British War Medal 1914-20 : Corporal G J Howell, 1 Battalion, AIF

British War Medal 1914-20. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

George Julian 'Snowy' Howell was born to Francis John and Martha Howell at Enfield, Sydney on 19 November 1893. Following his education at Croydon Park and Burwood Public Schools, Howell was apprenticed as a bricklayer to a Mr Shannon of Campsie. He was a keen athlete and enjoyed football, playing with the local team the Enfield Federals. It was as a bricklayer that he enlisted in the first AIF on 3 June 1915.

Posted as reinforcement to 1 Battalion as private 2445, Howell embarked for Egypt from Sydney on 14 July 1915, aboard HMAT Orsova. He joined his battalion on Gallipoli on 4 November but returned to Alexandria on 28 December following the evacuation of the peninsula. Embarking again in March 1916, the battalion moved to France. A week after arriving Howell attended mortar training school. During the bitter fighting around Pozieres in July, he was wounded in the back on 23 July and evacuated to England, returning to his unit on 26 November. Appointed lance corporal on 10 December, Howell attended a training school prior to a further promotion to corporal on 6 February 1917.

In April the 1st Division was tasked with the capture of three villages used by the Germans as outposts to the Hindenburg Line; Hermies, Boursies and Demicourt. The objectives were part of the larger Arras offensive aimed at smashing the German defences and bringing about a swift end to the war. Although significant advances were made, by the end of the offensive on 19 May, the war dragged on. It was during the Arras offensive that Howell was twice recognised for acts of heroism. For his actions on the first day of the offensive, on 9 April, while leading a section during the capture of Demicourt, Howell was awarded the Military Medal.

On 6 May, during the Second Battle of Bullecourt, Howell was involved in the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Due to the severity of the wounds he suffered in the engagement he was invalided to Australia on 31 December 1917 and discharged on 5 June 1918. Howell did not return to his pre-war occupation, instead choosing to work on the advertising staff for a number of publications in New South Wales and Queensland. He married Sadie Lillian Yates on 1 March 1919.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Howell once again enlisted. On 14 October 1939 he was posted to the 2nd Garrison Battalion at Sydney Showground but was discharged in December. Ostensibly the discharge was for services no longer required; in reality Howell was bored with the garrison duties. In June the following year he again enlisted, understating his age by three years, possibly in the hope of obtaining an active overseas posting. Disappointment followed with another domestic posting and eight months later he was again discharged.

Finally, Howell managed to see fighting when he joined the United States Sea Transport Service in 1944 in time for the invasion of Leyte. Howell was serving on a tug when it was attacked by suicide bombers, and also survived a monsoon while carrying a cargo of high octane fuel between Hollandia and San Pedro Bay in the Philippines.

In December 1953, following the death of his wife, Howell moved to Western Australia to live with his daughter, Norma. He attended the centenary celebrations of the Victoria Cross in London in 1956. Snowy Howell died in the Repatriation General Hospital in Perth on 23 December 1964, and was accorded a funeral with full military honours.