George Howell (VC) - Later Life

Later Life

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 is currently on display at the Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum, Queensland.