George Harraington BIRD

Regimental number15
Place of birthRockdale, New South Wales
SchoolKogarah Superior Public School, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationSurveyor
Address'Exhall', Gladstone Street, Kogarah, Sydney, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation19
Next of kinG Bird, 'Exhall', Gladstone Street, Kogarah, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceServed in the 6th Field Company Engineers.
Enlistment date19 August 1914
Rank on enlistmentLance Corporal
Unit name1st Field Company Engineers
AWM Embarkation Roll number14/20/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board Transport A19 Afric on 18 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollLance Corporal
Unit from Nominal Roll1st Field Company Engineers
FateDied of wounds 9 August 1915
Place of death or woundingGallipoli, Turkey
Age at death19.6
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 12), Gallipoli, Turkey

The Lone Pine Memorial, situated in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac, is the main Australian Memorial on Gallipoli, and one of four memorials to men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Designed by Sir John Burnet, the principal architect of the Gallipoli cemeteries, it is a thick tapering pylon 14.3 metres high on a square base 12.98 metres wide. It is constructed from limestone mined at Ilgardere in Turkey.

The Memorial commemorates the 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who were buried at sea after evacuation through wounds or disease. The names of New Zealanders commemorated are inscribed on stone panels mounted on the south and north sides of the pylon, while those of the Australians are listed on a long wall of panels in front of the pylon and to either side. Names are arranged by unit and rank.

The Memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. Most cemeteries on Gallipoli contain relatively few marked graves, and the majority of Australians killed on Gallipoli are commemorated here.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
23
Family/military connectionsBrother: 487 Pte Leslie James BIRD, 17th Bn, returned to Australia, 3 September 1915.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsSecond given name incorrectly entered on Embarkation Role as Hamilton.