George Mervin Hunter (SN 8578) was born in Tasmania but his mother, next of kin, was a resident in Ballarat when he enlisted in Adelaide on August 24th 1915. He embarked aboard the Persic on November 22nd assigned to the 5th Field artillery Brigade as a gunner. He reached France in January 1917 and was wounded in action on July 31st when he suffered a shrapnel wound to his left ear. He was evacuated to England for treatment but while there, illness saw him spend 46 days at Bulford Hospital. He returned to France in January 1918 and saw out the remainder of the war without major incident. He returned to Australia aboard the Ypiringa, disembarked Melbourne on July 2nd 1919 and was discharged on August 24th.