| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
George was born in May 1878, in Beverley, the son of Tom and Mary Catherine Smith. Tom was a tanners’ labourer. By 1901 George was also working as a tanners’ labourer and was still in the same occupation in 1911. George married Ada Oxendale on the 17 Mar 1906 in Beverley Minster.
The Military Service Act in Jan 1916 made military service compulsory for single men aged between 18 and 40, but exempted married men. Although he was already almost 40 years old, was married and had a family, George was in the Army Reserve, having enlisted in Dec 1915. The Military Service Act was amended in Jun 1916, making military service compulsory for all men aged between 18 and 40, and George was mobilised to serve in the Military Foot Police Corps.
He embarked to Egypt in Jan 1917. In Dec 1917, he was compulsorily transferred to the 7th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, but remained in Egypt until Jun 1918 when he embarked for France. He was reported “missing” on 25 Oct 1918, and was later listed as a prisoner of war having been taken prisoner at Courtrai.
His photograph appeared in the Beverley Guardian 7 Dec 1918, with an article stating he had been taken prisoner on 25 Oct at Courtrai. He was a prisoner for less than a month, during which time he had been in three camps – Oudenard and Dundermonde in Belgium, and Dolman in Germany. He was released on 23 Nov and arrived in Hull on 29 Nov 1918. He was demobilised in Mar 1919. George was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
At the time of his enlistment, George and Ada had four children, Doris, Wilfred, Elsie and Eric. A fifth child, Leslie, was born in 1923. The 1939 Register shows George, Ada, Eric and Leslie, living in Morton Lane, Beverley. George was employed as a corporation labourer and is also shown as a fireman in Beverley Fire Brigade.
George died in 1954 aged 75.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |