Informal portrait of 66 Private (Pte) George Forrest, 34th Battalion, of West Maitland, NSW; ...

Informal portrait of 66 Private (Pte) George Forrest, 34th Battalion, of West Maitland, NSW; formerly of County Tyrone, Ireland. Pte Forrest was a labourer prior to enlisting in January 1916 and, as stated on his enlistment papers, a member of A Battery, NSW, for 19 years. Pte Forrest gave his age at enlistment as 45 years, but he was in fact 59. He had served in the Colonial Military Forces in NSW from 1883 and, as 1090 Driver George Forrest, served in an artillery unit in the Sudan from March to June 1885. From 1899 until 1902, 1090 Gunner Forrest served in South Africa with A Battery Royal Australian Artillery. On 2 May 1916, Pte Forrest embarked from Sydney on board HMAT Hororata (A20) and arrived for service on the Western Front in November 1916. He was killed in action by a shell explosion at Messines, Belgium, shortly after commencement of the attack on 7 June 1917. He was 60 years of age.