George Booth Ormerod

Trooper 264
8th Australian Light Horse Regt (A Troop, B Squadron)

George was born in Mungindi, Queensland, Australia, the son of Sedgwick and Charlotte Margaret Ormerod.

He attended The Grange School, South Garra, and Caulfield Grammar School, where he served in the school cadets.

George enlisted at Toorak, Victoria, Australia, on 29 December 1914, at which time he recorded his occupation as "Jackeroo".

He was killed on Walker's Ridge on 7 August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign, and his name appears on the Lone Pine Memorial.

The Australian War Memorial website describes how the regiment that would eventually become the 8th Light Horse Regiment was formed at Broadmeadows camp in Victoria on 23 September 1914, as the 6th Light Horse Regiment. A reorganisation of the rapidly expanding A.I.F. in early October resulted in the 6th being renumbered the 8th, and it became part of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. It sailed from Melbourne on 24 February 1914 and arrived in Egypt on 14 March 1915.

The Light Horse were considered unsuitable for the initial operations at Gallipoli, but were subsequently deployed without their horses. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade landed in late May 1915 and was attached to the New Zealand and Australian Division. The 8th formed the first two waves for the Brigade’s disastrous attack on The Nek on 7 August and suffered heavily. Exhausted and under-strength, the regiment then played a defensive role until it finally left the peninsula on 20 December 1915.

At the time of George's death his mother was living at 4 Canterbury Rd, Toorak, Victoria, Australia. She later moved to Broadford, Victoria.

When supplying his details for the Roll of Honour of Australia in the Memorial Museum, George's mother, Charlotte, stated that there was a connection between George and two other Australian servicemen - Eric S. Ormerod, of the 26th Battalion, and Egbert Quarterman Ormerod, of 4th F.A.B. 12th Battery. She did not expand on what this relationship was, but it is now known that they were brothers.

The records for George, held at the National Archives of Australia, show that he was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. A Memorial Plaque and King's Message was sent to his mother, Charlotte Ormerod.

A digital copy of the personal records held for George at the National Archives of Australia can be viewed online at the National Archives of Australia Website (NAA: B2455, ORMEROD GEORGE BOOTH).

George is remembered on the war memorial at Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.

	George Booth Ormerod commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial
	Australian Trenches at The Nek
	The Nek, looking towards Sergeant Mehmet's Tomb - a Turkish memorial marking the approximate position of the Turkish Front Line
	The Memorial Plaque at The Nek, which reads:   THE NEK   THIS KEY POSITION, DEFENDED VIGOROUSLY BY BOTH SIDES, SAW REPEATED ATTACKS ACROSS THIS NARROW RIDGE. THE ANZAC TRENCHES WERE LOCATED CLOSE TO THE CEMETERY. THE TURKISH TRENCHES ORIGINATED NEAR TO THE RAISED DARK STONE MEMORIAL ON YOUR RIGHT AND RAN IN 8 TIERS TO THE TOP OF THE FIRST HILL (BABY 700). A COURAGEOUS BUT FUTILE ATTACK BY THE AUSTRALIANS WAS MADE ON AUGUST 7, 1915, WHEN OVER 800 MEN WERE KILLED IN THE AREA IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF YOU.
	The Nek, looking at the rear of The Nek CWGC Cemetery. The rear wall of the Cemetery marks the approximate position from which the Light Horse charged the Turkish trenches.