Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

George Baron Bockelberg was born in Streaky Bay, South Australia and worked as a farmer. His work as a farmer involved a fair amount of physical fitness and endurance. George was the third son of his parents Baron Fedor Emmanuel Louis Carl Bockelberg and Charlotte Von Bockelberg. He had four other siblings, Fedora Bockelberg, Olga Fedora Gill, who did not participate in the war, while Trooper Felix Baron Bockelberg and Lieutenant Alexis Baron Bockelberg fought in World War I as well. His father, Baron, was his nominated next of kin.

George enlisted to join the war at 23 years and 10 months of age on the 11th of September 1914. His date of enlistment was also the same day as his older brother Felix.

After George’s enlistment in September, he trained with the 9th Light Horse in Adelaide from September until October and later moved to do his main training in Melbourne from October until February. Then on the 12th of February 1915, he embarked from Australia on the HMAT Armadale and arrived in Egypt for even more further training. The training in the 9th Light Horse would have involved mounted infantry tactics as well as care and maintenance for horses.

He arrived at Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli, during the early months of the campaign as part of the Allied efforts to seize control of the Dardanelles and knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war. Like many other soldiers enduring the brutal trench warfare and unsanitary conditions, George was diagnosed with bronchitis and was evacuated to Lemnos, then Clacton in England by June 1915. In October, he became ill from enteric fever as well.

After a long recovery, George returned to service in Egypt by mid-1916 and transferred into the 23rd Artillery Brigade. Throughout that year, he steadily advanced and moved up ranks, earning promotions to Corporal, then Temporary Sergeant, and finally full Sergeant by the end of 1916. He embarked for the Western Front on the 31st December 1916, where trench warfare had reached an industrial scale, then joined the 10th Field Artillery Brigade on 9th of March 1917.

His first main engagement on the Western Front was during the Battle of Arras, launched by British and Allied forces on the 9th of April 1917. The aim of this battle was to break through heavily fortified German lines along the Western Front. While at the start gains were made, especially at Vimy Ridge, the offensive was bogged down as German resistance stiffened. On the 13th of April 1917, he was severely wounded by gunshot wounds to the face and left hand. He was evacuated through the 49th Casualty Clearing Station and transferred through several different hospitals, eventually returning to England to recover at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley, and later the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford.

Only a few months later, George returned to France on the 2nd of July 1917, rejoining his unit just in time for another main battle: Passchendaele. The initial phase, known as the Battle of Pilckem Ridge began with a massive artillery bombardment followed by infantry advance through waterlogged ground churned by relentless shelling. Through this dangerous fight, he was wounded once again, suffering a gunshot wound to the left buttock. He was treated at a field ambulance station but was back with his unit quickly by the 3rd of August 1917.

As Passchendaele continued into September, the battlefield became a horrifying landscape of mud and unrelenting artillery. On the 16th of September 1917, George was wounded for the third time, taking a gunshot wound to the face, likely amongst continued artillery duels and German counter-fire during efforts to push towards the ridge. He was evacuated through the medical chain at Wimereux and further treated in Boulogne.

Despite getting injured so many times, George Baron Bockelberg returned to service once more in late 1917. On the 28th of November, he rejoined the 10th Field Artillery Brigade and was taken on strength with the 39th Battery. Remarkably, he was still deemed fit enough for front-line action after all he had endured. However, ongoing effects from his previous wounds may have led to his placement on the supernumerary list by the 2nd of February 1918, which meant he was held in reserve and no longer part of active duty.

Eventually, George was reassigned for Submarine Guard Duty which likely involved coastal security or convoy escort assignments as the threat for German U-boats were around during final months of war. He returned to Australia in 1918 for family reasons, closing an outstanding military career. Throughout many campaigns, George Baron Bockelberg demonstrated outstanding persistence, bravery and courage, facing horrible conditions of World War I. His service reflects not only personal bravery but also the endurance of the ANZAC spirit.

George Baron Bockelberg had a total of 4 years and 84 days of service with 3 years and 281 days of those days abroad.

George later married to Margeurite Eva Bockelberg (previously Longson) in 1921 and had two sons. The eldest, Edward George Bockelberg, and the younger Felix Colin Bockelberg who was named after George’s brother Felix, who unfortunately passed away in battle during WWI. George later enlisted in WWII in 1942, where he served for 4 years as a corporal with service numbers S38201 and S86449.

In 1956, he became involved with politics and was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly as the Liberal and Country League member for the electoral district of Eyre. He served diligently until retiring in 1968. His contributions to the region were acknowledged greatly in 1971 when the Hundred of Bockelberg, a cadastral unit on the Eyre of Peninsula was named in his honour.

On the 10th of October he passed away in Tusmore, South Australia of unknown causes. He was then buried in Poochera Cemetery, District Council of Streaky Bay, South Australia.

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