Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

George Arnold Giles (known as Arnold Giles) was born in Ipswich on March 15, 1920. He was the third child of Harry and Jessie Giles and grew up at Redland Bay, Queensland.
His Australian Army service number was QX53425. He served in the 29th Brigade – 5th Division Signals. Arnold went to war in World War II.
On 31st March 1941 at the age of 21, he enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF). From November 10, 1941 until May 17, 1943 he served in Australia (567 days). From May 18, 1943 until December 3, 1945 (763 days) he served overseas in the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF).
Arnold mainly served in Papua New Guinea. After completing his training near Townsville, he travelled by boat to Milne Bay PNG in July 1942. Later in January 1943 he served in Sanananda PNG. He also spent time in Bougainville and Buna PNG.
Arnold enlisted in the Army as an electrician, mechanic and driver. He spent most of his time as a signalman which involved charging batteries for the wireless operators. Each battalion sent morse code messages to each other. Each operator had to be able to send 15 words per minute in morse code.Arnold recalled that one of his army friends could do 60 words per minute.
He served for over 4 years in miserable conditions at times. He demonstrated great bravery and courage to endure such conditions. His best mate, Jack Groves, was a lifelong friend since their time together in New Guinea.
Arnold married Beverley Anne Ower on January 30th, 1960. They had four children Trevor (1960), Jenny (1962), Narelle (1970) and Pam (1971). Arnold passed away on July 20th, 2012 at the age of 92.