CORPORAL GEORGE SCOTT BLACK
AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY
28TH FEBRUARY 1917 AGE 19
BURIED: WARLENCOURT BRITISH CEMETERY, FRANCE
This is such a wonderful inscription, so anonymous and yet so possessive - "Our son". Mr and Mrs William Black make no attempt to identify themselves on the headstone, they just wanted the world to know that George Scott Black was "our son".
Braidwood, New South Wales, has put together a folder on Corporal Scott as part of its centenary commemorations. Among the documents is his attestation form - he attested on 2 March 1915 - his active service record, with its record of his hospital admissions for diarrhoea and dysentery, and the 56 days Field Punishment No. 2 he received on 4 April 1916 for using insubordinate language to his superior officer.
There is also a letter from Mrs Black to Base Records telling them that she had taken out insurance on her son's life and now wanted to claim against it but that the insurance company had told her that the telegram from the army was not sufficient proof of her son's death. The company required a medical certificate, could they advise her as to how she might go about getting this extra proof.