George Partington

George Partington

Personal Information
Date of Birth	Not known
Place of Birth	Lancashire, England
Age at Enlistment	34 years, 9 months
Description	5'5" (1.65m) tall ; 120lbs 54.431 kg ; fair complexion ; brown eyes ; light brown hair
Occupation	Mill hand
Religion	Church of England
Address	Albany road, Maddington, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs Sarah Ann Partington
Military Information
Reg Number	3141
Date of Enlistment	4 Apr 1916
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	5th Pioneer Battalion, 7th reinforcement
Date of Embarkation	9 Nov 1916 ‒ 10 Jan 1917
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A8 Argyllshire
Date of Return	3 Sep 1919 ‒ 17 Oct 1919
Ship Returned On	HMAT A37 Barambah
Fate	Returned to Australia
Monument	Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

On 18 May 1912 Sarah Ann and their son George (Jnr) arrived in Fremantle from London aboard SS Australind. Electoral Roll entry: 1916 Albany road, Maddington, labourer.

War Service

George entered the Blackboy Hill camp on 4 Apr 1916, and on 1 May he was allocated to the 15th reinforcement draft for the 28th Battalion. At some time this was changed to the 5th draft for the 43rd Battalion as on 10 Oct 1916 he was transferred from that draft to the 7th reinforcement draft for the 5th Pioneer Battalion.

On 9 Nov 1916 they embarked for England, and on arrival in Devonport made their way to the Pioneer Training Battalion at Larkhill. While there he had time in hospital, being admitted on 11 May 1917 to the Fovant, and then the Tidworth Military Hospital with a fracture clavicle. He was discharged back to duty on 3 Jul 1917, but on 9 Jul 1917 was again admitted to hospital, before returning to duty on 17 Sep 1917. George proceeded overseas to France through Southampton on 4 Dec 1917.

It was 11 Dec 1917 when George was taken on strength by the 5th Pioneer Battalion who on that day were voting on the second Conscription Referendum as well as widening Messines road. A few days later they moved away from the front to Hesdigneul-lè-Béthune. A fortnight later on 26 Dec 1917 George required treatment by the 15th Australian Field Ambulance and then the 25th General Hospital for scabies. He returned to his unit on 22 Jan 1918. He remained with them for the duration of the war, and beyond.

On 27 Mar 1919 he was granted paid leave until 25 Jun 1919 with pay to attend Lacey Green Farm in Winslow, Cheshire to improve his farming skills. On completion he was granted embarkation leave until 9 Jul 1919. He was AWOL on 9 Jul from 10:00am until 4:00pm, but had his lateness excused when formally charged.

George was discharged by the 5th Military District on 6 Dec 1919.