The sixth of the eight Cosgrave children, George was a policeman at the outbreak of war and was probably in a reserved occupation. He resigned from the Police on July 8, 1915, went to Australia, changed his name and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force as George Edward Wells. Joining the First Battalion, 11th Reinforcements at the Town Hall in Sydney in August 1915, he described himself as a labourer.
In March 1916, after training in Egypt, Sergeant George Wells (Cosgrave) arrived in Marseilles, France then went to the Somme. Wounded in the right shoulder in June, he spent time in hospital but only a month later, in July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, he won the Military Medal for bravery, rescuing two comrades from No Man’s Land and escorting prisoners under heavy enemy fire.
Initially reported missing in action on November 5, 1916 his pay book was recovered from his body in the field in March 1917. He is buried in Grevillers British Cemetery near Bapaume, Somme, France. He was 27 years old.
Meanwhile, his brother James fought at Gallipoli and then went to France in April 1916 where he became a bombardier. However James was not too keen on Non Commissioned Officers and spent a bit of time on extra duties and confined to barracks for insolence and causing disturbances after lights out. He disobeyed orders and was found drunk on duty for which he was fined five shillings. He also spent time in and out of hospital, once with chicken pox.
By 1917 he appears to have settled down and in June was promoted to Corporal, but after three months he asked to revert to ranks where he obviously felt more comfortable. James was killed in action at Passchendaele, Belgium on October 4, 1917 aged 23. He is buried in the Divisional Cemetery in Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
