George Thomas Wilson

George was born in 1883 in Sydney, New South Wales. He was one of five children to George and Annie (née Cosgrove) Wilson. 

At the time of his enlistment in Tallangatta on the 31st of March, 1916, George was a single 32 year-old farm labourer. He was given the Regimental Number 5716 and placed into the 23rd Battalion. He was initially posted to A Company of the 23rd (Depot) Battalion at Royal Park in Victoria. Between the 15th of June and 19th of August he was in hospital at Langwarrin, Gippsland. The Langwarrin Detention Camp was established forthe treatment of soldiers suffering from venereal diseases. George arrived back at Royal Park on the 19th of August and was placed on strength with the 15th Reinforcements for the 23rd Battalion.

A little over four weeks later George embarked on HMAT A9 Shropshire at Melbourne. Also on the ship, in the same unit as George, was Tom Boyce. On the 11th of November 1916 they disembarked at Plymouth, UK. After a month of training with the 6th Training Battalion in Wiltshire, the 15th Reinforcements travelled on the Princess Henrietta from Folkstone and arrived at the 2nd Australian Division Base at Etaples, France on the 14th of December. They caught up with their battalion at a place called Ribemont. Throughout the bleak winter of 1916-1917 the 23rd manned the frontline.

In April of 1917, George spent a little over a week at the 7th Field Ambulance and 2nd Division Rest Station suffering from bronchitis. Like Tom, George was wounded during the battalion’s experience in the second battle of Bullecourt. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg on the 3rd of May. He was invalided to England, crossing the English Channel on HS Pieter. On the 5th of May he was admitted to the Voluntary Aid Hospital at Cheltenham. He was discharged from hospital on the 20th of July but instead of returning to No. 1 Command Depot, he’d decided that he had earnt some unofficial leave. On the 24th of July he was charged with having been absent without leave from 3.30pm 20/7/17 to 8.30pm 23/7/17 and was awarded 5 days confined to camp and forfeited 4 days pay. 

It was early September before George rejoined his unit in the field in Belgium. At this stage the battalion was billeted in the near Arques, France, well behind the front line. However, by November the 23rd Battalion was well and truly in the front line near a location called the Halfway House. According to the war diarist the 8th and 9th of November had been quiet days. For the 10th of November he wrote;

“Wet day. BDE 10 of 1st/7th West Yorks (146th Bde) visited BnH.Q. and remained till morning. 4 OR killed and 2 W during enemy retaliation to our 6 am barrage. Orders for relief received.”

It appears that George was killed in the same incident that killed Tom Boyce.

George has no known grave. He is remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), the Towong Shire Boer War and WW1 Roll of Honour and his mother’s headstone at the West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia. For his service during the First World War, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal