Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

George Russell Tester, known as ‘Russell’ or ‘Russ’, was born at Clarendon, SA on 29 December 1882, the second son of George and Macey Tester. Russell worked in agriculture and was a horse driver. He had initially been rejected for the AIF on health grounds but re-applied, and a medical on 12 August 1915 gave him the all clear to enlist. On 21 August 1915 he married Marcella Lavinia Golder, and went into camp 2 days later. Russell left South Australia on the troopship ‘Borda’ on 11 January 1916 with the 13th Reinforcements for 10th Battalion, AIF. His brother-in-law John Gwynne (married to Eunice, Marcella’s sister) was in the same draft. On arrival in Egypt, both transferred to the newly formed 4th Pioneer Battalion which went on to Marseilles, France in June 1916 and then to the Western Front. On 2 July 1916, John Gwynne was wounded in the right arm, returned to Australia and discharged in Adelaide on 13 April 1917.

Russell remained with the battalion and on 1 June 1917, during the preparations for the battle of Messines, he was wounded whilst on road construction. The unit War Diary says that he was one of four casualties and that his “..right leg (was) badly smashed by H.E. shell.” Evacuated to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station, he died there of his wounds on 2 June 1917, aged 34. The main attack at Messines took place on 7 June 1917, five days after Russell’s death.

Russell Tester is buried in the Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Belgium. The cemetery is about 5 miles from Armentierres railway station and contains 1,694 war graves, including 470 Australians.

Russell’s widow Marcella (known as “Cella”) had no children and never re-married. She lived for many years at “Hazeldene”, Tester Road, Kangarilla and died in 1957. Tester Road is so named to honour her and her soldier husband.