George Watego, 26th Infantry Battalion, The Queenslander Pictorial, 7 October 1916, p.28
George Watego, 26th Infantry Battalion
George Watego was born near Sydney, NSW in 1891 and was working as a labourer when he enlisted in Brisbane 26 April 1916. After training at Enoggera he embarked on the troopship 'Boonah' arriving in England in January 1917.
He joined his battalion in May 1917 and during operations in Belgium at Westhoek Ridge, George Watego was severely wounded in the head and jaw. Watego was at first admitted to the 6th Australian Field Ambulance, then evacuated to England and admitted to King George's Hospital, London.
After six months treatment and recovery he was repatriated to Australia and medically discharged, in February 1918. His brother Murray Watego, who enlisted on the same day, was assigned to the 41st Infantry Battalion and after also being wounded in action was returned home on the same ship, as his brother.
Further reading ...
- Service record: WATEGO, George
- Embarkation roll
- Unit Diaries, 26th Infantry Battalion, September 1917
- Queenslands' Aboriginal brothers in arms in AIF
- One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection
Watch ...
- Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen Digital Story and Oral History [mp4, 12mins]
The information in this blog post has been researched by State Library staff and volunteers, it is based on available information at this time. If you have more information that you would like to share or further research uncovers new findings, this post will be updated.
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