George Wherry Greenshields was born in the small settlement of Owen, 80 kms north of Adelaide, in 1885. He was living in Adelaide and working as a storeman when he enlisted in the 27th Battalion on 9th August 1915. Before the start of the 1913 season he was noted playing in a trial game for Sturt reserves, and became a regular with this team for the rest of the season.
Greenshields, now in the 32nd Battalion, was in France by 1916 and went through a terrible baptism of fire at Fromelles on 23rd July, when he was wounded. September 1917 saw him facing a court martial, for an AWOL offence and “using insubordinate language to a superior officer”. He escaped lightly with only a docking of pay. Not long afterwards Greenshields won a Military Medal for bravery at Polygon Wood.
After surviving influenza in 1918 he was returned to Australia and discharged in June 1919. George Wherry Greenshields married Jessie McKenzie in 1924 and he died in Adelaide in 1964.