TRAVERS, George Maurice
| Service Numbers: | Commissioned Officer, Q63766 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 January 1916, Brisbane - 8th Reinforcements |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | Australian Army Ordnance Corps |
| Born: | Lovington Somerset, United Kingdom, 18 January 1881 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Illness, New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia, 26 October 1946, aged 65 years |
| Cemetery: |
Tamworth General Cemetery, New South Wales C. of E. Plot. Sec. B. Row 22. Grave 3., Tamworth General Cemetery, Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Brisbane St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Great War Honour Roll (2) |
Biography contributed by Steve Larkins
His date of birth is recorded per WW1 records as 18 January 1881 and in WW2 records as 18 January 1892.
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
His birth was registered as Maurice George Travers.
Births Mar 1881 TRAVERS Maurice George Shepton M. 5c 510
Shepton Mallet includes the parish of Lovington. Lovington is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 3 miles south west of Castle Cary, between the River Brue and River Cary, in the South Somerset district.
His date of emigration to Australia is at this time unknown.
His wife’s name was Kitty. who claimed in correspondence after his death that he had served in the Boer War and with the South Africa Police (not yet substantiated)
In WWI he was enlsited initially as a Private on 1.1.1916, at which point it appears he was identified for officer training through which he progressed (still in Australia) to Corporal from 1.4.1916, then Sergeant from 8.4.
1916, finally being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant from 1.11.1916, whereupon he was assigned to the 8th Reinforcements, 52nd Battalion with whom he emabrked.
He rendered distingusihed service initially in the 52nd Battalion at the Second Battle of Passchendaele, for which he was recommended (but not awarded ) the Military Cross. Subsequently in the 49th Battalion, during the German Spring Offensvie of 1918, he was recommended and awarded the Military Cross for his actions during the defence and subsequent counter attack at Dernancourt in ferocious fighting (see the campiagn entry for this battle). Both the 52nd and 49th Battalions were in the 13th Brigade of the 4th Division., which just three weeks after Dernancourt, was part of the night counter-attack which re-captured the village of Villers Bretonneux and halted the German advance on Amiens 24/5 April.
George retuned home late in 1919.
In WWII, he was living in Gunnedah in northern New South Wales although he enlisted in Queensland. He eventualy held the rank of Acting Corporal, in an Ordnance Depot but his health began to fail him and he was discharged in 1943 medically unfit. Service Number Q63766,
He died aged 66 in 1946
He was accepted, after research, for commemoration as war dead on 27/09/2011.
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