DOYLE, George Henry
| Service Number: | 2587 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 June 1915, Liverpool, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Salisbury Plains, New South Wales, Australia, 10 February 1889 |
| Home Town: | Manilla, Tamworth Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Rockvale Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 23 August 1918, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
Heath Cemetery, Picardie Plot III, Row I, Grave No. 17, Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, Picardie, France, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2587, Liverpool, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2587, 3rd Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Aug 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2587, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2587, 3rd Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Aug 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2587, 3rd Infantry Battalion, "The Last Hundred Days" |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Private George Henry Doyle enlisted in the AIF on 14 June 1915, aged 27. He joined the 3rd Battalion and sailed for Egypt, and on 2 November 1915 he landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, being wounded less than 3 weeks later. Doyle was evacuated by Hospital Ship and for most of the following year received treatment for his severe shrapnel wounds to his thigh and hip at a number of hospitals in Egypt and England.
George wrote a letter home to his parents which was published in the Manilla Express, 8 March 1916,
‘I was at the front three weeks, but a shell from the Turks landed me in the hospital at Heliopolis, where I am at present. I got five wounds but only slight. Four of them are pretty well healed up now. The other one is on the right hip. It is a bit deep, but will soon be alright also. I will soon be about again and back at the front with the boys. It was unlucky for me to be hit at all.
It is not so dull in the trenches as you might imagine. We knocked up some fun there sometimes. When things got quiet, we generally had a game of cards amongst us. There was one little thing that happened in the trenches one day that made me a bit wild. The day was a bit cold and dinner was just served in the trenches. We had some lovely stew and it was nice and hot too, which is not too bad on a cold day. I was just about to commence operations on my pot of stew when a shell burst on top of the trench just over where I was sitting, and filled my stew with dirt, so I had to go without, and do on biscuits and bully beef. It makes a man wild to lose his stew when he's hungry….’
It took over 12 months of treatment before he rejoined his unit on the Western Front in January 1917. Doyle was again wounded in May during fighting in the Second Battle of Bullecourt. After several months recovering in England, he rejoined his battalion in France in November. On 20 June 1918 he was wounded for the third time, receiving a gunshot wound to the neck. After time in hospital, he rejoined his unit in early August 1918. Three weeks later Doyle was killed in action on 23 August 1918 on the south side of the River Somme. He was buried at Merignolles British Cemetery near Proyart along with 20 other Australians killed on this day, and was later reinterred at Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres. Doyle's younger brother, 869 Private John Thomas Doyle, served with 30th Battalion and was killed on 20 July 1916 during the Battle of Fromelles.
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