HOWELL George Julian
RANK Corporal
UNIT 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Division
DATE 6 May 1917
PLACE Bullecourt, France
'SNOWY' HOWELL was born at Enfield, New South Wales, on 19 November 1893, to Francis John and Martha Howell. Educated at the Croydon Park and Burwood Public Schools, he took up bricklaying and later became a builder in the Enfield area of Sydney. He enlisted on 3 June 1915 and was posted as a reinforcement to the 1st Battalion, which he joined on Gallipoli on 1 November. Howell went with the 1st to France and was wounded in July 1916 during the battle of Pozieres; he was appointed lance corporal on 10 December and promoted to corporal on 6 February 1917.
On 9 April Howell was awarded the Military Medal for courage and devotion to duty while leading a rifle bombing section during the 1st Battalion's capture of the village of Demicourt. Fourteen divisions, including the 2nd Australian Division, attacked the Hindenburg line on 3 May 1917.
Only the Canadians on the extreme right and the 6th Australian Brigade on the extreme left were able to take and hold their objectives. In the next few days more troops were drawn in to hold and extend the gains of 3 May. When the Germans launched a general counter-attack on 6 May they used flame-throwers, which caused the 3rd Brigade to withdraw from its trenches. At 6 a.m. Howell notified battalion headquarters that the battalion to his right was retiring. The 1st Battalion commander then hurriedly organized a group to resist the enemy assault and a fierce bombing fight ensued. Howell, fearing that the enemy would outflank his battalion, climbed on to the top of the parapet and bombed the enemy, forcing them back along the trench. When his bombs ran out Howell continued to pursue the enemy with his bayonet but as he was exposed to heavy bomb and rifle fire it was not long before he was severely wounded. In the interval, the retreating battalions rallied and a party from the 1st succeeded in reclaiming the ground lost to the enemy earlier. Howell received both the Victoria Cross and Military Medal from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 21 July 1917.
Howell's multiple wounds necessitated prolonged hospital treatment and he was returned to Australia in October 1917 and discharged on 5 June 1918. On 1 March 1919 he married a nurse, Sadie Lillian Yates, at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Sydney, and they settled at Coogee. He then joined the advertising staff of Smiths Newspapers and later worked for the Bulletin Newspaper Company. By 1933 he was New South Wales representative for the Standard, Brisbane, and the Queensland Worker.
During the 1939-45 war Howell served as an army staff sergeant at Eastern Command Headquarters, Paddington. In August 1944 he joined the United States Sea Transport Service and was thus able to participate in the invasion of Leyte at the commencement of the Philippines campaign.
In December 1953 Howell moved from Sydney to Western Australia, and settled in Applecross, a suburb of Perth. He then moved to Gunyidi, via Watheroo, and died at the Repatriation General Hospital, Perth, on 24 December 1964. He was cremated at Karrakatta crematorium and a plaque was placed in the Western Australian Garden of Remembrance. A soldier's club bearing his name was opened at Randwick. He had visited London for the Victoria Cross centenary celebrations in 1956.
1st/19th BATTALION THE ROYAL NEW SOUTH WALES REGIMENT ASSOCIATION INC. P.O. Box 224 INGLE BURN NSW 1890 Tele: 0414 907 427
