Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Sgt 5696 George Allen Forrest,
43rd Bn, A Company, 1st Platoon, 3rd Division AIF

On the fields of the Somme, beyond the hills on which the sun rises day after day, the light illuminates the poppies of Remembrance which grow in silence between the rows of white graves behind which stand proudly and young, thousands of men, a whole generation of men who answered without hesitation to the call of duty and who for their countries, served, fought and fell on the soils of northern France who forever, will always watch over them with the greatest respect and will be forever grateful to them.We will always remember them with love and will always take the greatest care of their memory, their stories so that now, in the future, forever, they will never be forgotten and so that the flame of Remembrance never ceases to shine.

Today, it is with the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these men who, for his country, on the soils of France, fought and gave his life, his today for our tomorrow, I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Sergeant number 5696 George Allen Forrest who fought in the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion, A Company, 1st Platoon,3rd Australian Division, and who died of his wounds 103 years ago, on April 20, 1918 at the age of 29 on the Somme front.

George Allen Forrest was born on June 9, 1888 in Springton, South Australia, and was the son of William and Sarah Ann Forrest, of Belmont, Springton. George was educated at Public School Springton, South Australia, and before the outbreak of the war, he was a member of the firm of Forrest Brothers, graziers and farmer, of Springton, and belonged to the Anglican Church and worked as a motor driver.

Enlisted on March 10, 1916 in Adelaide, South Australia,as a Private in the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion, 18th Reinforcement, he embarked with his unit from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A37 Barambah on June 27, 1916 and sailed for Plymouth, England, where he was disembarked on August 25, 1916 and a month later, on September 23, he was transferred and taken on strength in the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion, A Company, 1st Platoon, 3rd Australian Division then was sent to Codford, Wiltshire and received his training on Salisbury Plain.
After a period of two months of training in England, George embarked from Southampton on November 25, 1916 and proceeded overseas for France where he was disembarked the next day, on November 26 and was sent to the front line in the north of France in the sector of Armentieres where he was wounded for the first time by a bullet in the arm and the right shoulder on February 19, 1917 and evacuated to the 9th Field Ambulance then to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station. Two days later, on February 21 1917, he was embarked in the 10th Ambulance Train and evacuated to Boulogne, admitted the same day to the 36th General Hospital then evacuated to England two days later.

in England, still suffering from his injuries, George was admitted to the Norfolk War hospital on February 24, 1917 where he remained until May 17, 1917.

After recovering from his injuries and after a period of rest, George embarked from Southampton on June 15, 1917 and was sent to Belgium then was disembarked in Roulers on June 16 and joined the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion and fought with great courage during the battle of Messines then during the third battle of Ypres.

The Third Battle of Ypres was the major British offensive in Flanders in 1917. It was planned to break through the strongly fortified and in-depth German defences enclosing the Ypres salient, a protruding bulge in the British front line, with the intention of sweeping through to the German submarine bases on the Belgian coast. The battle comprised of a series of limited and costly offensives, often undertaken in the most difficult of waterlogged conditions,a consequence of frequent periods of rain and the destruction of the Flanders' lowlands drainage systems by intense artillery bombardment. As the opportunity for breakthrough receded, Haig still saw virtue in maintaining the offensives, hoping in the process to drain German manpower through attrition.

Australian Divisions participated in the battles of Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcapelle and the First Battle of Passchendaele. In eight weeks of fighting Australian forces incurred 38,000 casualties. The combined total of British and Dominion casualties has been estimated at 310,000 (estimated German losses were slightly lower) and no breakthrough was achieved. The costly offensives, ending with the capture of Passchendaele village, merely widened the Ypres salient by a few kilometres.

For his courage in the field during the battle of Messines and then the third battle of Ypres, George was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on July 17, 1917 and then to the rank of Temporary Corporal on August 1, 1917. A month later, on September 18, 1917 , he was promoted to the rank of Temporary Sergeant on September 18, 1917.Two weeks later, on September 28, 1917, he was sent to Hayling Island, Hampshire, England, and joined a Musketry School and then a school for NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) and five months later, on February 22, 1918, he was granted leave and was sent to Paris.

A month later, on March 2, 1918, George joined the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion but this time in France, on the Somme front to face and counter the German spring offensive of 1918 in the Sailly-Le-Sec sector.

Unfortunately, it was a month later, on April 20, 1918, that he met his fate. On April 20, 1918, while George and his men held the line at Sailly-Le-Sec, near Amiens, Somme, he was seriously wounded to the stomach by a German machine gun and was evacuated to a Casualty Clearing Station in Bonnay but died almost immediately after being admitted,he was 29 years old.

Today, Sergeant George Allen Forrest rests in peace with his friends and brothers in arms at the Bonnay Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, where he was buried by his comrades. The service was read by Reverend Sexton, Padre of the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion and his grave bears the following inscription "Too far away your grave to see but not too far to think of thee".

