Private George Hannaford

Serving as a runner on the Western Front during World War I required courage, commitment and, if you were to survive, a significant amount of luck. After all, 60,000 Australians were left behind on the Great War’s battlefields. George Hannaford certainly had courage – he was awarded the prestigious Military Medal for his extraordinary efforts running messages between the front line and commanders at the 1917 battle of Polygon Wood. RELATED LINKS Watch Full Episodes Private Hannaford also had enough good luck to make it through the war, returning home to marry and establish a successful dairy farm that is still in the family to this day. Kristy Cooper grew up on that settlement farm and has spent her whole life in the district of Katandra, Victoria. Now, the mother of three wants to know how her family came to be there, how the war shaped her great grandfather’s life, and in turn, how it shaped the destiny of her entire family. Kristy is motivated by her love for her grandfather, George’s son. He is growing old and she wants to be able to tell him what his father endured and achieved on the battlefields of France and Belgium. He remembers a few war stories, but it’s hard to sort fact from myth. Like any men of his generation, George never really talked to his family about what he saw, what he did and the mark it left on him. meant to serve amid the mud and mayhem of the Western Front. An extraordinary story of a true survivor