THOROGOOD, George Eyre
| Service Number: | 2274 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 August 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool. |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia., 22 June 1886 |
| Home Town: | Flemington, Strathfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Clerk and Telegraph Operator |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 14 May 1918, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery PLot VIII, Row F, Grave No. 2 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Haymarket Railways Traffic Branch Roll of Honour, Strathfield WWI Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2274, 17th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool. | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2274, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2274, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Sydney | |
| 14 May 1918: | Involvement Sergeant, 2274, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2274 awm_unit: 17th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1918-05-14 |
Help us honour George Eyre Thorogood's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
George Eyre THOROGOOD (Service Number 2274) was born on 22nd June 1886 at Wagga Wagga. He first worked for the NSW Railways as a telegraph messenger in the Electrical Branch at Harden. At this stage he would have been 14-years-old. Once he turned 15, he was designated a probationer. In December 1903 he relocated to Junee and progressed to be a (telegraph) operator in 1904. At the end of that year he transferred to the Traffic Branch, once again as a probationer. He then became a junior porter in the Junee District. In 1907, now aged 21 years, he was designated a porter. The next year he relocated to Narrandera as a clerk and telegraph operator. By 1910 he was classified as a coaching clerk and had moved to Wagga. In 1912 he was a clerk and telegraph operator at Wallerawang. In 1913 he was a clerk at Flemington. In 1914 he was a clerk at Darling Harbour. It was from this position that he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces on 20th July 1915.
Thorogood enlisted at Liverpool on 5th August 1915. Both his parents were dead, and he was not married. Therefore he gave his sister Mrs Minnie Taylor of the Railway Refreshment Rooms, Harden, as his next of kin. Minnie later had an address at the Commonwealth Hotel Wyalong.
George was allotted to the 4th Reinforcements to the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Argyllshire’ at Sydney on 30th September 1915. After a few months further training in Egypt he embarked at Alexandria on 17th March 1916 for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France, passing through Marseilles on 23rd March. In November 1916 he was hospitalised with scabies for a few days,. In December a more serious disease, in the form of pleurisy saw him admitted to the 5th Australian Field Ambulance, the 1st New Zealand Stationary Hospita land the 3rd Stationary Hospital He was then carried by the Hospital Ship ‘St Andrew’ to England to the 3rd London General Hospital where he was admitted with Myalgia. On 7th February 1917 he was discharged to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford and later that month received some furlough. On his return to duty he was classed as less than fit for front line service and assigned to No. 1 Command Depot at Perham Downs. He was transferred from the 17th Battalion to the 61st Draft Battalion. While he was unfit for front line duty he qualified as an assistant instructor at the Southern Command Signal School. He was promoted to Sergeant and continued with training duties in England. In February 1918 he was fit to return to France. He re-joined the 17th Battalion on 24th February.
Thorogood was killed in action on the morning of 14th May 1918 by a bullet in the head. He was buried at Sheet 62 d.N.E.J.24.c.8.2.2 (3,000 yards SW Morlancourt and 1700 NW Sailly le Sec.). A cross suitably inscribed was erected over his grave. Later, after the war in the rationalisation of cemeteries and isolated graves, Thorogood’s remains were exhumed and re-interred at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery (Australian Memorial Cemetery).
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.