LEATHERHEAD WAR MEMORIALS - WWI

Private George E Hill
87th Coy Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)

Town Memorial P4.R1.C3

Taken, Not Given, Liam Sumption, L&DLHS

Pte
George Hill
Royal West Surrey Regt [sic]
Arras
May 4 1917

George Hill is not mentioned in the Regimental Records of the Queens and the Parish magazine (issue of June 1917) suggests that the inscription on the War Memorial is incorrect. It apparently supplies answers both to his identity and the circumstances of his death. (1)

He was serving in the Machine Gun Corps and died in France on 5 May 1917 from wounds received in action on 25 April. The note in the magazine describes him as “well-known“ as one of the postmen in Leatherhead. Condolences were extended to “Mr and Mrs Hill and family of 6 Burton Villas" of Poplar Road and Mr George Hill (presumably a relative).

In the absence of reference to his actual unit, it is not possible to trace the relevant War Diary and learn any more.

However one observation may be valid. The names of two other members of the Machine Gun Corps appear on the War Memorial, and besides these are Private Lewis Bates of the Berkshires (4 April 1917), a regimental machine-gunner, and Harry Watson (3 August 1917), a machine-gunner in the Canadian Contingent.

A machine-gunner's life was a hazardous one.

Notes on sources
1. Parish magazine of St Mary and St Nicholas, Leatherhead, issue of June 1917.

Stop Press
Soldiers Died in the Great War (Machine Gun Corps)
This gives: born Farnham Surrey and enlisted Guildford (Leatherhead), confirms previously No.17170 Queens Regiment:
Died of wounds 30 April 1917 (which differs from other sources) and was presently a Lance Corporal - Imperial War Museum, Lambeth.

---

Further research

Private
HILL, G E
Service Number 45535
Died 04/05/1917
Aged 30 [sic]*
87th Coy. Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
Son of William and Annie Hill, of Leatherhead; husband of Edith Rebecca Hill, of 6, Queen Anne's Gardens, Leatherhead.
INSCRIPTION
GOD HAS GIVEN ME MUCH STRENGTH TO UPHOLD ME ALL THROUGH
Buried at DUISANS BRITISH CEMETERY, ETRUN
Location: Pas de Calais, France
Cemetery/memorial reference: IV. D. 28.

From the documents seen via Ancestry, George was Attested at Leatherhead on 3 December 1915. He was one of the taller men at 5ft 11 and a half inches. He said he was aged 33.

On  2 June 1916 he was Mobilized and joined the 9th Bn Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment with service number 13768. He transferred to the Machine Gun Corps on 28 July 1916, service number 45535.

He embarked for France at Folkestone on 2 November 1916 and disembarked the same day at Boulogne, traveling to the Base Depot at Camiers on 3 November 1916.

He joined 87 Company of the Machine Gun Corps on 7 February 1917. In March 1917 he was treated for several days by 89 Field Ambulance for Trench Feet.

The War Diary of 87th Machine Gun Company (WO 95/2305/6) records no action on 25th April, the day other reports say George was wounded, so the chronology may have been misunderstood or misreported. Here are the entries concerned:

MUNCHY 23rd April 1917
Coy took part in a general attack on German trenches at 4:45 am. The mobile section sustained heavy casualties but got 2 guns up to 1st objective and maintained them there. Remaining 3 sections did Barrage Fire during and after the attack. Many good targets presented themselves during the day and were fired on both by the 2 forward guns and also by the other sections. These targets included several German counter-attacks which were held up largely by our M.G. fire.
6 O.R. taken on strength.
Casualties: Killed 3 O.R., Wounded Lt. H.P. EDWARD & 16 O.R., Missing 1 O.R.

MUNCHY 24th April 1917
Shelling very greatly reduced on both sides from that on 23rd inst.
A further attack was made at 4pm by 88th Inf. Bde. in which the three rear sections participated with Barrage Fire.
During the night (which was very calm) the Coy was relieved by 8th M.G. Coy and proceeded to rest billets in ARRAS.

ARRAS 25th April 1917
Company moved by motorbus from ARRAS to DUISANS. Transport proceeded independently.

87 Field Ambulance treated him when he suffered Gunshot Wounds in the arm, leg and foot during the Battle of Arras.

The telegram sent on 9 May 1917 by the Officer Commanding 8 Casualty Clearing Station to (illegible) reads:

C2 Cas 461554 OC 8
Cas. Clg. stn France Reports
5 May Died 4 May
45535 Pte G E Hill
87 M. G. Corps S.
W. Left Arm Amp.
and Left Leg. Proelicas [battle casualty]

Later reports do not always match this information.

Surrey Advertiser 
Saturday 5 May 1917

LOCAL WAR CASUALTIES
Pte. George Hill, Machine Gun Section, whose wife lives at Queen Anne’s-terrace, Leatherhead, was seriously wounded on April 25th, and at present lies in a base hospital. His left leg has been amputated.

Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Saturday 12 May 1917

LEATHERHEAD AND THE WAR
DEATH OF PTE G. HILL
On Wednesday morning, Mrs. Hill, of Queen Anne's Gardens, Leatherhead, received the sad intelligence from the chaplain of a base hospital in France that her husband had passed away on the previous Saturday. We recorded last week that Pte. Hill was admitted to a base hospital on April 25th, and was in a serious condition, having lost his left leg and arm.

Pte. G. Hill, who was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Hill, of Poplar-road, Leatherhead, was extremely well known in Leatherhead, and much regret has been felt at his untimely death. He had been in the Army about a twelve-month, and was attached to the Machine Gun Section.

For many years the deceased was attached to the Leatherhead Post Office, and with his comrades in the office and the general public he was very popular. He leaves a widow and a little girl, and the greatest empathy will be felt for them in their bereavement.

From the Leatherhead Parish Magazine, June 1917

FOR KING AND COUNTRY.
The following have given their lives for the cause :-
...
George Hill, Machine Gun Corps, died in France on May 5th, of wounds received in action on April 25th, 1917. He was well known as one of our postmen in Letherhead.
The greatest sympathy will be felt by all for the families who mourn the loss of these brave men.

Mr. and Mrs. Hill and family, of 6, Burton Villas, Poplar Road, and Mrs. George Hill, wish to thank everybody for their kindness and sympathy to them in their great bereavement.

Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Saturday 29 December 1917

The list which present has been compiled from the names that have been recorded in our Columns during the past year ...
MAY
HILL, Pte. G., of the Machine Gun Section, died from wounds, husband of Mrs. Hill, Queen Anne's Gardens, Leatherhead.

* The CWGC records say he was 30 when he died. He was born in 1882 so he was actually 35 when he died.

Edith received a weekly Pension of 18s 9d for herself and one child, with effect from 12 November 1917.

His life

George Edward Hill was born in 1882 in Woking, Surrey and baptised at St John the Baptist Chapel, Woking, Surrey on  27 August 1882.

His father was William Edward Hill (1856-1935) born in Farnham, Surrey, a Labourer.

His mother was Annie Wilson (1857-1955) born in Chessington, Surrey.

They were married on 1 October 1881 at St John the Baptist Chapel, Woking: the Marriage Register records:-

William Edward Hill, 25, Batchelor, Labourer: Bray Heath, Woking: Father - John Corbett, Labourer
Annie Wilson, 23, Spinster: Bray Heath, Woking: Father - William Wilson, Labourer

George's siblings were: Harriett Ellen b 1884, William Turner b 1887, Annie b 1889, Sidney Herbert b1892, Frederick b 1894, and Emily b 1896.

George lived in these places before his marriage:

1882: Bray Heath, Woking (from Baptism Register)
1891: Gravel Hill, Leatherhead: Scholar (1891 Census)

1901: Gravel Hill, Leatherhead: Postman (1901 Census)

1909-11: 1 Felix Villas, Highland Road, Leatherhead: Bedroom, first floor, furnished 4s 6d from WE Hill same address (Electoral Registers)

He married Edith Rebecca Waylan or Weylan on 24 September 1910 at St Dunstan's, Cheam, Surrey: the Marriage Register records:-

George Edward Hill, 28, Batchelor, Postman: Leatherhead: Father - William Edward Hill, Gardener
Edith Rebecca Weylan, 23, Spinster, Post Office Clerk: Foxbury, Kings Road, Chelsea: Father Joseph Weylan, Builder

[The signatures are clearly Weylan]

Edith was born on 2 July 1887 and baptised on 14 Aug 1887 at  St Dunstan's, Cheam, Surrey. She was a daughter of Joseph Weylan and Eliza Weylan of Belmont, Surrey. Her father was a Labourer.

George and Edith lived at:
1911: 4 Waterloo Cottages, Church Street, Leatherhead (1911 Census)
1912: 6 Waterloo Cottages, Church Street, Leatherhead (from the Baptism Register for their son Stanley)
1913: Queen Anne's Gardens, Leatherhead (1913 Electoral Register)
1915: 6 Queen Ann Gardens, Leatherhead Surrey
1917: Queen Anne's Gardens, Leatherhead (newspaper report)

They had three children: Albert (1911-1914), Stanley George (born and died 1912) and Violet Edith (1914-1998).

After WW1

George's widow Edith remained at 6 Queen Anne's Gardens until 1927. In 1928 in the Portsmouth Registration District, Hampshire, she remarried, to Henry James Oakley, a Wood Joiner and a Royal Navy Shipwright Pensioner born 1884.
In the 1939 England & Wales Register Henry, Edith and her daughter Violet were living at 68 Collins Road, Southsea, Portsmouth. Henry died on 21 Oct 1940 in a Southsea nursing home.
Edith's death was registered in Hastings, Sussex, in December 1966.

His parents are buried in Leatherhead Parish Churchyard:

E471 HILL Annie b1857 d1955 98 01/05/1955
E471 HILL William Edward b1856 d1935 79 25/03/1935

George Hill is remembered on these memorials
Leatherhead Town Memorial
Leatherhead RBL Roll of Honour, Leatherhead Parish Church
Ladies War Shrine, Leatherhead Parish Church
Church Lads Brigade Memorial Tryptich, All Saints Leatherhead
Surrey in the Great War

the website editor would like to add further information on this casualty
e.g. a photo of him, and of any recollections within his family

last updated 23 Sep 20