Great Uncle George

No-one in the family ever mentioned The Great War and whether any relatives had gone to war and survived or perished, and as a teenager or young woman I never thought to ask, but why would I?  It was in later years, after dad had died, and when the 1901 census became available online that I started the family research and found the great uncles I never knew existed.

Great Uncle George was my paternal grandmother's brother who had emigrated to South Africa as a tailor, but I've no idea when.  What I do know is that he joined the South African Expeditionary Force on 28th August 1915 as a Sergeant aged 39.  He didn't die on that first day but his battalion was wiped out at Delville Wood on the 15th July 1916 and his body and so many others were never found.

JJ and I visited the Thiepval Memorial in September 2006 to pay our respects.  His name is inscribed on the right-hand pillar.  Five along and six up.  I am only sorry that I didn't know about this until after my grandmother and my father had died.  This is a copy photograph of the picture I took at the time.