JUNCK, George Fritz Augustus

George Junck was born in East Melbourne to Otto Junck ,a German who came to Australia at 12 months old and subsequently became an Australian citizen, and Selina Mary Forrester, of Australian origin. George was unemployed when he enlisted for the AIF on 17 June, 1916. He had been working as a Telephone Engineer in the Postal Service in Brisbane, however after the completion of the 12 month probation period, he was let go, likely because of his German origin. He had completed two years military training as a Senior Cadet and a further two years in the Citizens Military Forces.

To enlist a number of statements were required from entities such as the local Mayor and police to support his application. The references saw him as loyal to the British/Australian cause. He was accepted for training at Royal Park for 4 months, then an urgent request appeared from senior army personel to inform him that his services were no longer required, to be enforced immediately. All attempts to join the Expeditionary Forces were rejected. It would appear that his younger brother Allan Ferdinand found himself in the same situation.

Further information on the family provided by Noel Michael Junck:
My grandfather was Arnold Junck from Bendigo who was cousin to George Junck. My grandfather's older brother was George as well. I have a copy of shipping records from when they left Hamburg in 1870 and landed in Tasmania. The great great grandfather had a job of building a bridge in Tasmania and they went to Bendigo in 1873 because there was a lot of people from Germany. There was a German bishop that gave them a lot bricklayer work.