George Mackay was one of four Glasgow-born brothers who enlisted for the war. He played for Kangaroo-Point-based club Wellington in 1913 before joining his brothers John and William at Bulimba Rangers in 1915. Mackay married Mabel Murdoch in 1914 and the pair had a child in 1916.
They were living in Manly, Queensland when Mackay enlisted on 27 April 1917, but he was transferred to Melbourne. Mabel also moved to Victoria, where she lived in Essendon. Mackay’s enlistment paper was stamped “Sportsmens’ Unit” reflecting a 1917 enlistment campaign designed to appeal to those involved to sports, who it was believed had the physical attributes required to be a soldier.
Allocated to the 7th Battalion, he departed Melbourne in August. Mackay arrived in France in February 1918 where he fought until receiving a gunshot wound to the back. This saw him evacuated to England in August, and then back to Australia in December. Mabel wrote to the Victoria Barracks in January 1919, worried that Mackay would be forced to alight in Brisbane where he enlisted rather than Melbourne where she was not living, but the base assured her that he would be sent to the Finalising Depot, Base Hospital on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, and provided her with a ticket which permitted her to enter the base to meet him.
It appears the family moved to Toowoomba by 1930, where he passed away in 1973.