WALKER, George Edward
| Service Number: | 119 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 21st Machine Gun Company |
| Born: | Skipton, North Yorkshire, 1885 |
| Home Town: | Boulia, Boulia, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Wesleyan Higher Grade School, Skipton, England |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Delville Wood, Belgium, 21 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL Addenda Panel 58., Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 119, 31st Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 119, 31st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Melbourne | |
| 21 Sep 1917: | Involvement Private, 119, 21st Machine Gun Company , Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 119 awm_unit: 21st Australian Machine Gun Company awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-09-21 |
Help us honour George Edward Walker's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
21st Company Australian Machine Gun Corps
He was 32 and the son of George and Mary Walker, of 3, Water Street, Skipton, Yorkshire, England.
Births Dec 1885 Walker George Edward Skipton 9a 44
He is remembered on the Skipton War Memorial in North Yorkshire, England.
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was educated at Wesleyan Higher Grade School, Skipton, England
The headmaster here was the father of Private Horace Walker, Service Number 2038, 3rd Bn. Australian Infantry, A.I.F. who is also remembered on the Skipton War Memorial having been killed in action at Gallipoli between 07/08/1915 and 12/08/1915.
Age on arrival in Australia-21
Next of kin-Father, S. Walker, 5 Wadir Street, Skipton, Yorkshire, England [sic] –his father was George of 3, Water Street, Skipton.
Previous military service
Served in the 6th Bn. West Riding Volunteer Regiment, for a short time.
Enlistment date-17 July 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll-16 July 1915
Rank on enlistment Private
31st Battalion, Machine Gun Section
AWM Embarkation Roll number 23/48/1
Age at embarkation-28
Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on 9 November 1915.
War service: Egypt, Western Front
The Machine Gun Section of 31st Bn left from Melbourne on two ships, HMAT A62 'Wandilla', embarking on 9 November 1915, and HMAT A41 'Bakara', embarking on 5 November 1915. From the Embarkation Rolls it is not possible to distinguish on which ship an individual sailed.
Rank from Nominal Roll-Corporal
Unit from Nominal Roll
1st Machine Gun Company
Other details from Roll of Honour Circular
'He was severely wounded in France in 1916 by a bullet in the chest which would have been fatal but for his having a metal cigarette case which turned the bullet which ripped open his Crest. He was wounded in the foot in Egypt and Gallipoli prior to that.' (details from parents) [Note: there is no reference in his personal dossier to having been wounded in Egypt and/or in Gallipoli; given the date of arrival in Egypt, 7 December 1915, it is unlikely that he served at Gallipoli.]
Disembarked Suez, 7 December 1915. Transferred to 8th Brigade Machine Gun Company, Tel el Kebir, 9 March 1916. Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 16 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 23 June 1916.
Wounded in action, France, 20 July 1916 (gun shot wound, abdomen); admitted to 13th General Hospital, Boulogne, 21 July 1916. Transferred to England, 21 July 1916, and admitted to County of London War Hospital, Epsom, 23 July 1916 (wound: slight). Marched in to No. 1 Command Depot, Perham Downs, 13 September 1917. Marched in to Machine Gun Training Depot, Grantham, 23 November 1916.
Promoted Corporal, 1 March 1917. Proceeded overseas to France, 17 March 1917. Admitted to 3rd Field Ambulance, 20 April 1917; transferred to 51st General Hospital, Etaples, 24 April 1917 (balanitis); rejoined unit, 17 July 1917.
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