EDWARDS, GEORGE H A
Private 2452
East Surrey Regiment 9th Bn.
Died 21-April-1916 aged
20
George was born in 1896 at Walton on the Hill within the
district of Reigate
George Edwards is recorded as living at 11
Asylum Cottages Banstead Downs in the 1911
census.
George
Edwards
was
born
on
2nd
March
1896
in
Walton-‐on-‐the-‐Hill.
His
father,
Arthur,
was
from
a
Walton
family.
Arthur
worked
as
a
groom
and
also
served
as
a
reservist
with
The
Queen's
(Royal
West
Surrey
Regiment).
George's
mother,
Elizabeth
(nee
Burton),
was
a
Sussex
girl.
Arthur
and
Elizabeth
married
in
Walton-on-the-Hill
in
May
1895
and
George
came
along
ten
months
later,
the
first
of
six
sons.
Arthur
became
an
attendant
at
the
London
County
Lunatic
Asylum
on
Banstead
Downs
(where
the
prisons
stand
today)
and
the
family
moved
to
Kings
Road,
Belmont.
Arthur
was
called
up
when
the
Boer
War
broke
out
in
1899.
He
served
with
the
2nd
Queen's,
part
of
General
Sir
Redvers
Buller's
column
that
relieved
the
besieged
town
of
Ladysmith,
and
Arthur
fought
at
Colenso
and
in
several
other
engagements
before
being
invalided
home
with
an
ulcer.
The
family
moved
to
2
Aylmer
Cottages,
Queens
Road,
before
moving
again,
to
11
Asylum
Cottages
in
Freedown
Lane
on
Banstead
Downs.
George
was
working
as
a
gardener
when
war
broke
out
in
August
1914.
He
lied
about
his
age,
adding
a
year
so
that
he
was
"19",
old
enough
to
fight
overseas,
when
father
and
son
joined
the
Army
together
at
Sutton
on
10th
September,
one
of
the
busiest
recruiting
days
of
the
war.
They
attested
with
the
East
Surrey
Regiment
and
were
assigned
to
the
3rd
(Reserve)
Battalion
for
training.
George
was
then
posted
to
a
new
battalion,
the
10th,
before
being
shipped
out
to
join
the
9th
(Service)
Battalion
in
October
1915
as
part
of
a
draft
of
230
men,
sorely
needed
replacements
for
the
9th
who
had
suffered
devastating
casualties
at
Loos
a
week
earlier.
Even
though
the
9th
Battalion
had
been
in
France
for
a
month,
they
had
yet
to
spend
time
in
the
trenches,
so
George
shared
his
first
taste
of
trench
life
with
the
other
men
of
the
battalion.
The
weather
was
terrible
and
there
was
running
water
in
the
trenches; it
was
a
constant
battle
to
keep
them
in
good
repair.
Communications
trenches
collapsed
and
that
meant
that
rations
and
other
supplies
had
to
be
carried
overland,
a
dangerous
business.
They
were
able
to
spend
December
refitting,
training,
resting
and
relaxing
with
sporting
competitions,
trips
to
the
cinema
and
to
lectures
and
concerts
before
returning
to
the
front
line
in
the
New
Year.
It
was
cold
and
the
trenches
were
in
a
bad
state
but
at
least
it
was
quiet
–
although
"quiet"
still
meant
being
shelled,
bombarded
by
trench
mortars,
daily
rifle
grenade
barrages
and
exchanging
tit-for-tat
machinegun
fire.
There
were
new
threats
too:
underground
warfare
was
beginning
to
make
its
appearance
and
men
from
both
sides
were
busy
tunnelling
and
planting
mines
under
No
Man's
Land
and
each
other's
trenches;
gas
cylinders
were
arriving
in
German
trenches,
now
filled
with
a
new,
deadlier,
gas:
phosgene.
It
would
not
be
long
before
the
valves
of
those
cylinders
were
opened.
George
Edwards
died
on
(or
around)
the
21st
April
1916,
a
victim
of
attritional
trench
warfare.
The
exact
circumstances
of
his
death
are
a
mystery
as
his
name
is
not
recorded
amongst
the
dead
or
wounded
in
the
Battalion's
war
diary.
He
was
officially
recorded
as
killed
in
action
and
he
was
most
likely
to
have
been
the
victim
of
a
rifle
grenade
attack.
George
is
buried
in
Dranoutre
Cemetery.
He
is
commemorated
on
the Banstead
War
Memorial,
the
Garton
Memorial
in
All
Saints'
churchyard
and
on
the
wooden
panels
inside
the
church.
He
was
twenty.
George
was
awarded
the
British
War
Medal,
the
Victory
Medal
and
the
1914-‐15
Star.
Grave/Memorial Reference: I. C. 7.
DRANOUTRE
MILITARY CEMETERY
Research by James Crouch
Source : Commonwealth
War Graves Commission. 'George H A ' per National archives WWl Medal
records. All saints WWI Book of remembrance shows address SDGW -
note that this record shows place of birth as Walton on thames. Ist should
be Walton on the Hill. Birth and census details from Christine
Kent
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Last updated 10 Sept 2016 |