Service: Army – 39 Infantry Battalion
Service number: V5504
Locality on Enlistment: Geelong
Duration of Service: 22 Aug 1940 – 30 Dec 1942
Prisoner of War: No
Honours: WW1 Military Medal
Date and Place of Birth: 11 Aug 1895 Cressy
Parents: Peter Mack MOWAT and Sarah JEWELL
Spouse: Norma CHAPMAN
School/s: Cressy State School
Occupation: Driver
Date and Place of Death: KIA 30 Dec 1942 Sanananda Papua New Guinea
Place of Burial: Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery
NOTES: WW1 – Mowat was awarded a Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.
WW2 – In 1942 the diary of Warrant Officer George William Mowat refers to both ‘track’ and ‘trail’. As his company of the 39th began its journey towards Kokoda, an entry of 25 July states: ‘Trail rough steep and slippery’. Two days later he wrote: ‘Track slippery some places had to crawl’. Fierce fighting continued further along the coast and on 21 December the 21st Brigade and 39th moved to the Sanananda Track. The next morning the 39th moved into a forward position called Huggins’ Road Block. The 39th defended the area and attacked nearby Japanese positions. In the New Year it withdrew to Soputa and returned to the 30th Brigade.
Diary, brief daily entries describing conditions and fighting on the Kokoda Trail. Biographical note on Mowat. Australian War Memorial