George Edward Franklin
Rank:
Driver
Serial No:
Serial No. 9873
Regiment:
9th Field Company Engineers
Suburb:
Mt Hunter
George Edward Franklin - Information
George watched his brother Leslie Gordon, enlist in the AIF in 1915. George was born in Nhill, Victoria in March 1883 to George and Mary Franklin. The Franklin family later moved to Spring Creek in Mt Hunter near Camden. Here, George eventually found work as a farm hand. Deciding to do his bit, he then followed his brother, joining up in Rosebery Park on the 15th of February 1916, aged 33. He departed Sydney on the 5th of July 1916 on the HMAT Ajana as a Driver with the 9th Field Company Engineers.
George received further instruction in England, before leaving Southampton for France in late November. George and his unit endured the terrible frontline conditions completing work details. They were responsible for constructing roads, billets, dugouts, trenches. They helped to carry wounded, ammunition, and even picked up a rifle in dire circumstances, which was often. He survived the war, and began his voyage home on the Borda in May 1919.