page_title: George Howell (soldier)
section_title: Later life
hierarchical_section_title: George Howell (soldier) / Later life
caption_attribution_description: English: AWM caption: Melbourne, VIC, 1927-04-25. VC winners and recipients of other high awards for bravery line up on parade near the Exhibition Building (not in view) at the Anzac day march. Left to right: front row: Captain James Ernest Newland Lieutenant (Lt) George Mawby Ingram MM Lt John Patrick Hamilton Lt William Ruthven Second row: Corporal (Cpl) Walter Ernest Brown Private (Pte) George Cartwright Pte William Matthew Currey Sergeant (Sgt) George Julian Howell Third row: Cpl Arthur Percy Sullivan Sgt Albert David Lowerson Lt Edgar Thomas Towner unknown. Fourth row: Pte Thomas James Bede Kenny obscured; Stanley Gibbs, a winner of the Albert Medal Sgt Stanley Robert McDougall Fifth row: unknown; Sgt John James Dwyer rest unknown. With the exception of Gibbs, all of the men named were winners of the Victoria Cross.
context_page_description: George Julian "Snowy" Howell, VC, MM was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Howell was decorated with the Victoria Cross following his actions during the Second Battle of Bullecourt, in which he ran along the parapet of a trench bombing the German forces attacking his position through the use of grenades, and thus driving them back.
  Born in a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Howell was employed as a builder before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in June 1915. Allotted to the force's 1st Battalion, he served at Gallipoli prior to transferring to the Western Front. Participating in the Somme offensive of 1916, Howell was wounded at Pozières and promoted to corporal in early 1917. During an attack on a German held village, he led a rifle bombing section and was awarded the Military Medal for his actions. Severely wounded in his Victoria Cross action, Howell underwent a prolonged hospitalisation period before returning to Australia and receiving his discharge on medical grounds.
context_section_description: On 1 March 1919, Howell married Sadie Lillian Yates, a nurse, at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church in Sydney. The pair settled in Coogee, where Howell was employed on the advertising staff of Smith's Newspapers Ltd and later the Bulletin Newspaper Co. Pty Ltd. By 1933, he was the New South Wales representative for the Brisbane Standard and the Queensland Worker.
  At the outbreak of the Second World War, Howell once again offered his services and enlisted in the Australian Army on 14 October 1939. Posted to Eastern Command Headquarters, Paddington, he was granted the rank of staff sergeant, but found staff work to be dull and sought his discharge in February 1941. In August 1944, Howell enlisted in the United States Army for service in 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, following his wife's death, Howell moved from Sydney to Western Australia. Accompanied by his grandson, the journey took four days by train before the pair arrived in the Perth suburb of Applecross, where Howell was to live with his married daughter, Norma. He later moved to Gunyidi, via Watheroo, where he was to reside for a few years before returning to Perth. In 1956, he joined the Australian contingent of Victoria Cross recipients who attended the parade in London's Hyde Park to commemorate the centenary of the institution of the Victoria Cross.
  Howell died at the Repatriation General Hospital, Hollywood, Perth, on 23 December 1964. He was granted a funeral with military honours, before his body was cremated and his ashes interred at Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth. Howell's name is commemorated by a plaque in the Western Australian Garden of Remembrance, and his Victoria Cross and other medals are on display at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
caption: A group of Victoria Cross recipients lined up to march in the 1927 Melbourne Anzac Day march. Howell is on the right, second row.
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