MCMULLEN, George
| Other Name: | McMullen, George Oliver - True name |
|---|---|
| Service Number: | 222 |
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Second Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, 30 November 1895 |
| Home Town: | Subiaco, Nedlands, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Perth Modern School, Western Australia, 1911 |
| Occupation: | Carriage Builder |
| Died: | Claremont, Perth, Western Australia, 3 May 1941, aged 45 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia Section KA, Gravesite 0715 |
| Memorials: | Subiaco Perth Modern School WW1 Supplementary Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 3rd Field Company Engineers | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1914: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 222, 3rd Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1914: | Embarked Lance Corporal, 222, 3rd Field Company Engineers, HMAT Medic, Fremantle | |
| 8 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Corporal, 222, 3rd Field Company Engineers |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Johnson
George Oliver McMullen was born in West Perth in 1895. His father, also George Oliver McMullen, was an architect who married Isabella Annie MacKintosh in Victoria in 1889. They came to Western Australia in the early 1890's.
George Jr attended Thomas Street Primary School in Subiaco and then Perth Modern School for his first year of high school in 1911. He left the school in August 1911 and became a carriage builder. He served with the Engineers in the Citizen Military Force prior to World War 1 and enlisted in the 3rd Field Company Engineers on 17 August 1914, 13 days after war was declared. He was posted to No. 3 Section.
Sapper McMullen sailed with his unit from Fremantle on 2 November 1914 on the troopship "Medic". The unit served at Gallipoli and its war diary describes some of the work and its cost:
"1 May: No.3 Section employed water supply on beach. Six men wounded.
3 May: No’s 3 and 4 Sections on wire entanglements. Two men wounded.
31 May: Sgt Downie killed 6am by explosion.
1 June: Sections 1 and 3 at Quinn’s Post and Pope’s Hill tunnelling and erecting bomb-proof shelters. Sapper Battey wounded seriously.
29 June: Laying out communications. Sapper Goode wounded seriously."
George was promoted to Lance Corporal on 11 November 1915 and the unit was evacuated to Egypt in late December 1915. The brass letter "A" at the top of his left sleeve in the photo signifies he was an original Anzac.
After rebuilding their strength, the Company sailed for France at the end of March 1916. George was promoted on 14 April 1916 to Second Corporal, a rank unique to the Engineers. For the next four months, the men were engaged on improving trench systems, installing drainage and duckboards, repairing bridges, and other engineering works in the Sailly area 60kms north-west of Paris. They moved to Albert in mid-July in support of the great Allied Somme offensive that lasted from 1 July to 18 November 1916.
In August 1916 George won a Military Medal. His citation stated:
"During the operations in Pozieres from the 18th to 20th August, he was the only N.C.O. in his section and he very ably assisted his Section Officer in carrying out advanced Engineer Work under very heavy shell fire under very difficult conditions, and showed great courage and devotion to duty."
The Australians suffered over 23,000 casualties at Pozières.
George received a gunshot wound to his right eye a few days later, on 24 August. He was admitted to hospital in France and then transferred to England on 10 October 1916. His eye could not be saved. He was posted back to Australia and discharged in Perth on 8 October 1917. He was also awarded a Mention in Despatches while serving in France in 1916 for "Distinguished and gallant services and devotion to duty".
George married Blanche Mary Roughan in 1931. They had a son and a daughter. George died in Claremont, a suburb of Perth, on 3 May 1941 at the young age of 45. Blanche died in Wembley, Perth, in 2004, 63 years after her husband. She was 102.
LEST WE FORGET
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