George Eli Geary
In 1911 George was serving with 2nd Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) at its barracks at Crownhill, Plympton, Devon.
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George Eli was the son of Emmanuel Geary and his wife Louisa (née Collins).
Emanuel Geary born in Offord, Huntingdonshire, in 1866 (baptised 18 November), the son of Charles and Mary. His wife, Louisa, was born in Mansfield in 1869. She was the daughter of George Collins and his wife Mary (née Parker) one of a large family of which Louisa was probably the youngest. In 1881 Louise was living with her family at Cutts Buildings, Mansfield.
Emanuel and Louisa were married at Mansfield St John the Evangelist on 16 September 1889 and had four children: Charles Arthur b. April 1890 Daybrook, Arnold ( bap. Royston St John May 1890), Mary Ethel b. 1891 Barnsley, George Eli b. Aug. 1892 Sutton in Ashfield (bap. St Mary Magdalene Feb. 1893) and Emma b. Mansfield 1893 (O/N/D).
Emanuel, a coal miner, his wife and son Charles, were living at Fosters Buildings, Senior Lane, Royston, Barnsley, in 1891 and the second child, Mary, was born there the same year. The couple then returned to Nottinghamshire where their two youngest children were born.
Louisa died in 1893 (O/N/D), shortly after the birth of her fourth child, and was buried in St Mary Magdalene churchyard, Sutton in Ashfield.
Emanuel and his three older children, Charles, Mary and George, were living at 33 Swan Street, Sutton in Ashfield, in 1891 while the youngest child, Emma, was living in Mansfield with a maternal aunt, Sarah Clements (née Collins m. George Clements 1868).
By 1911, Emanuel, was living in Lees Yard, Millgate, Selby, Yorkshire, and employed as a labourer at a tar and chemical works. Also in the home was Emily Geary (51), whom he named as his wife of four years (no record of marriage yet traced).
Of Emanuel's four children only his two sons have been traced on the 1911 Census. Charles, a coal miner, was living in Sutton in Ashfield with a widowed aunt, Rebecca Cotterill (née Collins m. Samuel Cotterill 1883), a fish dealer. Charles married Ada Green in 1913. George Eli had enlisted with the Sherwood Foresters and was based with the 2nd Battalion at their barracks at Crownhill, Plympton, Devon.
Emanuel Geary died in 1931 (reg O/N/D Wakefield).
George Geary enlisted in Nottingham before the war and served initially with the Sherwood Foresters (11280 Private). In 1911 he was serving with the 2nd Battalion and based in their Crownhill barracks, Plympton, Devon.
He disembarked France in 4 November 1914 serving with the Regiment's 1st Battalion. (MGC). The following year he was in action at the battle of Neuve Chapelle, La Bassee, and suffered a bayonet wound and medically evacuated home. He was promoted lance corporal and by April 1915 held the rank of corporal.
George transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (Inf), and was promoted acting sergeant. At the time of his death he was serving with 89th Coy MGC, which joined 89th Brigade, 30th Division, on 13 March 1916 and was in action at the Battle of the Somme.
George was killed in action on 4 July 1916. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 5 C and 12 C).
He qualified for the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
History of the Thiepval Memorial (extract): 'On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July. Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme finally ended on 18 November with the onset of winter ... The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.' (www.cwgc.org)
Machine Gun Corps: 'The machine gun dominated trench warfare. Within a few months, it became clear that a new specialist unit was needed to further develop machine-gun tactics while also training more men in the weapon's use. The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was established in October 1915 [by Royal Warrant, 14 October] by subsuming the battalion Maxim/Vickers machine-gun sections from all infantry regiments. The withdrawn heavy machine guns were replaced by light Lewis machine guns that could be used by all troops.' (www.nam.ac.uk/explore/machine-gun-corps)
Mansfield Reporter, ‘Marriages’, 20 September 1889: ‘On the 16th at St John’s Church, Mansfield, by the Rev. W Maples, Mr Emmanuel Gorey (sic) to Louisa Collins, both of Mansfield.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
George's older brother, Charles Arthur, enlisted on 22 February 1915 on a Short Service Engagement (Duration of War). He was posted to the 3rd Battalion Sherwood Foresters (23359) but later to the Machine Gun Corps (30178), initially attached to the 4th Battalion, then to the 3rd Reserve Battalion. Charles' period of Home service was marked by frequent absences for which he forfeited pay or given a period of detention and in April 1917 he was transferred to Class 'W' A/Reserve, and discharged to civil employment. He was Recalled to the Colours on 9 January 1918, rejoining the following day, but remained on Home service until transferred to Class 'W' having been deemed to have a permanent disability (defective vision); the disability had not been aggravated by war service.
CWGC additional information: 'Son of Tom (sic) and Louisa Geary.'
'Corporal George Eli Geary, 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters, wrote an account of his experiences at Neuve Chapelle from the opening of the offensive on 10 March 1915. Wounded, most likely on 11th or 12th March, he wrote home from hospital and his letter was published in the Nottingham Free Press, 2 April 1915:
'I received your cigarettes quite safely. I am in hospital suffering from a bayonet wound in the back from the famous Prussian Guards, but I am now getting on nicely. I was in the battle of Neuve Chapelle near La Bassee. I shall be over in Sutton for ten days as soon as my wound is better, so I might be able to tell you how it was won. But we lost heavily in the taking of Neuve Chapelle, and that victory cost us something.
'We had Neuve Chapelle by 5 o’clock on the 10th instant, and the Germans lost heavily on making their counter-attacks. I shall come and see you as soon as I arrive in Sutton, and shall be pleased to be there again.' [1]
In another letter, to his family, Geary wrote:
'I have arrived here in hospital from the battle of Neuve Chapelle. I have a bayonet wound in the back from the Prussian Guards in their counter-attack to take their lost position, but they were utterly routed. On the 10th inst. when our artillery commenced their bombardment it was hell on earth. I am sorry to state that I left the hospital at Le Tournquet before I could complete the song, 'Tipperary'.
'I am now getting on nicely. We had a great many casualties in taking Neuve Chapelle, but I can assure you we gave them true British pluck when they made their counter-attack. They were nothing but a pack of cowards, as when they got within a bayonet distance they threw up their hands. Those who did stick it were not long live men.
'I will get a furlough as soon as my wound is better. Would like the old “Free Press” sent again just to let me know how things stand in dear old Sutton. I may be able to see you when I come home. We have been fighting round La Bassee and Neuve Chapelle all the while we have been in France.
'It was a Lance Corporal the previous time I wrote, but promotion has given me a step higher.'
Above courtesy of Jim Grundy, facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918.
Photo of George Eli Geary
Thiepval Memorial,