Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Private George Hastings (Service No:QX13252) enlisted in the AIF on 12 July 1940 and embarked from Melbourne for Singapore with 2nd/26th Infantry Battalion on 30 July 1941. Private Hastings was hospitalised with Measles, and in September 1941 was hospitalised at Serangoon with fractured fingers. Reported Missing on 16 February 1942, Private Hastings was confirmed as a PoW on 30 June 1943. Recovered from the Japanese at Changi PoW Camp on 8 September 1945, Private Hastings embarked from Singapore for Brisbane on board Largs Bay on 21 September 1945 and was hospitalised prior to Discharge on 30 November 1945.

George was born in 1919 in Edinburgh Scotland, youngest of four children of James Barr Hastings (b1887 in Edinburgh, Scotalnd) and Margaret Bull (b1890 in Inverness-shire, Scotland). James (a Labourer) and Margaret married in 1909 in Eddinburgh, Scotland where they settled and raised their family. James served in the British Army for twelve years, including five years with the Highlanders in WWI (Mention in Dispatches). In 1927 James and Margaret immigrated with their family, arriving in Brisbane, QLD on board the Orvieto. The family settled in Mackay, QLD where James was a Waterside Worker and served with the ACMF (Private; Service No:Q187722) in WWII.

George worked as a House Painter in Mackay and in 1939 married Ethel Frances Paull (b1922 at Torrens Creek, QLD). Following his Discharge, George and Ethel settled in Mackay where George was a House Painter - their home was destroyed by fire in 1960. George died in 1988 and Ethel in 1991.