The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1415) Private George Newhouse, 4th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (1415) Private George Newhouse, 4th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1415 Private George Newhouse, 4th Battalion, AIF
KIA 2 May 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 31 January 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private George Newhouse, who died on Gallipoli during the First World War.

George Newhouse was born in 1891 in Granville, New South Wales, to John and Elizabeth Newhouse. He was the eldest of five surviving children. George’s mother was hospitalised during his youth, leaving his father – a naturalised German citizen who had anglicised his surname – to work and raise the children.

George Newhouse was a popular sporting figure in the local area, and by the time the First World War began he was working as a blacksmith’s striker. On 20 November 1914, only months after the outbreak of the First World War, he enlisted with one of his younger brothers, Harry, at Liverpool Camp.

The following month, with the stress caused by widespread anti-German sentiment, the threat of imminent internment, having sons and nephews in opposing armies, and losing his job, John Newhouse died. Elizabeth Newhouse’s health deteriorated and she died shortly after her husband.
George and Harry Newhouse were allotted to the 2nd reinforcements to the 4th Battalion. They embarked from Sydney in February 1915 aboard the transport ship Seang Bee. After a brief stop in Egypt, where the brothers were taken on strength of the 4th Battalion, they proceeded to Lemnos in preparation for the Gallipoli campaign.

The 4th Battalion came ashore in the second and third waves during the early hours of 25 April. By 2 May the survivors of 4th Battalion were digging in and improving their defences in front of Johnson’s Jolly, a position along the ridge just north of Lone Pine known to the Turkish troops as Kirmezi Sirt or “Red Ridge”, when George Newhouse was killed. He was 24 years old.

His remains were never identified, so his name was added to the Lone Pine Memorial, which commemorates more than 4,900 Australian and New Zealand servicemen with no known graves.

George’s brother Harry arrived on Gallipoli in early May, but was evacuated suffering deafness by the end of the month. Though he returned to Gallipoli briefly in September, he was evacuated again in early October. His hearing and health had broken down and he returned to Australia in 1916.

George Newhouse’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private George Newhouse, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section