Coonamble NSW
5662
13th Battalion,
Tooraweenah Kookaburra
RTA 15.6.1919
COOK William George
William was an 18 year old labourer from Wingadee, Coonamble when he enlisted on 11 January 1916. He marched with the Tooraweenah Kookaburras to Bathurst. Private William George Cook was described at 5’6” tall, a 33”-35” chest expansion, fair complexion, light blue eyes, light brown hair, and a Roman Catholic. No distinctive marks noted.
After training at Bathurst, NSW he embarked on HMAT ‘Clan McGillivray’ on 3 May, 1916, bound for Egypt with the 13th Battalion. After further training at Tel el Kebir in Egypt, he arrived in France in October 1916 to face a bleak winter in the trenches of the Western Front. He fell ill with mumps in January 1917 and spent a month in hospital in France. In April 1917 he was wounded in action with a gunshot wound to his legs at Bullecourt. He was sent to England for treatment and convalescence and returned to France on 30 September, 1917. He was gassed a fortnight later on 15 October, 1917 and rejoined the unit on January 1918.
In May 1918 he transferred to the 4th Machine Gun Battalion and remained with them until he commenced his return to Australia in December 1918. His return was delayed when he was sick in hospital in England and he eventually arrived in Australia on 3 August, 1919 on the HT Swakopmund. He was discharged on 17 September, 1919.
William was issued the British War Medal and the Victory Medal and is commemorated on the Gilgooma District Honour Roll.