Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

George BISHOP #274 42nd Battalion

George Bishop was the son of George senior and Annie Bishop of Linville. He was born on 26th October 1894 at Linville, although his birth was registered at Woodford. He attended school at Linville before working on the family property. At the age of 17, George signed on as a Police Constable and began duty at the Brisbane depot on 10th August 1912. Later that month he was posted to South Brisbane and then Charters Towers. In January 1914 George was posted to Ravenswood and six months later to Townsville. George resigned from the Police Force on 6th August 1914, just as war was breaking out in Europe. According to George’s father, George was managing a family property in Western Queensland prior to enlistment in the AIF.

George enlisted in Toowoomba on 8th October 1915. His enlistment papers show a young man of 21 years ( he was in fact 20 years and ten months) six feet tall and single. He stated his occupation as grazier. George took a train from Toowoomba to Brisbane and from there to Enoggera Camp where he was allocated to “B” Company of the 42nd Battalion.
The 42nd Battalion would form part of the 11th Brigade of the 3rd Division AIF. George must have proven to be a good soldier as he was promoted to the rank of corporal at the end of February 1916 and by 18th April was a sergeant. His previous experience with the Queensland Police may have also had some bearing on his rapid promotion.

On 5th June 1916, after a period of home leave, the men of the 42nd took a train to Sydney where they boarded the “Borda”. The embarkation roll for the 42nd Battalion lists Sergeant George Bishop , with a daily pay rate of ten shillings, eight shillings of which was allocated to his parents at Linville. After seven weeks at sea, the “Borda” docked in Southampton. The men of the 42nd were marched to the 3rd Division Training camp at Larkhill.

This “English” division, the 3rd Division AIF, was commanded by newly promoted Major General John Monash. Monash had a reputation for meticulous planning and attention to detail. He was a civil engineer and lawyer in civilian life and it was recorded that on more than one occasion he got down off his horse to show some pioneers the correct way to swing a pick. Monash was determined that when the 3rd Division was finally deployed to the front they would be the best prepared and equipped division in the British Army. The division consisted of more than 20,000 troops, 7000 horses, 64 artillery pieces and 200 machine guns.

Monash was not like any other divisional commander of the time. He was an extremely well educated citizen soldier who could mix easily in the best social circles. He and his soldiers were also a bit of a novelty and the top brass from London often went down to Salisbury Plain to inspect the troops. On 27th September, King George V came down on his private train to inspect the division. Monash organised a parade of 27,000 men which took two hours to pass the saluting base. The King and Monash sat astride their horses chatting about the weather and Melbourne (Monash’s home town) as the entire division marched past. The 3rd Division was ready to go to war.

The 3rd Division crossed the English Channel from Southampton on 25th November 1916. The 42nd Battalion went into reserve positions in the Armentieres sector of the front near the French/Belgian Border. The first months of 1917 were relatively quiet on the western front. To keep troops in a high state of readiness, small trench raids were planned. Both sides engaged in this activity and retaliated in kind with raids of their own or artillery barrages. The 42nd Battalion went into the front line for the first time in late January 1917 and a small trench raiding party was assembled. The raid took place on the 1st February and although the raid was called off almost as soon as the party moved into no man’s land, it triggered a series of retaliatory responses which continued for the next two weeks.

At 4:30am on 14th February, a German Raid was launched against the 42nd Battalion lines, accompanied by a heavy artillery barrage. No German raiders reached the Australian lines but 9 members of the 42nd Battalion were killed by shellfire; one of whom was Sergeant George Bishop.

George was buried in the Cite Bonjean Cemetery in Armentieres with the Reverend Harpin in attendance. When the Imperial War Graves Commission erected headstones over the graves in the 1920’s, George’s parents chose the following inscription: FOR KING AND COUNTRY A NOBLE DUTY BRAVELY DONE.