Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Life Before World War I - George Henry Cox, son of Henry Bartlett and Amy Cox, resided in 205 New Southhead Road, Darling Point, New South Wales, and was a single, 19 years and 10-month-old carter (driver of horse-drawn vehicles for transporting goods) when he enlisted on July 18th, 1915 in Liverpool, New South Wales [1]. He was born circa September 1896 and as an underage candidate (under 21), a letter of certification of enlistment, signed by George's parents was required [1]. Following successful enlistment into the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF), George was assigned to the 1st Light Horse Regiment as a Driver, equivalent to the rank of private, and was designated the service number 1309 [1]. The rank was initially used in the Royal Artillery for the men who drove the teams of horses which pulled weaponry and armaments.

George was a short man for the times - when the average height was about 5'8" tall or 172 centimetres, George stood at slightly above 5'5" or 165 centimetres and weighed in at 136 pounds or 61.7 kilograms and had a dark complexion, green eyes and black hair [1]. As British natural born subject in Australia, George and his family were parishioners of the Church of England [1].

Life in Service - George embarked three months later from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A4 Pera on 12 October 1915, and integrated with the 1st Light Horse Regiment in Heliopolis, Cairo [1]. Merely two and a half months after his initial arrival, on 6 February 1916, he contracted Enteritis, the inflammation of the intestine and was discharged from his unit the following day [1]. After achieving a prompt recovery, George was taken on strength to the 1st Light Horse Regiment Reserves and on 17 March 1916 was transferred to the 15th Artillery [1]. The following day, he was taken on strength and posted to the 5th Brigade Ammunition Column in Moascar, Egypt [1]. Artillery inflicted the most casualties and battle space damage and instilled the most fear among opposing forces [2]. Each Division had an Ammunition Column to keep ammunition up to the guns by moving it from storage up to the Front [2]. It was a mammoth task involving motor and horse drawn transport, heavy and light rail and tramways [2]. 

After 12 days in the barren, unbearable deserts of Moascar, Egypt, George was mustered to the Western Front in France and transferred to the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column in continuation of the war on 13 May 1916 [1]. Ammunition dumps and transport near the Front Line were high priority targets of the enemy's guns, and later, aircraft. Remaining in the psychologically and physically demanding role of artillery support, George was taken on strength and posted to the 15th Australian Field Battery [1]. He remained on the Western Front with the Field Battery until the 6 December 1916 when he contracted Trench Feet in Étretat, France [1]. Trench Foot is a condition caused by prolonged exposure to damp, cold, unsanitary conditions.  The foot becomes numb, changes colour, swells and starts to smell due to damage to the skin, blood vessels and nerves in the feet. It can take three to six months to fully recover and prompt treatment is essential to prevent gangrene and possible foot amputation. The severity of the condition incapacitated George from actively serving and was therefore transported to Havre and deported to England where he was admitted to the 1st London General Hospital [1].

Succeeding in a recovery spanning over two months, George was granted well-deserved furlough (leave) from 13 February until 28 February 1917 and was then immediately reposted to Perham Downs Overseas Training Brigade Camp [1]. After merely five days, he was swiftly relocated to Weymouth Training Camp, Dorset for a further two months. Weymouth was the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) Command Depot No.2 which accommodated those men not expected to be fit for duty within six months. Throughout the course of George's encampment in Weymouth, he committed a Driver offence, Absent Without Leave (AWL) from noon until 11:45am on 21 April 1917 [1]. He was awarded two days of Field Punishment No.2 (heavy labouring duties) by Lieutenant Colonel C. R. Davies and following a trial, was sentenced with forfeiture of eight day's pay [1].

On 30 May 1917, George was marched to Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire where he remained for 19 days [1]. Larkhill Camp was designated as the School of Instruction for Royal Horse and Field Artillery [1]. Towards the end of the war, it had a population of approximately 20,000 soldiers as it contained 34 camps each training a battalion of 600-800 men. Larkhill received large contingents of soldiers from Australia and Canada for training before being sent to France.

On 19 June 1917, it was finally time George re-joined the war effort on the Western Front [1]. As a part of the Reserve Brigade of the Australian Artillery, he proceeded overseas to Riaille, France from Southampton, England [1]. Following a successful arrival, in Riaille, he continued to Orbey and returned to the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column in the field [1]. George remained with the Ammunition Column until 8 September 1917 when he was transferred to the 2nd Divisional Signal Company [1]. The Company was tasked with providing communications from the Headquarters to those of subordinate formations [2]. Field Communications in 1915-18 would be by a combination of field telephone (requiring the laying of line) and limited radio towards the end of WW1 [2]. 

Nearing the finale of the "Great War", George was granted leave in Belgium on 21 February and re-joined the 2nd Divisional Signal Company on 9 March 1918 [1]. He was neither the victim of illness nor fatality prior to the cessation of hostilities on 11 November 1918 however, was required to remain in the craterous, marsh covering the formerly beautiful plains of cultural France [3]. 15 May 1919 was the date of George's long-awaited return to Australia and his discharge from service followed on 29 August 1919 [3]. His service spanned four years, one month and 11 days; 1503 days and was awarded the 1914/1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal [3].

ANZAC Spirit - ANZAC is the acronym formed from the initial letters of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This was the formation in which Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Egypt were grouped before the landing on Gallipoli in April 1915. Anzac came to stand for the qualities which Australians have seen their forces show in war. These qualities collectively make up the Anzac spirit and include endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour, and mateship. The Anzac spirit is a concept which suggests that Australian and New Zealand soldiers possess shared characteristics, specifically the qualities those soldiers allegedly exemplified on the battlefields of World War I.

During the 1503 days of George Henry Cox’s service, he displayed immense persistence, perseverance, endurance and strength to overcome a severe condition of Trench Feet and Enteritis (the inflammation of the intestine). He was plagued by fever, queasiness, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and pain from Enteritis and swelling, numbness, numerous blisters forming and the death of skin and tissue of the feet from Trench Feet. After over three months of hospitalization and constant pain, George re-joined the war effort and was only discharged due to the cessation of hostilities, the end of the war. In Australia, enlisting for the army was not compulsory as there was no conscription. Therefore, George showed the ANZAC spirit in enlisting for the army in the early stages as well as being underage (19). Many Australians didn’t enrol into the army until the latter years (1916-1917).

[1] https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au

[2] https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au

[3] https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au  

Bibliography

Aif.adfa.edu.au. (2018). Details. [online] Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=65163 [Accessed 25 Mar. 2018].

AWM Media Collection. (2018). [online] Available at: https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1067089/large/5367515.JPG [Accessed 25 Mar. 2018].

National Archives of Australia. (2018). National Archives of Australia. [online] Available at: http://naa.gov.au/ [Accessed 25 Mar. 2018].

Rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au. (2018). George Henry COX. [online] Available at: https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/377543 [Accessed 25 Mar. 2018].