The AIF Project

George Edward EBBESEN

Regimental number4501
Place of birthBundaberg, Queensland
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
Address89 Aberdeen Street, Perth, Western Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation30
Height5' 9.5"
Weight152 lbs
Next of kinFather, Mr N. Ebbesen, Lord Street, Bundaberg, Queensland
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date2 November 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll29 October 1915
Place of enlistmentPerth, Western Australia
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name11th Battalion, 14th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/28/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A28 Miltiades on 12 February 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll11th Battalion
FateReturned to Australia 6 May 1917
Place of death or woundingBullecourt, France
Age at death from cemetery records31
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
62
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Nicholas and Inga EBBESEN, George Street, Bundaberg, Queensland
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Embarked Fremantle, 12 February 1916; disembarked Suez, 10 March 1916, and marched into 3rd Training Bn.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 29 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 4 April 1916; marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 8 April 1916.

Proceeded to unit, 24 May 1916; taken on strength of 11th Bn, in the field, 25 May 1916.

Wounded in action, 20/23 August 1916; admitted to No 2 Field Ambulance, 22 August 1916 (gunshot wound, head and arm); transferred to No 3 Casualty Clearing Station, 22 August 1916; to No 26 General Hospital, Etaples, 23 August 1916; to England, 25 August 1916; to No 1 Eastern General Hospital, Cambridge, 25 August 1916 (gunshot wounds, head and arm, serious); to No 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, 20 October 1916; discharged to No 2 Command Depot, Weymouth, 24 October 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 11 December 1916; marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 12 December 1916.

Proceeded to unit, 16 January 1917; rejoined 11th Bn, 17 January 1917.

Admitted to No 1 Australian Field Ambulance, 12 February 1917 (septic foot); transferred to No 2 Australian Field Ambulance (Divisional Rest Station), 12 February 1917; to No 45 Casualty Clearing Station, 28 February 1917 (frostbite); to No 1 Canadian General Hospital, Boulogne, 3 March 1917; to No 6 Convalescent Depot, Boulogne, 25 March 1917; marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 27 March 1917.

Proceeded to unit, 4 April 1917; rejoined unit, 17 April 1917.

Killed in action, 6 May 1917.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, EBBESEN George Edward

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