Born in November 1889 at Copeland to Duncan and Flora (nee Grant), George William McRae was the fourth of seven children. With his father passing away in 1899 it was up to the boys of the family (George and his elder brothers John and Hugh) to keep the farm running.
With the call to arms however, George enlisted at Holsworthy on the 31st of July 1915 and served with the 6th Reinforcements, 17th Battalion. Farmer George listed his next of kin (NOK) his mother, Flora of Gloucester River, Barrington. On the 2nd of November 1915 George and the 17th Battalion boarded the ‘HMAT A14 Euripides’ at Sydney for their voyage to Egypt.
Whilst in Egypt George had his run of medical issues. Admitted to the 4th Auxiliary Hospital at Abassia on the 29th of December with mumps and again being admitted to the 1st General Field Hospital at Heliopolis for Otis media (an ear infection), probably from the unsanitary water. Built in 1892 by Khedive Abbas II, the last Muhammad Ali Dynasty ruler to hold the Khedive title over the Khedivate of Egypt and Sudan, Montazah Palace was used as a convalescent facility during WW1. George spent from the 18th of March until the 3rd of April here before returning to duties at Tel el Kebir on the 19th of April. On the 20th however he was transferred from the 17th to the 55th Battalion and assigned to Ferry Post, in defence of the canal from possible attack from the Turks.
Throughout June, the 5th Division returned to Moascar, where reinforcements were received to bring units up to their authorised strengths in preparation for their transfer to Europe, to join the fighting on the Western Front. In the middle of the month, they moved by train to Alexandria and embarked on a number of troopships. George boarded the ‘HT Caledonian’ on the 19th to disembark at Marseilles on the 29th of June.
The Battle of Fromelles was the first major battle fought by Australian troops on the Western Front. Commencing at 6:00pm on the 19th of July 1916 the Australian 5th Division and the British 61st Division suffered heavily under German machine-gun fire. Having dug in some 200 metres behind enemy lines by midnight and with little in the way of supplies reaching them they could not sustain the German counterattack.
While orders of a retreat reached the 8th Brigade at 4:00am, the general retreat order was not given by General Munro until 7:00am, however it did not reach all units at the same time. The retreat was as perilous as the attack. By 9:00am remnants of the 53rd, 54th and 55th Battalions had returned, many were wounded. German casualties were just 1,582 resulting due to the opportunistic search of a dead soldier who was carrying a copy of the general order from General Haking that was read to all troops on the eve of the battle, stating that the objective was strictly limited to the enemy’s support trenches, which told them it was a feint. The 5th Australian Division would suffer 5,533 casualties of which 2,000 would die, a loss rate of 76% on the frontal assault and over 80 % from the flank. On the 20th presumably during the withdrawal, George suffered a Gunshot Wound to the back and was taken to the 8th Stationary Hospital at Wimereux. He was then transferred to England from Boulogne where his injury was further described as a severe GSW to the neck. On arrival in England, he was admitted to Military Hospital, Silver St., Edmonton
On the 14th of December 1916 George boarded the ‘Princess Henrietta’ for his return to France, where he marched in at Etaples on the 16th. On the 20th he rejoined his unit. Shortly after his return, George was promoted to Corporal on the 20th of February 1917 and almost immediately, on the 26th of February again promoted to Sergeant.
Between the 26th of September and the 3rd of October, the Third Battle of Ypress, also known as the Battle of Polygon Wood was fought near Ypres, Belgium. The area had changed hands several times over the previous months and much of the woodland had been destroyed by a huge quantity of shell fire. The main advance was behind five layers of creeping barrage. The 55th Battalion played a major role in the battle by securing and consolidating the area in the vicinity of Polygon Wood on the Menin Road Ridge, defending the north of Villers-Bretonneux. The battalion held the area even after the fierce German counterattack which captured the village. George was 27 years old when he was ‘Killed in Action’ on the opening day of the battle on the 26th of September 1917, at Polygon Wood, Belgium. There was no known grave found and his memorial simply states “Known unto God”.
Flora repeatedly wrote to the War Ministry requesting her son’s personal effects, however while initial replies were obliging there had been no personal effects found in George’s kit bag. She did acknowledge receipt of the Memorial Plaque on the 28 of September 1922 and the Memorial scroll on the 27th of October.
