Name
George Ginger
1893
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
27/03/1918
23
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
266301
Hertfordshire Regiment
Posted 4th Bn. Bedfordshire Regiment
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ARRAS MEMORIAL
Bay 10.
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
4 Co' Hertfordshire Reg' Territorials’ Memorial, Hitchin, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour, Hitchin, Codicote Village Memorial, Peace Memorial Hall, Codicote, Not listed on the Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
George Ginger was born in Hitchin in 1893, the son of Frederick and Martha Ginger (née Palmer) who married in Stevenage, Herts..
His father died in 1898, aged 45 and on the 1901 Census he was living with his widowed mother (35)and seven siblings in New Street, Codicote. The siblings were named as Elizabeth (17), Frederick (15), Sarah (12), Annie (10), George (7), Ernest (5) and Mary (3). The family seem to have been existing on the wages of Elizabeth, who was then working as a Cook (Domestic), and his 15 year old brother Frederick who was working as a Straw Tier (Agricultural).
By 1911 the family had moved to The Barracks Cottages, High Street, Codicote but only George and his brothers Fred and Ernest were living at home with his mother. Fred was working as a domestic gardener and the other brothers was working as a farm labourer.
His mother later lived at 12 Cannons Cottages, Hitchin Hill, Hitchin, Herts on pension records.
The Soldiers Died In The Great War (SDITGW) database records that he was living in Codicote when he enlisted in Hertford.
Wartime Service
He served initially in 4 Company of the Hertfordshire Regiment with the service number 4366, suggesting that he enlisted after 13 December 1914 and before 11 January. Arriving in France on 10 July 1915. He was later transferred to the 4th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. He is likely to have fought in the Battles of the Ancre in 1916 and 1917 as well as the Third Battle of Ypres, otherwise known as Passchendaele.
At the time of his death, he was serving with the 4th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment with Regimental number 266301. He was killed in action according to ‘Soldiers died’ database, but the Codicote War Memorial states that he died of wounds. In the chaotic conditions following the German attack on the 21st March 1918 it is difficult to know which is correct and the difference is probably one of the timescale between being wounded and dying.
On the 21st March 1918 the 4th Battalion of the Bedfords were part of the 190th Brigade in the 63rd Division of V Corps and were in the salient of the Flesquieres Ridge and Havrincourt Wood area to the south-east of Arras. The British were expecting an attack as in the previous month they had been subjected to heavy artillery bombardments, especially with gas shells that had caused some 700 casualties in the I 90th Brigade. The German attack of the 21st March 1918 was so violent over the next few days that it forced the Brigade to withdraw almost due east to the Thiepval Ridge and back across the River Ancre.
The Battalion fought in the Battle of St Quentin on 21 March 1918, followed by the Battle of Baupame on 24 March. On 27 March they were situated west of Albert where they attacked the railway. They were then relieved and eventually took up billets at Forceville. During this period, 21 soldiers were killed, 88 wounded and 124 missing.
George was killed in action on 27 March 1918, aged 23 and, being one of the missing, has no known grave. His name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France.
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £14 10s and pay owing of £4 2s 9d, she also received a pension of 12 shillings a week in respect of her two sons Ernest and George. Brother to Ernest Ginger who also served with the Bedfordshire Regiment and died on 7 August 1916. N.B. roll-of-honour.com suggests that George was listed locally as serving with the 1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment and having died of wounds, however all other official sources indicate he was killed in action and was serving with 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment at the time of death.
His pension cards record Martha Ginger, his mother, as his next of kin living at 12 Cannons Cottages, Hitchin Hill, Hitchin. Only a address card has been found, but it does mention both G Ginger 266301 and Ernest Ginger 19128, both in the Bedford Regiment.
It is interesting to note that George is recorded with a strong connection to Hitchin, but his brother Ernest has no recorded connection, other that his mother's address was 12 Cannons Cottages, Hitchin Hill, Hitchin, Herts., after their deaths.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Adrian Dunne, Brenda Palmer, June Colegrove, David C Baines, Jonty Wild
