Name
George Baldwin
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
10/03/1915
19
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Rifleman
6/778
King’s Royal Rifle Corps
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LE TOURET MEMORIAL
Panels 32 and 33
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Oddfellows Memorial, Rickmansworth
Pre War
George was born in Rickmansworth in 1896, the son of George William and Ellen Baldwin. In 1891, with children Lily and William, both born in Rickmansworth, they were living in Mill End, Rickmansworth. In 1901, now with five children, the family was at 75 Abbey Street, Bermondsey, and in 1911 at 6 Wakelin Road, West Ham. In 1912 George was employed by British Petroleum Company as a Casual Labourer.
George enlisted as a Reservist on the 5th of December 1912. He was aged 17 years and 3 months, 5’ 2” tall, weighed 116 lb and had brown eyes and hair. The date of his joining the regular army is not recorded but would have been around the end of December 1912 as his service to date of death was 2 years 96 days.
Wartime Service
Enlisted in Stratford, Essex. George entered France on 24 Nov 1914.
1st Battalion landed Rouen 13th of August 1914 as part of 6th Brigade 2nd Division. During 1914 they saw action at the Battle of Mons and subsequent retreat, at Marne, Aisne, and 1st Ypres where they lost 1027 men killed, wounded or missing. From the 4th to the 9th of March 1915 the Battalion was holding trenches at Givenchy preparing for an offensive scheduled for around the 10th, later known as the Battle of Neuve – Chapelle. At 9.10 am on the 10th the Battalion attacked, immediately coming under heavy rifle and machine gun fire and suffering many casualties. A few men reached the enemy trenches but were later forced to retire to their original positions. George was initially declared missing but soon confirmed as killed in action.
Acknowledgments
Malcolm Lennox; Mike Collins
