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George McIlroy MC

Albert Park Rowing Club, now Albert Park South Melbourne Rowing Club (VIC)

George Stanley McIlroy was a married 25 year old optician who was born in St Arnaud and was a new member to the Albert Park club when he enlisted in the 24th Battalion as a sergeant on 25th March, 1915.

George served in Gallipoli, arriving in December at the very end of the Turkish campaign and was soon promoted to Lieutenant. He played a key role in the peninsula’s evacuation, being among the last of the ANZACs to leave.

He was promoted to Captain in May 1916, but was invalided to England by the end of the year with neuroasthenia. He was awarded the Military Cross before returning to Australia in March 1917.

George’s memoirs of Gallipoli were later published in Reveille in 1931. He died in 1953, aged 63, and was survived by his wife Clara and son Ian.

Grace Blake
July 2021

Sources:

http://www.apsmrc.com/Honour-Rolls
The Victorian Oarsman by John Lang, Massina & Co, 1919

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The idea for this history originated from the Olympic Rowing and World Senior Rowing Championship histories written by Andrew Guerin and Margot Foster in 1991, 1992 & 1993 for the Australian team handbooks. Andrew Guerin developed and extended these histories to the current format in 2004 for publication in 2004 and then expanded the site.

Steve Roll has been an invaluable contributor to the website in locating errors and finding Christian names of rowers. His superb work is acknowledged.

© Andrew Guerin – 2004
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