Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Written and submitted by Peter Cates

George Mann was born on Dumbarton Road in Glasgow on 2nd June 1924 and immigrated to Australia when he was 2, settling in the Birkenhead area. George attended Le Fevre Primary School, leaving school at the end of Grade 7 to start work at Globe Timber Mills as an office boy. That year was a memorable Christmas as he was given a bike to ride to work. Following his time at the timber mill, he worked at the Holden factory for a short time before joining the Police Cadets in 1940, at the age of 16. He said this career move was suggested by his father, who thought he had more chance of staying on the right side of the law with this job.

With Japan’s entry into the war, he was keen to join up, so on the 7th of May 1942, at the age of 17 years and 11 months he enlisted in the Army, putting his age up by 4 years. If you check the Army records you will still see his year of birth recorded as 1920. After initial training, George spent a short time with a Machine Gun Battalion, then the Paratroopers, before finally being posted to the 2/8 Commando Squadron with further training at Wilsons Promontory. The unit was originally to be posted to Timor, but the loss of the island to the Japanese resulted in them spending an extended period in Adelaide River and Darwin where they patrolled and retrieved downed pilots. At one stage his unit went on strike due to their frustration over not being mobilised overseas.

In 1944 George’s Commando Squadron was sent to Lae in PNG, with George taking part in a reconnaissance party to Jacquinot Bay in New Britain. In late 1944, George’s unit was sent to Bougainville where they spent the last 9 months of the war literally in the front line without a break. George spent his time forward performing section-level reconnaissance and fighting patrols. On one of the many long patrols into the jungle he realised it was his 21st birthday. His loathing for rice and fear of dark forests continued throughout his life.
After VJ day, George was sent to Rabaul where he was offered two stripes to go to Japan as part of the Occupation Force; he declined and was finally demobbed from the Army at the age of 22 in July 1946– 11 months after the end of the war.
Returning home, it wasn’t long before he met a girl by the name of Lorraine who was a cashier at the Adelaide Railway Station; he recalled “I chased her and she caught me”. After a whirlwind romance, George and Lorraine were married in November of that year – 3 months after they had met with the supposedly dry wedding followed by a short 2 night honeymoon at Henley Beach South.
George re-joined the Police Force and was stationed in Hindley Street. He recalled spending nights huddled in bus shelters shaking from the effects of ongoing bouts of malaria. George and Lorraine bought a new Housing Trust home in Brighton in 1948, using his accumulated pay as part of the deposit. The Brighton RSL became a home away from home for George where he was a member of the committee and worked behind the bar.
The Police Force wasn’t the place for George, so in 1952 he joined ETSA as a linesman, where he felt more at home working with other returned servicemen. ETSA seemed to have been somewhat of a refuge for him. It seems the 50’s was a particularly unsettled time with many changes in job and home, with the effects of his wartime experiences coming home to roost.
The late 50’s and 60’s also brought the entrepreneur out in George with a number of shops including Marryatville, Mitcham and Dulwich. In 1969, George had a short stint managing Coles fruit and veg department until he realised their quality wasn’t up to his standard. It was back to running his own shop, this time at Henley Beach South which he ran very successfully until 1974. At the age of 50 it was time for a slower pace in life, with a job at John Martin’s as a packer. Although he felt out of place, he found a niche and stayed there until retiring in 1984. Retirement soon brought another move. In 1986, George and Lorraine moved to George’s dream home at Port Noarlunga South.
George passed away peacefully at the age of 97 on 4 February, 2022