Pte
George Richard Storey

Information about birth

General information

Profession:
Station Hand - Farm Hand

Army information

Country:
Australia
Force:
Australian Imperial Force
Rank:
Private
Service number:
2488
Enlistment date:
31/03/1916
Enlistment place:
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Units:
 —  Australian Infantry, 51st Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
30/09/1917
Place of death:
Westhoek, Zonnebeke, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
23

Cemetery

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 3

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place
#3 Place of death (approximate)

My story

Private George Richard Storey served in the Australian Infantry 51st Battalion, part of the 13th Australian Brigade, of the 4th Australian Division.
The 51st Battalion participated on the 26th of September 1917 in the Battle of Polygon Wood, part of the Third Battle of Ypres. It occupied the Brickyard at the Southwestern outskirts of Zonnebeke. The Battalion was relieved on the night of the 27th by the Australian Infantry 46th Battalion, and moved back to Westhoek Ridge.
The 51st Battalion remained at Westhoek Ridge until 07.00 p.m. on September 1917 when it was relieved by the Australian Infantry 47th Battalion. During the march back, a shell exploded amongst “C” Company and killed Sergeant George Calder and Private George Storey and wounded two other men.
His remains were buried in a small cemetery in the hamlet of Westhoek. He was exhumed in 2006 and reburied at Buttes New British Cemetery , Polygon Wood in 2007. 2,108 men are buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Plot I, row E has 5 recent graves. Three of those are the remains of George Storey, John Hunter and George Calder. Together with their two fellow Australians, they were found in 2006 during earth works under a road in the nearby hamlet of Westhoek. Their bodies were covered with a ground sheet containing rubber, which made sure they were so well-preserved. During the war, some 30 dead were put together in a small cemetery close to the place the 5 were found. When the exhumation companies cleared the site after the war, most bodies were buried as ‘unidentified’ because their personal belongings had already been sent back to Australia and the crosses that once marked their graves were more than probably destroyed by subsequent fighting. The 5 Australians’ bodies were probably missed at the time, because the road through Westhoek had already been resurfaced. DNA was taken and in the end 3 bodies were identified thanks to intensive searching by the Australian authorities and the help of the Australian media.

Files 1

Sources 5

"For King and Cobbers", Browning N., Bassendean, Advance Press, 2007, pg. 168-169.
Sources used
"Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 visitor guide", Derycke K. en Ingelbrecht L., Kunstbezit Vlaanderen, 2015, pg. 88.
Sources used
Australian War Memorial
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10263305
Sources used
National Archives of Australia
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx
Sources used
War Diary A.I.F. 51st Bn.
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583
Sources used

More information 3