George “Darby” Croft was born on the 28th July 1891 in Minmi, NSW, west of Newcastle. George was the third child of Sara Elizabeth (nee Durrant) and Frances Croft. Frances was a miner at the local Seaham Colliery. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1904 at the age of 52, leaving his widow and four children. George’s Grandmother Ann resided with the family during this time, but she passed away in 1908.

George worked as a Hospital Attendant at the Newcastle Mental Hospital, which had approximately 450 patients, the majority of them adults.

George enlisted on 10 September 1915 at Newcastle, NSW. He was 24 years old.

The 30th Battalion was raised as part of the 8th Brigade at Liverpool in New South Wales on 5 August 1915. Most of its recruits hailed from the Newcastle region and other parts of country New South Wales:

George left Australia in February 1916 and travelled to Zeitoun, Egypt to join the rest of the battalion and continue his training. Preliminary orders to head to the Western Front came at the end of May and by 17 June the 30th Battalion were aboard the HT Hororata headed for Marseilles. After landing, there was a 60+ hour train ride to Hazebrouck, 30 km from Fleurbaix. They arrived on 29 June and were then encamped in Morbecque. Private F.R. Sharp wrote home:

Training now included the use of gas masks and they also would have heard the heavy artillery from the front lines. On 8 July they were headed towards the front line, first 20 km to Estaires and the next day 11 km to Erquinghem, where they were billeted at Jesus Farm. They got their first ‘taste’ of being in the front lines at 9 PM on 10 July. A week later they got orders for an attack, but it was postponed due to the weather. Two days later, on 19 July, the 29 officers and 927 other ranks of the 30th Battalion went into battle.

The 30th’s role in the battle was planned to be in support - carrying supplies and ammunition for the 31st and 32nd Battalions who were to lead the attack on the east flank. Machine guns emplacements were to their left and directly ahead at Delrangre Farm and there was heavy artillery fire in No-Man’s-Land.

The 32nd’s charge over the parapet began at 5:53 PM and the 31st’s at 5:58 PM. There were machine guns emplacements to their left and directly ahead at Delrangre Farm and there was heavy artillery fire in No-Man’s-Land. While in a support role and in ‘reserve’, the 30th were soon absorbed into attack as much-needed reinforcements.

When the 30th was formally called to provide fighting support at 10:10 PM, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark of the 30th reported:

Fighting continued through the night. The Australians made a further charge at the main German line, but they were low on grenades, there was machine gun fire from behind from the emplacement at Delangre Farm and they were so far advanced that they were getting shelled by both sides.

At 4:00 AM the Germans began an attack from the Australian’s left flank and by 5:30 AM they attacked from both flanks in force and with bombing parties.

By 10 AM on the 20th, the Germans had repelled the Australian attack and the 30th Battalion were pulled out of the trenches.

Initial figures of the impact of the battle on the 30th were 54 killed, 230 wounded and 68 missing. The ultimate total was that 122 soldiers were either killed or died from wounds and of this total 80 were missing/unidentified.

According to witnesses, on the night of the 19th, George was carrying ammunition in support of the 31st/32nd and was at the first German line when he was hit by a shell. A fellow soldier, Frederick Tickner (2171), was beside him when he died.

William Augustus Pooley (2137) and his brother 2136 George Joseph Pooley (2136) were also from Wallsend and were both wounded in action at Fromelles. Weston McDermot (2117) went on to win a Military Medal at Morlandcourt in 1918.

A further witness, an unnamed private on "Jan Breydell" H.S. Boulogne, said:

Several other soldiers confirmed these statements. George was initially reported as Missing in Action. His mother was advised soon after the battle, but only that her son was wounded and missing. While appreciating the difficulties of getting accurate information following the battle, in September 1916 she wrote seeking more of what had happened to her son.

Sadly, no further information about George was able to be provided. Only in 1917 were the family notified as to his death after a Court of Enquiry had deemed him as being Killed in Action.

While there were extensive searches for the missing after the War, George’s body was not found to be able to provide the family with closure. However, he was clearly not forgotten, with memorial notices placed over the next few years, fondly recalling their brother, son and friend.

An article in the August 23, 2010 Courier Mail written by Alan Lander outlines how George was discovered:

George is now interred at the Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery - Plot III, Row D, Grave No 2.

To date (2024), 26 of the 80 originally unidentified soldiers of the 30th Battalion have been identified and are buried in the Pheasant Wood Cemetery.

George is also commemorated at: