LAYCOCK, George Allen
| Service Number: | 2429 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 July 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 59th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Devonport, Tasmania, Australia, 2 September 1887 |
| Home Town: | Mansfield, Mansfield, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Draper |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 26 April 1918, aged 30 years |
| Cemetery: |
Vignacourt British Cemetery, Picardie Plot I, Row F, Grave No. 20. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Mansfield War Memorial Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Jul 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2429, 59th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2429, 59th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 2429, 59th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Shropshire, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
George Laycock was born in Devonport, Tasmania. He moved to Mansfield, Victoria in about 1911. His younger brother, 1844 Pte. William Gordon Laycock 12th Battalion AIF had died of wounds in Egypt on 16 October 1915, aged 18. They were the sons of Joseph and Annie Laycock of Devonport, Tasmania.
The father died in Devonport during 1912 and their widowed mother shifted to Prahran, Victoria during the war.
George was a draper in Devonport and moved to Mansfield where he was working for Mr. Williams.
George Allen Laycock was mortally wounded during fighting at Villers-Bretonneux on Anzac Day 1918. He was struck in the neck and chest by sniper or machine gun fire during the advance and soon after died of his wounds at a clearing station.
George married during 1916, but strangely he put his mother, Annie Laycock, as his next of kin. His wife, Mary Bridget McMahon Laycock would later receive all of his medals.
Another brother, an original Anzac, 37 Pte. Joseph Harold Laycock 12th Battalion AIF, returned to Australia 23 September 1918.
The Launceston Daily Telegraph reported in May 1918, “Word has been received by Mrs. Joseph Laycock of Devonport, that her eldest son, Private George Laycock, has died of wounds received in France. He enlisted in Victoria, but served his time in the drapery establishment of Messrs. McKay, Sampson, and McKinlay; and was much liked. A second son William had already made the supreme sacrifice, while a third, Harold (Till), is also serving the Empire, and numerous cousins at the front also testify to the family's loyalty.”
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