MARPLES, George
| Service Number: | 5127 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 13th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cuckney, Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, , 1873 |
| Home Town: | Waterloo, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bricklayer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 14 August 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France., Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Municipality Of Waterloo Roll of Service No. 1, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 31 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 5127, 13th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of Victoria embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 5127, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of Victoria, Sydney |
Help us honour George Marples's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Australian Infantry, A.I.F., 13th Battalion, 16th Reinforcement. Enlistment date 3 January 1916
Births Sep 1873 Marples George Worksop 7b 43
Address
18 Elizabeth Street, Waterloo, Sydney, New South Wales.
Next of kin
Father, G Marples, Holbeck, Woodhouse, Wellbeck Worksop, England.
George Marples was born in Cuckney, the son of George and Hannah Marples née Handcock.
Cuckney is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Norton and Cuckney, in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, located between Worksop and Market Warsop. He was Christened in the hamlet of Belph near Whitwell, Derbyshire on 28 September 1873. His parents had married on 13 June 1859 and over the next 20 years produced twelve children, at least two dying in infancy. The parents lived at Warsop at the start of their marriage before moving to Whitwell and in 1874, moving to Holbeck and where Hannah Marples died in 1909. George junior became a bricklayer by trade and in 1912 at the age of 39, decided to emigrate to Australia. He sailed to Sydney on the “Ballarat” departing 11th April.
Age at death 43.
George Marples was living in Australia when war was declared. He answered the call and after joining the 13th infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, on 31 March 1916, at age 35, he embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on HAMT A16 Star of Victoria, bound for France. The voyage took 33 days and arrived at Marseilles sailing via Egypt. From here he went to the Western front and was reported missing on 14th August 1916. His father was informed and as no news was forthcoming after six months, George’s father wrote to the authorities at Carlton House on 30th January 1917, asking if there was any news of George. The letter was passed on to the Australian Red Cross Society. Confirmation of his death on the 14th August 1916 was accepted due to the following witness report:- Letter received from Hounsell H.R.;- A Coy, 13th Bn, 30 Ward, Harfield, 2/11/1916 Killed at Pozieres on Aug 14 whilst carrying me. He was shot thro’ the head when carrying me from German trench over No-man’s Land back to our own trenches. (Later report added) Being wounded myself, I am not aware if he was buried but think he was left in the German trench. On the 21st March 1917 a letter was received stating that George was officially killed in action on the date stated and concluded, “In the midst of your sorrow how proud you must be to have had such a hero for your son who so gallantly sacrificed his own life to save the life of his friend”.
In the UK he is remembered as follows:-
Welbeck Estate - Welbeck Club War Memorial The Welbeck Club is a building on the Welbeck Estate used by the estate staff as a club. There are two framed and glazed illuminated rolls of honour displayed in the club entrance showing the names of 130 men from the estate who served 'Their King and Country'. Ten names are annotated 'killed' although 19 of those on the rolls died in the war.
Welbeck Estate - Chapel War Memorial The Welbeck Club is a building on the Welbeck Estate used by the estate staff as a club. There are two framed and glazed illuminated rolls of honour displayed in the club entrance showing the names of 130 men from the estate who served 'Their King and Country'. Ten names are annotated 'killed' although 19 of those on the rolls died in the war.
Bronze memorial. At the top centre of the plaque is a seated woman with downcast head bearing a classical Greek helmet in her right hand. To her left is a kneeling female figure holding a quill pen at arm’s length. To the right is a male figure holding a branch. To the left and right of the inscription are branches with regimental badges within them. The badges are of Leicestershire, Royal Sussex, Notts and Derbys, Durham Light Infantry, Royal Army Medical Corps Machine Gun Corps, Australian Commonwealth Military Army Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, 10th Royal Hussars, Royal Artillery, Coldstream Guards, Northumberland Fusiliers, Lincolnshire and the Devonshire regiments.
Holbeck - St Winifred's Church War Memorial
The memorial is a Lectern formed by a two stepped base, square column and bronze lectern inscription in black lettering on two sides of the column . Top of the lectern in the shape of a bronze eagle. Below the eagle on the front face of the column is a bronze wreath containing the following verse ' Greater love hath no man than this'
Holbeck - St Winifred's Church
The inscription added to his brother's headstone reads "also Pte George Marples 13th Battalion A.I.F. killed in France Aug 14th 1916 age 43
Click images to start slideshow.