George Irwin

George Irwin was a talented artist whose life was cut short during desperate fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula. His death sparked a 12-year search by his parents. They could not accept his loss until they stood before his name on the Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing in Türkiye.

Early life

George Roy Irwin was born in 1895 in Goulburn, New South Wales. He was the only child of George Samuel Irwin and Sarah Jane Champion.

George's family moved from Goulburn because his father was a stationmaster on the railways. He was posted to many places, including Rylestone in 1903, Wentworthville in 1912, Picton in 1913, Albury in 1914 and Katoomba in 1915.

George was educated at Chatswood Preparatory School (later Mowbray House School) and Sydney Grammar School. He showed talent in the arts and pursued a career as a commercial artist. George was employed at Harry Weston's advertising agency, and his artwork was published in the prominent publication The Bulletin. George's colleagues remembered him as a ‘fine fellow’ and a gifted artist.

At age 16, he was one of 200 cadets of the Australian Commonwealth Coronation Contingent who attended the coronation of King George V in London. Departing Sydney on 29 April 1911, he visited many places in England and South Africa until August, learning about military history. George held the rank of lieutenant in the Senior Cadets and also served for a year with the 44th Infantry Regiment in Albury.

AWM P00629.020

Wartime service

George's interest in military service probably drove his decision to serve overseas during World War I. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 2 May 1915 at Liverpool, New South Wales. He was 19 years and 7 months old. The AIF medical examiner described him as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, with good vision, a dark complexion, blue eyes and dark hair.

Because he was under 21, George required his parents’ written consent to serve abroad. His father provided a handwritten note on 30 April 1915:

I give my consent to my son Geo. Roy Irwin – under age – enlisting.

With the service number 2145, George was assigned as a reinforcement for the 4th Infantry Battalion. He embarked from Sydney on board the HMAT Karoola on 16 June 1915. He disembarked in Egypt for a brief training period before being sent to Gallipoli.

George was officially taken on strength by the 4th Battalion on 4 August 1915. He joined the unit as the troops prepared for the August Offensive.

In a letter to his father dated 5 August, George mentioned he had been assigned to C Company of the 4th Battalion and gave his service number as 3145 instead of 2145. It was a minor error that would cause his parents much confusion and heartache during their search for him.

NLA article 239113782

Battle of Lone Pine

The Battle of Lone Pine began in the late afternoon of 6 August 1915. The Australian forces were tasked with capturing the Turkish front line to draw reinforcements away from other planned landings at Suvla Bay. The 4th Battalion was part of the initial charge across 100 yards of open ground known as ‘The Daisy Patch’. The hand-to-hand fighting occurred in a labyrinth of trenches covered with heavy timber logs and sandbags.

George went missing during the initial charge on 6 August. In the chaos of the battle, his exact fate was unknown. Conflicting witness reports emerged later. Private J Smith said he met George in a dry canteen the day before the charge and later heard George had been ‘knocked over in the charge at Lone Pine’. Private Shanahan claimed George had been shot in the stomach during the charge and left behind when the Turkish troops took back their trenches.

Other reports provided a glimmer of hope to his family. Private JW Allen claimed he saw George during the charge and believed he had been taken prisoner by the Turkish forces. These reports of his possible capture were bolstered by news that the 4th Battalion had taken 4 Turkish trenches but could only hold 2, leading many to believe the men left in the furthest trenches had been captured.

George's parents received these contradictory accounts through AIF channels and the Red Cross, leading to years of agonising uncertainty.

Family's search for truth

When Sarah and George Irwin heard that their only son was missing, it sparked a tireless quest to find him.

Sarah refused to believe her son was dead. She imagined he might be in a hospital in England, suffering from memory loss, or held as a prisoner in Türkiye.

Sarah wrote regularly to the Red Cross and interviewed returning soldiers at the wharves. She even travelled to England during the war to work for the Red Cross in the hope of finding information about her son's whereabouts.

A Court of Inquiry on 3 November 1915 eventually pronounced George as ‘killed in action’ between 6 and 9 August 1915. Despite this official ruling, the family's search continued well after the 11 November 1918 armistice.

In August 1917, George’s personal effects were returned to his father in Katoomba. The package included 2 handkerchiefs, a gift tin, letters, 7 military books, 3 notebooks, a souvenir book and a bone needle case.

Father's duty

George senior felt his own duty to serve.

At age 50, he enlisted in the AIF on 29 October 1917. He had previous military training in North Sydney. Given his experience as a stationmaster, he was assigned as a Company Sergeant Major to the 6th Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company.

George senior served in France, where he helped maintain and operate the military railway lines on the Western Front. He spent time in England at the Longmoor training camp before proceeding to France in June 1918. He survived the war and returned to Australia in February 1920.

Commemorative pilgrimage

In March 1926, George retired from his position as stationmaster at Ashfield. He and Sarah embarked on a world tour to visit the places where their son had served. This pilgrimage cost well over £100 – a year’s wages for most workers then. They arrived back in Sydney in January 1927 after many months abroad.

During their trip, they visited the Western Front battlefields in France. George senior remarked that the war cemeteries were in ‘wonderful condition’ and ‘beautifully green’, particularly those near Amiens and Ypres. He was relieved to find that, despite rumours of desecration, the sites were kept perfectly with ‘flowers of every description dotting the graves’.

The most poignant part of their trip was a pilgrimage to Gallipoli. At Lone Pine, George found the cemetery in perfect condition, maintained by an Australian, Captain Jones, and 7 Turkish gardeners. He noted that despite the arid ground, the cemeteries were made picturesque by shrubs of rosemary.

On the summit of Lone Pine, the Irwins faced the reality of their son's death. A photograph published in the Sydney press captured the moment Sarah Irwin crumpled at the base of the memorial, her hands limp and her eyes fixed on her son's name. George senior knelt beside her, holding a piece of paper steady as he made a pencil rubbing of George's name. It was the only physical piece of his son he could take home.

In 1934, Sarah wrote a statutory declaration regarding the loss of her ‘Nearest Female Relative’ badge. She had been attending an Anzac service at Springwood when the badge fell off. She described it as her ‘most valued possession’, worn as a tribute to her ‘only child who was killed at Lone Pine’.

NLA article 166522438

Commemoration

Because George Roy Irwin has no known grave, his name is inscribed on Panel 22 of the Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing.

George Roy Irwin is commemorated on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

His story is told through a collection of letters and records preserved by his parents, which serve as a testament to a family's enduring sacrifices during wartime.