George Conway MID

George Conway MID

Conway's store 1965 Cnr Albany road and Dorothy street
Personal Information
Date of Birth	c1881
Place of Birth	London, England
Death	21 Feb 1934, aged 52
Place of Death	Gosnells, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	34 years, 5 months
Description	5'3¾" (1.62m) tall ; 112lbs 50.802 kg ; sallow complexion ; grey eyes ; dark brown hair
Occupation	Labourer
Religion	Church of England
Address	Station road, Gosnells, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs M C Conway
Military Information
Reg Number	4264
Date of Enlistment	8 Sep 1915
Rank	Lance Corporal
Unit/Formation	16th Battalion, 13th Reinforcement, transferred to 48th Battalion
Date of Embarkation	29 Jan 1916 ‒ 26 Feb 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A54 Runic
Date of Return	5 Nov 1917 ‒ 23 Dec 1917
Ship Returned On	HMAT A32 Themistocles
Fate	Wounded in action 22 Jan 1917 Returned to Australia - medical Mentioned in Despatches AWM
Monument	Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll Gosnells Primary School Honour Roll Gosnells Ward Honour Roll
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal Mentioned in Despatches

Pre War

The 1891 English Census Lists George as an inmate at Somersetshire Certified Industrial Home for Boys Lyncombe and Widcombe, in Somerset. His place of birth is given as Islington. In the 1901 Census he was residing as boarder in Ystradyfodwg, Glamorgan, working as coal miner/hewer. The mining community being very close knit, George met and married Mary Catherine Conway (nee Stephens), in Neath, Glamorgan in the third quarter of 1907. He with his wife and young daughter Doris were residing at 61 Regent Street, Treorchy, Wales at the time of 1911 Census, still working as coal miner in the local colliery, before taking passage to Fremantle, Western Australia in on 26 May 1911 on board the “SS Otway.” They had two other children, Alert, and Margaret.

At enlistment, George stated that he had previous service in England with the Royal Naval Reserve (7 years).

Electoral Roll entries: 1913 - 1917 Station road, Gosnells, farmer

War Service

Entered camp on 8 Sep 1915, and after spending a few days with No 28 Depot Company he was placed into 'B' Company No.3 Depot Battalion for training. On 13 Nov 1915 he was allocated to the 13th reinforcement draft for the 16th Battalion, and so travelled to Egypt with the draft aboard HMAT A54 Runic which embarked at Fremantle on 26 Jan 1916. On 2 Apr 1916 as part of the AIF reorganisation and doubling in size that was occurring in Egypt, he was transferred to the 48th Battalion. Following a period of training and defending the Suez Canal, during the evening of 1 Jun 1916, they travelled by rail from Serapeum to Alexandria where they boarded HMT Caledonia. At sea from 4 - 9 Jun, they were bundled into horse railway carriages and sent to northern France from Marseilles. A journey that took several days and nights.

On 31 Jan 1917 George was appointed Lance Corporal, but was wounded in action soon after on 21 Feb 1917. The unit's War Diary says little about the action but "The Story of a Battalion-Being a record of the 48th Battalion, A.I.F." by W Devine tells us that an attack on German lines occurred on the night of the 22nd without the assistance of Artillery. Misconceived, it failed but fortunately there were only three minor casualties. George being one of them, receiving a gunshot wound to his right shoulder. Given that George was Mentioned in Despatches we can assume that it was for his participation in the stunt, and that the correct date for his wounding is therefore 22 Feb 1917.

Admitted to the 18th General Hospital in Camiers after being treated by the 12th Field Ambulance, he was evacuated to England aboard HS Stad Antwerpen from Calais on 28 Feb 1917 and he was admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Brighton the same day. From 18 Apr - 3 May 1917 he enjoyed a furlough in England. Following his return to duty he moved about bases in England until it was decided to send him home aboard HMAT A32 Themistocles on medical grounds - chronic rheumatism and general Debility. He embarked in November 1917

George was discharged by the 5th Military District on 8 May 1918.

Award Comment

Recommended 5 Mar 1917. Awarded and Promulgated 'London Gazette', second Supplement, No 30107 (1 Jun 1917) & 'Commonwealth Gazette', No 169 (4 Oct 1917).

Post War

From 1923 - 1930 George was the Gosnells Postmaster, operating out of his store on the corner of Albany road, and Dorothy street. George died on 21 Feb 1934 with his death attributed to war time injuries. His store was run by his children until it was sold in the 1950s. Mary died in 1972 in Mt Lawley.

Notes

For further information on this soldier, or for more information about the history and heritage of the City of Gosnells, please contact the Heritage Coordinator on 9391 6011