Soldier profiles
Name : NEWTON, GEORGE WILLIAM
Service Number : VX14981
Date of Birth : 14/03/1900
Place of Birth : KARDELLA, VIC
Known as :
Occupation on Enlistment :
Date of Enlistment : 13/05/1940
Locality on Enlistment : EAST ST KILDA, VIC
Place of Enlistment : CAULFIELD, VIC
Next of Kin : NEWTON, ANNIE
Rank (at time of discharge / death) : WARRANT OFFICER CLASS 2
Service : ARMY
Final Posting : 2/2 PIONEER BATTALION
Position / Platoon / Company (as 2/2 Pioneer) (date / details) : C COMPANY
Unit Transfers / Promotions (date / details) :
Theatres of War : SYRIA
Actions : LITANI RIVER (SYRIA)
Wounded (date / details) : 18/06/1941 SERIOUSLY WOUNDED DURING AIR ATTACK
Discharged : 07/02/1942
Date Died : 22/04/1978
Age at Death : 78
Community Roll of Honour : N/A
Buried Location / Memorial (P.O.W., D.O.W., K.I.A.) : N/A
K.I.A. (date / details) : N/A
D.O.W. (date / details) : N/A
M.I.A. (date / details) : N/A
P.O.W. (location/s) : NO
Died P.O.W. (date / details) : N/A
P.O.W. Camps (details) : N/A
Recovered P.O.W. (location/s) : N/A
Honours and Gallantry : None for display
Applicable Australian War Memorial circulars : NO
References found (entries & photos) : National Archives of Australia (Barcode 6209317 [OPEN]), WW2 Nominal Roll, K_NEWTON_1.jpg, K_NEWTON_2.jpg, K_NEWTON_3.jpg, Past article (size 280kB)
Background : In the air-attack, in the morning of 18/06/1941, that seriously wounded George; he was partially blinded in the left-eye plus losing a lot of the left temple and had other shrapnel wounds. He had pieces of shrapnel exiting his arm and chest for years later. The truck that he was in was the only truck in a convoy that was hit in this straffing. George was sitting between Private N. A. McKay who was killed and Private A. Watson, driving, who was so wounded that he died two days later. George and his fellow Warrant Officer, E. C. Grigg, had been with the 2/2nd since its formation. "Hughy" Grigg stayed with the battalion and was captured by the Japanese in Java. He survived the 3 years 6 months as a P.O.W. and returned to Aspendale in Victoria, from where he had enlisted, in 1945. George died of a heart attack on 22/04/1978.
