Curlewis, George

Lieutenant George Campbell Curlewis - 16th Battalion AIF

George Campbell Curlewis was born in Queenscliff Victoria on the 16th March 1891 to George and Lilla Curlewis. The family soon loved across to Western Australia and at various times they took up residence in Geraldton, Fremantle, Cottesloe and Brookton. George Curlewis (snr) was at one time on North Fremantle Council in the 1900's. During their time in Fremantle the family lived at Mary Street Fremantle and circa 1910 at 58 Ord Street.

George was educated at Fremantle Boys School and also served some time in the cadets and Citizens Military Forces. George was also a member of the local Fremantle Rifle Club.

After leaving school, George took up employment as a Clerk. He worked for the Commercial Association in Fremantle.

George and his brothers, Gordon, Selwyn and Arthur also enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force in 1914. George enlisted on the 5th September 1914 and was accepted as fit for service. The medical examiner recorded George's physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 8 & 1/2 inches tall;

Weight - 140lbs;

Chest Measurement - 34-37 inches;

Complexion - Fair;

Eyes - Blue;

Hair - Light Brown.

After his successful enlistment George was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 16th Battalion with the regimental number 5 with the rank of Corporal.

After a few weeks in WA, the 16th Battalion were sent to Victoria to complete their training.

On the 22nd December 1914 the 16th Battalion boarded the transport ship HMAT Ceramic in Port Melbourne and set sail for Egypt. After arriving in Egypt in January 1915 the men were disembarked and sent into training camps.

In April 1915 the 16th Battalion boarded transport ships which took them to Lemnos Island, off the Turkish coast. On April 25th 1915 the Australians landed at Gallipoli and the 16th Battalion landed at Anzac Cove late on the day of April 25th 1915. In the 1970's George recorded his thoughts of the time to a Military Historian from the Liddle Archives at Leeds University.

We could see heavy firing and shells being landed. So much so that we went from our troopship first of all on to destroyers. Down this rope ladder and the destroyer was crammed with men and when we neared the coast towards the end of the afternoon our first casualty happened. Lance Corporal Maudes sitting close to me. We were all huddled together. A shrapnel shell burst over us and he got a wound beneath his stomach and poor old chap he went white and so did the rest of us. We had never been under fire before…

When we landed things were in disorder of course, and we were just rushed up the hill in boat loads. As a boat landed we waded ashore, some of us up to our stomach in water. As we waded ashore we were immediately told to rush up a hill…We got up to a certain ridge on top of the hill and word then came round to dig in which we did.

The 16th Battalion were sent up to the area known as Pope's Hill and for the next few days were in close quarter action with the Turkish forces. On May 2nd 1915 George and his unit were in action at a place called Dead Man's Ridge.

We didn’t conquer Deadman’s Ridge. We had to evacuate and of course why it was called Deadman’s Ridge; all our dead were lying on the ridge which we saw for the rest of our sojourn in that particular area…I knew that my brother had gone.

George was slightly wounded but remained on duty and due to the heavy casualties in the 16th Battalion George was given a battlefield commission and promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant. His brother Selwyn had been killed in the same attack.

George served at Gallipoli for the next four months. On the 8th August 1915 George was wounded during the 16th Battalion advance on Hill 971.

We were told that we were going to attack Hill 971 on the other side of the peninsula…We could hear the other troops at Anzac fighting to cover up the invasion further…We had no ammunition in our magazines. We had fixed bayonets and before we left we had to sew white things on our back so that we could follow each other in the dark... I was on the extreme right of the 16^th Battalion and we linked up with the Gurkhas…we got word from our battalion headquarters that I was to stay there and the Colonel of the Gurkhas took charge of us and we fought with the Gurkhas for about a week.

I was on the extreme left and we were led to believe that they {British Soldiers at Suvla} were going to protect our left and we could see these poor little soldiers with helmets landing and coming across the salt lake and being mowed down…most of us admired intensely  the wonderful tenacity of those little British soldiers. A lot of them were I understand from Kitcheners Army and I remember their pink cheeks.

Despite the wound George remained on duty but the strain of service soon began to tell on George, as besides from being wounded twice, his three brothers and been killed or died of wounds.

I was wounded and sent away at the end of August and I can remember I had a bandage around my head for this wound…I remember when I was evacuated being taken out to a hospital boat and for the first time for many months eating bread instead of hard biscuits and of course, the nurses just looked like angels to us absolutely. Clean sheets, paradise

On the 28th August 1915 George reported sick and by the 4th September was in hospital in Alexandria Egypt. He was found to be very ill, with his condition being marked as general debility.

On the 23rd September 1915 George was put aboard the Hospital ship Karoola and sent to England. George was also found to be suffering from tuberculosis and the decision was made for him to be returned to Australia. On the 7th November 1915 George boarded the transport ship Runic and set sail for Australia, disembarking in Fremantle on the 21st December 1915.

George was then given a full medical at No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle after which he was discharged from the AIF.

In 1916 George married Elsie Pike in Claremont. They had a son John born in 1917 and another called William in 1920.

William worked as an estate agent and the family lived for a time in Fremantle, then moved out to Northam. After returning to WA George had been appointed as an Area Officer in the Northam district, a position which he held for the remainder of the Great War.

During World War Two George served from 1939 to 1943 during which time he served as a Captain in Western Command Headquarters. 

In 1964 George was awarded a MBE during the New Years Honours list. When George retired they moved back to Cottesloe WA. 

George died in Mosman Park WA on the 19th November 1982. He was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery.