engineering pathway. He passed at the age of 66 on the 23rd of July 1967.

References 

(1)Virtual War memories

(2)National archives of australia record search

(3)George William Bonsall google drive school fete

(4)National archives of australia record search

(5)National archives of australia record search pdf file

(6)Australian War Memorial 

(7)George William Bonsall Google drive, google doc 

Bibliography 

Ken Stevenson, Research on Google Drive 

WW1 Honour board on google drive 

https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au/private-george-william-bonsall  

https://austcemindex.com/inscription?id=15819040  

https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/281486  

https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=26814  

file:///C:/Users/61450/Downloads/NAA_ItemNumber3098495%20(5).pdf   

George Bonsall was born on the 3rd of July 1897 and lived his adolescent life in Beecroft, located in Northern Sydney, with his mother, Euphemia Bonsall and Father, Samuel Bonsall (1). During his time there he completed both his primary and secondary school education (8). During this time he received praise from both peers and teachers regarding his caring and considerate personality (4). Records from Bonsall’s primary school also show his philanthropic side as seen by his aid in a school fundraiser, for the Belgian fund (4). After graduating primary school in 1911, he enrolled into Sydney Technical High school (STHS). His father had passed that same year (5). At Tech, he was shown to be a smart student and was consistently in the top 10 of his classes with English and engineering being his highest performing subjects (1). He graduated from STHS in 1915 (1), and worked as a Clerk prior to enlistment.

Three years following his graduation from STHS he enlisted for the Australian Military Force on the 8th of May 1918, and was accepted as a private of the 18th battalion (2).He received his inoculation on the 1st of July 1918 and deployed for training later that month at Fovant England on the 17th of July 1918 (2). After completing several months of training, he was deployed to Southampton to be sent to Montbrehain, France as a part of the 12th reinforcement. Although, once Bonsall had arrived at Montbrehain in January 1919, the war had already concluded. This led to Bonsall being a part of the post conflict restoration effort, not active combat, and would remain for many months, till he was eventually sent back to Australia on the 28th of November 1919 without any injuries as shown by a testament on his medical report that reads, “I am not suffering from any disability due to or aggravated by war service, and feel fit and well” (2).

Proceeding the war, Bonsall had returned to Australia to his home town  where he would spend the next few years of his life. During his time there, he participated in local baseball games as a representative of his local team (4) and was an active member of his local community. He had also submitted complaints to his local newspaper advocating for the refurbishment of the roads in the local Beecroft area (4), showing his care for his local community. After this he moved to the suburb of Lane Cove where he found employment as a store clerk (8). During this time he had also married to Ethel.D.Marshall with whom he remained with till he passed. The two did not have any known children either and Bonsall presumably remained in Lane Cove till he passed on the 27th of June 1967 at Lane Cove (8).

Bibliography: 

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/86106885

https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=26814

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx

Endnotes/evidence

(2)National Australian Archive (George William 1-22)
https://www.naa.gov.au/
(3)Australian Imperial Force project
https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=26814
(4)Trove Archive (Belgian fund) (George William Bonsall) 
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/86106885
(5)Australian cemeteries index
(6)Virtual Australian war memorial (George William Bonsall/Sydney tech biography)
https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/281486

(7)National Australian Archive search index (George William Bonsall)
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx