Harrison, George Frederick

2813 Private George Frederick Harrison - 51st Battalion AIF & W242712 10th Garrison Battalion

George Frederick Harrison was born in Kingsley Staffordshire England in 1895 to Frederick and Maria Harrison. He had three younger siblings, Percy (1900), Reginald (1901) and Samuel (1907).

George was educated in Staffordshire and when he was 17 years old in 1912 the family moved to Western Australia, arriving in Fremantle on the 24th December 1912.

The family then took up residence in Wells Road East Fremantle. George's father Fred was working for the WA Government Railways. George himself found work in the local Fremantle area as a labourer.

On the 25th June 1915 George enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 8 & 3/4 inches tall;

Weight - 140lbs;

Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;

Complexion - Fresh;

Eyes - Grey;

Hair - Dark.

After his successful enlistment George was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 9th Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion AIF.

George trained with this group in WA for the next few months while they waited for their embarkation orders to arrive.

On the 5th October 1915 George and his reinforcement group boarded the transport ship HMAT Hororata and set sail for Egypt.

After arriving in Egypt three weeks later George and his group were marched into the infantry training depot. It doesn't appear that George was sent to Gallipoli but remained in Egypt to await the return of the 11th Battalion as plans were now underway to evacuate Gallipoli.

George was officially taken on strength of the 11th Battalion on the 7th January 1916. He served with the 11th Battalion for the next several weeks however on the 1st March 1916 George was officially transferred to the newly forming 51st Battalion AIF.

The 51st Battalion was part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Division AIF. As these were new units they were kept in Egypt for a longer period of training. It wasn't until June 1916 that the 51st Battalion left Egypt for France, arriving at Marseilles on the 12th June 1916.

The 51st Battalion was then sent to the north of France near Armentieres where they had their first taste of trench life on the Western Front. They only had a short time here and were then moved to the Somme battlefield.

The 1st and 2nd Australian Infantry Divisions had been in action at Pozieres and were then relieved by the 4th Division. The 51st Battalion took part in two actions at Mouquet Farm, the first in mod August and the second on 3rd September 1916. George came through both actions unscathed. He had been assigned as a runner, which meant that he had to run messages from his "B" Company Headquarters through to Battalion HQ and then the Brigade HQ. This was a very dangerous job as the men were constantly under the German artillery fire and machine gun fire while on their missions. 

The September 3rd attack was particularly devastating for the 51st Battalion. George was one of the fortunate survivors. He later wrote that; 

We moved out of the line on the morning of September 4^th, after being only 36 hours in the line with about eight five men left in the Battalion

George served continuously with the 51st Battalion through the rest of 1916 and 1917, serving with the unit through actions at Noreuil and Bullecourt in April and May 1917, Messines from June to August 1917 and the Third Battle of Ypres in September to October 1917. He came through all these actions unscathed and in January 1918 he was given a fortnight's leave to England. This was his first break since being in the line since August 1916.

On the 21st March 1918 the Germans launched their offensive which broke through the British front. The Australian units, including the 51st Battalion were sent south to stop this advance. George and the 51st Battalion first came into contact with the Germans in late March 1918 near the villages of Albert and Dernancourt. They were involved in stopping the German advance in this sector.

The Germans continued to try and advance and on April 24th they captured the village of Villers-Bretonneux. The 51st Battalion was one of the units that recaptured the village on the 25th April 1918. George again came through the action unscathed despite a large number of casualties in the battalion.

In June 1918 George was evacuated to hospital with Trench Fever. George wrote that;

My two and a half years of good luck and continuous service with the battalion in and out of the line were beginning to tell on me and for the third time in less than six weeks I had another attack of trench fever which left me in a decidedly shaky condition…Twelve days later I was evacuated from the battalion again, and went to a rest camp at Le Treport on the west coast of France where I stayed for a fortnight, returning to the battalion on August 7^th.

After a period of rest away from the unit, George now served with the 51st Battalion from August 8th till their last offensive action in the war on the 18th September 1918. 

After their successful last six weeks, the 51st Battalion along with the rest of the 4th Australian Division were pulled out of the line for a well deserved rest period.

On the 25th September 1918 George had injured his neck while on duty and was sent to hospital but soon returned to his unit in October.

On the 2nd November 1918 George was granted a two week furlough to England and he was in the UK when the Armistice was declared on the 11th November 1918. It was actually a day of double celebration for George as he in fact got married in England that day.

George had returned to Staffordshire to marry his childhood sweetheart Amelia Clenlow. The marriage took place at All Saints Church Leek Staffordshire.

After returning to the 51st Battalion, George went with them to what had been German occupied Belgium. The 51st Battalion would remain in Belgium for the next four months, however George was sent to England in January 1919.

He spent the next few months in training camps but was also granted extended periods of leave as he was a newlywed so was often up in Staffordshire and they had to organise a ship for both of them to return to Australia. However as Amelia was pregnant it was decided to wait until the child was born before embarking on the voyage.

On the 25th October 1919, George, his wife and child boarded the transport ship Orontes and after a four week sea voyage disembarked in Fremantle on the 29th November 1919.

George was then sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital for a medical checkup and was then discharged from the AIF on the 21st April 1920.

After the war George worked as a Nurseryman and orchard work as the family moved to Donnybrook. A daughter Marjorie was born in 1922 and Irene in 1923.

In World War Two George again offered his services and he served between 1940 to 1947, initially with the 10th Garrison Battalion but in 1943 he transferred into the 29th Garrison Battalion for a period of time and served at Guildford and Melville Army Camps. 

In November 1944 George returned to the 10th Garrison Battalion. George wasn't demobilised until the 27th January 1947.

During this time the family were living at 59 Quarry Street Fremantle.

George Frederick Harrison died on the 12th September 1964 and is buried at Fremantle Cemetery plot Methodist Mon B4 0406