A month after his death, on May 17, 1918, an article was published in the Adelaide Advertiser:
"Mr. and Mrs. Forrest, of Belmont, Springton, have received advice that their son, Sgt. G. A. (Allen) Forrest, died of wounds received in action in France on April 20. The deceased soldier left Australia on June 24, 1916, with the 18th Reinforcements to the 10th Battalion, and after having been to England for some time, was transferred to the 43rd Battalion. Twelve months ago Sgt. Forrest was badly wounded in the right shoulder and left arm, and invalided to England. He returned to France, and soon, after gained his promotion. He was well known in tennis circles, and was a member of the firm of Forrest Brothers, graziers and farmer, of Springton, and belonged to the Anglican Church. Another brother, Pte. B. Forrest, is on active service in France with the Field Ambulance. Both enlisted and left Australia together."

George Allen Forrest's brother was named Thomas Brust Forrest, service number 5695 and courageously served as Driver in the 14th Field Ambulance.He survived the war and returned to Australia on July 6, 1919.He died on April 30, 1961 at the age of 69 and rests in peace in Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia.

George, you who rest today in peace on the peaceful lands of France, here in the Somme where alongside your comrades you fought and served with the greatest courage for your country for which you gave your life, I would like, with all my heart, to express to you my greatest gratitude but also the gratitude of France for which you have done so much and for which you gave so much, united, side by side with your brothers in arms who fought and who fell along roads, in the grass of the hills, in the poppy fields of the Somme, in the mud of the battlefields of the great war which, in Belgium and in France, saw so much blood spilled and broken lives, stopped under bullets, in the cold steel of barbed wire but which also saw the courage, the bravery, the determination, the coolness, the perseverance of a whole generation of men who gave their youth, their innocence and every part of their youth to do their duty with pride and honor, with devotion and with love for their country, their loved ones.united in bonds of mateship and unity, they faced dangers and overcame their fears through the worst horrors of a world at war, through the deadliest battles.In mud and blood, under steel and fire, under the roar of cannons and the ominous and endless howls of shells, they held the line, they held their positions, every trenches and every shell holes with the greatest of bravery under a rain of lead and blood.Braves among the bravest and in the face of the inhumanity of war, they remained strong and united and showed gallantry and compassion, they fought for their friends and their brothers who were at their side, they fought in solid ranks and determined for freedom and justice, for noble causes which united them in the trenches.Together, they shared the moments of sorrow and joy, they comforted each other in the most difficult moments, they remained united, together they mourned the loss of their comrades and prayed for the end of this war in which they sacrificed so much but they remained determined and convinced of their actions and their fight because on them depended the fate of the world and of peace, they knew in their hearts that this fight, this war would put an end to all the wars, so that their children , the next generations can live in peace and without war, without fear of the next day and it is together that they moved forward, under the fire of the machine guns and the shells, they followed their brothers, their fathers in the heart of the battle, they all went over the top and put their heart, their energy, their youth in each of their steps forward, heads lowered under their steel helmets and bayonets forward under a sky torn by powder and thunder,in a land bruised and scarified by miles of barbed wire.In this hell, they did not retreat, they followed their comrades and faced their destiny with high heads and valiant hearts, brave to the end, they made their country proud and it is together, side by side, for each other that they fought and that they fell by shedding their blood on the eternal poppies which are today the silent witnesses of their courage and their lives, of their sacrifices but which are also the strong and eternal symbol of their Remembrance and their lives for on these flowers of Remembrance they continue to live, standing proud in the breeze of the wind. Gone but not forgotten, these men, their memory, their stories will never be forgotten and will never be forgotten and will never be condemned by the weight of the years.Forever young and united as they were in life and on the battlefields, they will always remain together in eternal rest.It is with the greatest respect that I will always watch over them and that I will keep their memory alive so that in our hearts as in the stone of their graves, their names and their faces, their stories remain engraved forever so that they live forever.Thank you George, for everything, with all my heart, with all my respect for you and for your brothers in arms.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.

"LATE SGT. G. A. FORREST

Mr. and Mrs. Forrest, of Belmont, Springton, have received advice that their son, Sgt. G. A. (Allen) Forrest, died of wounds received in action in France on April 26. The deceased soldier left Australia on June 24, 1916, with the 18th Reinforcements to the 10th Battalion, and after having been to England for some time, was transferred to the 43rd Battalion. Twelve months ago Sgt. Forrest was badly wounded in the right shoulder and left arm, and invalided to England. He returned to France, and soon, after gained his promotion. He was well known in tennis circles, and was a member of the firm of Forrest Brothers, graziers and farmer, of Springton, and belonged to the Anglican Church. Another brother, Pte. B. Forrest, is on active service in France with the Field Ambulance. Both enlisted and left Australia together." - from the Adelaide Advertiser 17 May 1918 (nla.gov.au)