Person:George Roney (22)

George Connell Roney was born in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia during 1894 and he was killed in action during the first World War in France on the 19th July 1916 at the Battle of Fromelles. In response to a query from the Red Cross in relation to the missing George Roney, Corporeal R.E. Poulter responded with the following;

“With the exception of Roney who was in C Co. all of the above belonged to B. Co., I knew them all. They all went over the top on 19 th July at Fromelles. We had 440 yards to cross under heavy fire and a creek to get over in the bargain. None of these men answered roll call. In my own mind they were all killed. We could not get any bodies in, most of which lay 100 yards out in No Man's Land.”

In recent years many of the lost soldiers have been found through DNA testing of remains found in mass graves. In 2015 George is still Missing in Action. The Australian War Memorial article, Disaster at Fromelles describes the battle of Fromelles.