Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Pte George SIMMONS

George Simmons, my paternal grandfather is a mystery to his family. According to his AIF attestation paper of persons enlisted for service abroad, he was born in Fremantle Western Australia in or around 1883. No birth or marriage certificate has ever been discovered despite years of searching by his grandchildren. George Simmons enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Enoggera Queensland on 15 May 1916. On that day he was attached to the 17th Reinforcementst, 25th Battalion. The 25th Battalion saw action in Gallipoli; however this was 12 months before George Simmons enlisted as a middle aged man. On the 27 October 1916 he embarked on the “HMAT Marathon” in Brisbane and sailed for England.

It was made clear very early in Georges service that he was not the most disciplined or committed soldier in the AIF. During the voyage He was charged with being Absent With-out Leave (AWOL) on three separate occasions, once with making a false statement, and once for disobedience of orders. He was docked 6 days wages in total. On arrival at Plymouth on 9 January1917 he was transferred to camp at Rollestone. On 22 Jan, 13 days after arrival, he went AWOL again and was arrested by Military Police the next morning in London and docked 3 more days’ pay. By 3rd February1917 he had contracted scabies and was admitted to the Military Hospital at Fargo in Salisbury.  Later transferred to Sutton Very Hospital. On the 6th May he took off again for 2 days and docked a further 6 days wages. On the 3rd of July he was sent to camp in Southampton before sailing for France on the 23rd July. For his last hoorah, on the 18th July George went AWOL one last time.

By the time George arrived on the Western Front the 25th Battalion was fighting as part of the 2nd Division. In October 1917 the Second Division came south to attack again in the Somme Valley. George as part of the 25th Battalion took part in two attacks to the east of Flers, both of which floundered in the mud.

The 25th Btn acted in a supporting role at the Second Battle of Bullecourt and then on 20th September 1917 it was part of the 2nd Divisions first wave at the victorious Battle of Menin Road in Belgium. On the 4th of October George went into battle again at the Allied capture of Broodseinde Ridge in the Somme Valley and was shot in his shoulder. He was sent to a field hospital for treatment and on Christmas Eve re-joined the 25th Btn but not with the 17th Riffle Unit but the 22nd Unit.

In March 1918 George went on leave to England. On his return to the front in April, the 25th Btn fought to turn back the German spring offensive and then participated in the battle at Morlancourt. Around the village of Hamel he took part in an operation to straighten the allied line and in Amiens  the Australian troops of the 25th Btn took vast numbers of German POW’s and made an unprecedented advance and along the Somme Valley.

On the 2nd September 1918 George’s unit was involved in the allied counter offensive. The 2nd Division including the 25th Btn stormed seized and held the key German defensive position of Mont St Quentin, overlooking the town of Peronne. Here George was seriously wounded when he received a gunshot wound to his left eye. He was evacuated to a French field hospital and on the 6th September admitted to the 4th London General Hospital (Denmark Hill).. George lost his left eye and forever after wore a glass replacement. On release from hospital George was attached to an Ordinance Corps in England where he spent the rest of his overseas service.

At some stage during George’s military service in England and Europe he met Christina Barbara  BREE - the married in 1918 in Stepney in London. On the 16th November 1919 Christina and George became parents to a baby boy, George Stanley Simmons, who was born at 711 Commercial Rd Limehouse in the east end of London.   On the 16th April 1920 the small family embarked the ‘H.T. Honorata’ and sailed for Australia disembarking in Sydney on the 18th June 1920. George was medically discharged on 30th August 1920 in Sydney.

George, Christina and George Stanley, settled in Lavender Bay North Sydney and 6 more children were born. George spent the rest of his working life as a Painter and Docker on the Sydney Wharves and Christina as a seamstress at Marcos (Menswear) North Sydney. In old age they moved to Mosman. Neither of them ever spoke of or had contact with their parents or families once arriving in Sydney. They kept their 7 children isolated from other children in the neighbourhood and neither George nor Christina had personal friends. George was a quiet, sullen, private and reclusive person for the rest of his life. He died of natural causes in his late 70’s in Sydney  in 1961 as did Christina. They are both buried at Rookwood.

Christina was born on 16th January 1895 in 20 Charlotte Court, Whitechapel, London - her father was Christian BREE and mother Louisa TURNER