George Ewen Whitford

Submitted by Mt Kembla Minin... on Mon, 04/12/2017 - 10:18

First Name:

George

Middle Name:

Ewen

Last Name:

Whitford

Mother's Name:

Margaret Whitford nee Cameron

Father's Name:

George Whitford

Date Enlisted:

Tuesday, July 27, 1915

Rank at Enlistment:

Private

Rank at Discharge:

Gunner

Unit:

Field Artillery

Service:

Artillery

Awards:

1914/1915 Star

British War Medal

Victory Medal

Date of Death:

Monday, October 12, 1981

Place of Death:

Wagga Wagga, N.S.W.

Details:

George Whitford (Service No 3465) was born in Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. in 1897. George's father, George Whitford senior, was born in Corrimal, N.S.W., and had left Wollongong to live in Wagga Wagga around 1889.

At enlistment George was single, 18 years old and lived in Wagga Wagga. He was a qualified baker, having served a 4 year apprenticeship at the Wollongong Co-operative Bakery in N.S.W. After completing his bakers apprenticeship, George junior moved back to Wagga where he had secured a bakery business in 1913.

George was still in training when his brother Alexander Whitford was killed at Lone Pine, Gallipoli.

George embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A14 Euripides with 3rd Battalion, 11th Reinforcement on 2nd November 1915. He arrived in Egypt just before the evacuation and was transferred to the Artillery on 16th February 1916.

George arrived in France on 27th June 1916 and saw service on the Western Front. On 12th March 1918 he was transferred to the 4th Motor Transport Company as a driver and served with them until the end of the war.

He returned to Australia in April 1919 and was discharged from the AIF on 12th July 1919.

On 4th April 1923 George married Eileen Clout in Wagga Wagga. George died in 1981 and is buried in Wagga Cemetery.

Sources:

NAA: B2455, WHITFORD GEORGE EWEN