| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information
George was born in Beverley the 18 Jul 1895 and baptised at St Nicholas’ Church, Beverley the 11 Aug 1895, the son of Peter Eyre Atkinson and Mary Isabella (nee Sherrington). The family lived in Mill Lane, Beverley. George became a railway clerk for the NER. He was a member of the Beverley Church Lads’ Brigade from 1909-1913 and was described as having been “steady and reliable during early membership but fell away…” Indeed he was dismissed on 6 Jun 1913.
George enlisted on 12 Oct 1914 with the 5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. He rose through the ranks to become a Sergeant. George served on the Somme in 1916, at Arras and Passchendaele in 1917 and may have been present during the German offensives in Mar and May 1918. On 26 Jun 1918 George received a commission he served for the rest of the war as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps. He was awarded the War and Victory Medals.
George returned and lived in Hull on Melrose Street, off Anlaby Road, working as an LNER railway clerk. He returned to Beverley and on 16 Jun 1923 he married Hilda Goose at St Mary’s Church. They had two children, Isobel born 1926 and Ann born 1929. Hilda died on 8 Oct 1930. By 1939 George was working as general secretary and general manager of the Harbour Commission, in Whitley Bay, he died on 17 Feb 1971 aged 75.
Includes information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |