STEVENSON, George Grainger
| Service Number: | 2403 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 April 1916, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 35th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, June 1883 |
| Home Town: | Newtown (NSW), Inner West, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Carpenter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 June 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2403, 35th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney. | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 2403, 35th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 2403, 35th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Sydney |
Help us honour George Grainger Stevenson'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 Stevenson was born about June 1883 in Glasgow, Scotland. He worked as a Carpenter on the Resident Engineer’s Staff for Additional Works of the Railways at Alexandria.
Stevenson enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds at Moore Park in Sydney on 3rd April 1916. He stated that he had been apprenticed as a shipwright and boat builder, though he worked as a carpenter. He had 12 months military experience in the cadets and St Georges 7th Regiment. He was married to Alice Gertrude and she was nominated as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 35th Battalion he embarked HMAT ‘Borda’ at Sydney on 17th October 1916 and reached Plymouth (England) on 9th January 1917.
At first, he was attached to the 9th Training Battalion. He hen proceeded overseas to France through Folkestone on 20th March. While passing through the 3rd Australian Division Base Depot he was charged with ‘Conduct to Prejudice of Military Order and Discipline: - Smoking on Parade’. For this offence he was punished with three days Field Punishment No. 2 and seven days confined to barracks. He was not taken on the strength of the 35th Battalion until 28th April. He was killed in action six weeks later on 7th June 1917. Pte H G Rowley (2132) reported:
‘We were at Ploegsteert on June 7th when I saw Stevenson blown to pieces by a shell just as we went over the top. I am not sure but believe he was buried in No Man’s Land as the ordinary burial ground was more than two miles back. He was about 5ft 8 red hair, over 40 years married, some children, came from Balmain near Sydney, was a carpenter.’
His burial is recorded as ‘E. of Mine Crater in German Reserve lines in a shell hole to R, 1 mile S. of Messines.’ This place was not located after the war, and Stevenson has no known grave. He is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
Pensions were awarded to his widow Alice, (£2 per fortnight), and his sons George Frederick, (£1 per fortnight) and John David (15/- per fortnight).
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.