Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Date of Enlistment
- 01/02/1916
- Date of Discharge
- 19/08/1919
- Place of Enlistment
- Sydney NSW
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 26/12/1876
- Place of Birth
- Kowen ACT
- Address (at enlistment)
- Kowen ACT
- Occupation
- Shearer
- Next of Kin
- Sarah McInnes (mother), Kowen ACT
Unit and Rank Details
- Service Number
- 4709
- Final Rank
- Private
- Final Unit
- 18 Battalion AIF
Commemoration
Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance, Crawford St, Queanbeyan NSW
Roll of Honor Queanbeyan Public School, Isabella Street, Queanbeyan NSW
Roll of Honour at St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Lowe Street, Queanbeyan NSW
Awards and Honours
Military Medal (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.75, 17 June 1919). The citation says: "This man was a Company runner. During the operation near Rainecourt (east of Villers-Bretonneux) on the afternoon of 9th August 1918 he repeatedly carried messages under very heavy machine gun and rifle fire. He went twice back to Battalion Headquarters and at least 800 yards of this journey was under very heavy machine gun fire and rifle fire, showing bravery at a critical period."
Notes
George McInnes was the older brother of Charles McInnes. He was named after the Presbyterian minister for the Queanbeyan district, Rev. George Lockhart Nairn (1875-1880). McInnes was a well-known shearer in the Canberra district but had also served an apprenticeship with McPherson and Hannaford as a coachsmith. He enlisted in February 1916 in Sydney and served with the 18th Battalion in France from October 1916. In November he was hospitalised with trench feet, returning to his unit in May 1917. He was hospitalised in October 1917 again with trench feet and was awarded the Military Medal for his actions as a Company runner on 9 August 1918 at Rainecourt. McInnes fought at Mont St. Quentin on 31 August 1918 and in the assault on the Beaurevoir Line in October. In March 1919 he was granted leave to attend a motor mechanics course in London. McInnes returned to Australia in July 1919 and was discharged on 19 August 1919. In 1920 he leased soldier settler Block 10B at Tuggeranong, near Pine Island, but the proliferation of noxious weeds (particularly saffron thistle) on the land saw him walk off the block in 1924. McInnes never married and lived in Queanbeyan after the war. He died on 23 December 1959 in hospital in Sydney, a few days short of his 83rd birthday.
Description - height 5 feet 4¾ inches, weight 140 pounds, chest 34 to 37 inches, dark complexion, brown eyes, dark brown hair, Presbyterian, small scar on inside left leg, four inch scar over left breast (nipple removed), small scar behind left thigh.
Sources
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Marilyn Folger, 'McInnes Family of Gilbert and Mary', 1998
Jan Armour, 'And this stone: the story of St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Queanbeyan, on the occasion of the centenary', 1974
Jenny Horsfield, 'Voices Beyond the Suburbs: the Soldier Settlers of Tuggeranong', 2018
Queanbeyan Age - 14 April 1916
Queanbeyan/ Canberra Advocate - 29 June 1916
The Canberra Times - 25 December 1959
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
ArchivesACT Repat and Rabbits - https://www.archives.act.gov.au/repatandrabbits/george_mcinnes
Image courtesy Catherine Genge