George Rowland Benton

George Rowland Benton

Personal Information
Date of Birth	11 Aug 1887
Place of Birth	Cheslyn Hay, South Staffordshire, England
Death	12 Oct 1917
Place of Death	Passchendaele, Belgium
Age at Enlistment	28 years
Description	5'9" (1.75m) tall ; 160lbs 72.575 kg ; fair complexion ; brown eyes ; brown hair
Occupation	Miner
Religion	Methodist
Address	Wittenoom street, Collie, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs Ada Benton
Military Information
Reg Number	[ 4026]
Date of Enlistment	30 May 1916
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	32nd Battalion, 10th Reinforcements
Date of Embarkation	28 Oct 1916 ‒ 28 Dec 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A16 Port Melbourne
Fate	Killed in actin Passchendaele, Belgium
Monument	Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll Australian War Memorial
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

Aged 22 on his arrival in Australia. George had 3 years previous service with 5th South Staffordshire Territorial Engineers.

War Service

He enlisted in Bunbury and entered Blackboy Hill camp on 30 May 1916. On 21 Jun 1916 he was allocated to the 22nd reinforcement draft for the 11th Battalion, but on 5 Sep 1916 this was changed to the 10th reinforcement draft for the 32nd Battalion, with them embarking on HMAT A16 Port Melbourne soon after for England. On arrival in England on 28 Dec 1916 he was sent to the 8th Training Battalion to prepare for France.

On 28 Feb 1917 George proceeded overseas through Folkestone aboard HMT Golden Eagle. After several days in the base depot he joined the 32nd Battalion on 6 Mar 1917, probably at 'Townsville Camp' as they came out of the line near Longueval that evening having been heavily shelled all day.

On 9 Oct 1917 the 32nd Battalion moved into the front line again opposite Celtic Wood near Zonnebeke. The battalion's War Diary reports nothing unusual in terms of casualties for the 12th of October, although the next day they had 1 less officer and 22 less ORs on strength. It is possible that George's death on 12 Oct 1917 was brought about by enemy shellfire.

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  Aeroplane Cemetery Ieper
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  George Rowland's grave location

George's widow Ada was granted a pension of 40/- ($4) per fortnight from 14 Jan 1918.

Notes

There is nothing in George's records to link him to Gosnells but he is the only likely name match.