George Henry Nicholson Currie

Buried Dorian Military Cemetery, Greece (grave ref. lll.E.6). The battalion trained at Marlborough, Devizes and Sutton Veny and was sent to France in September 1915 where it became part of the reserve for the Battle of Loos. On October 29th, as the Wiltshires were about to occupy front line positions near Meulte, they were deployed aboard HMS Hannibal to Salonika, arriving on November 21st 1915 as part of a four division British reinforcement to a combined British and French force of two large brigades which had earlier been landed at the request of the Greek prime minister to help the Serbs repel Bulgarian aggression. Through the first half of 1916, 7th Wiltshires were preoccupied with entrenchment, road building and the construction of an enormous barbed wire barrier nicknamed ‘the birdcage’. Little contact was made with the enemy during this period and the battalion’s small number of casualties resulted predominantly from sickness rather than combat. After spells in reserve lines near Laina, the Wiltshires moved up to front line trenches near Kalinova in July. On August 22nd they drove off a Bulgarian assault, sustaining 20 casualties. At the end of October, Currie’s unit occupied firing positions facing Doiran in a series of shallow, exposed trenches closer to the enemy than on any other sector of the British Salonika front. The battalion improved these defences but it was never a comfortable sector, often receiving heavy shelling. However, despite frequent bombardments and the topography, searing summer heat and bitter winters of north east Greece, most of those enlisting with George Currie probably considered Salonika an easier posting than the Western Front. With reinforcements in place and reserves of ammunition accumulated, the allied commander Maurice Sarrail planned to deploy his multi-national forces along a 140 mile front in five distinct attacks designed to open the way to advance on Sofia. The mountainous Bulgarian defensive positions in the British sector around Lake Doiran, however, were formidable consisting of three separate systems of trenches about a thousand yards apart ‘each line higher up the hillock than those in front of it and consequently commanding it.’ A two day artillery bombardment opened on April 22nd1917 in preparation for an infantry assault timed for 9.45pm two days later. As the attack began, remembered G.Ward Price, ‘powerful Bulgar searchlights, one in Doiran town and one higher up the slopes behind threw their cold white light along our front line trenches’ enabling trench mortars to drop ‘a barrage of projectiles as you might pitch pebbles into a trough. Such was the force of these explosions in that narrow space that men were blasted to death against the walls of rock by the shock alone.’ 7th Wiltshires were ordered to attack ‘01 and 02 trenches’. As ‘A’ Company assembled, the enemy put up a very heavy trench mortar barrage on the ravine which caused many casualties. The company crawled up sloping ground but were repulsed by heavy rifle fire and Bulgarian bombers. A few entered enemy trenches but were not seen again. ‘C’ Company were initially more successful but were again driven back owing to heavy casualties, all the company officers and eight senior NCOs being either killed or wounded. CSM Thorne, by then in command, “saw there was nothing for it but to withdraw to our lines.” ‘D’ Company was almost annihilated trying to penetrate uncut barbed wire and the remnants forced to withdraw. At this point, Lt. Colonel Hodgson, in command of the battalion, decided that a fresh attack with reserves and exhausted survivors from ‘A’,’C’ and ‘D’ Companies would serve no useful purpose. As stretcher bearers worked throughout the night bringing in the wounded, it became clear that the assault had been a disastrous failure; 332 of the 500 7th Wiltshires attacking the Bulgarian lines became casualties, including 14 of the battalion’s 15 officers. Among the dead was ‘32408 Sgt. Currie G.N.’ of ‘B’ Company which had been assembling in reserve. It must be presumed that Currie died in one of the ravines which Bulgarian trench mortar fire turned into such effective killing grounds. Apart from recording his death, 7th’s war diary does not name George Currie but promotion to sergeant suggests that he was a competent and respected figure in the battalion.

Source Britannia Calls: Nottingham schools and the push for Great War victory by David Nunn CWGC personal inscription on gravestone: 'Till we meet again' Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Roll of Honour’, 16 May 1917: ‘Currie. Killed in action, April 23rd, 1917, Sergeant George HN Currie, Wiltshire Regiment, dearly-loved husband of Marguerite Currie (nee Bateman), aged 33.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 24 April 1918: ‘Currie. In affectionate remembrance of Sergt. George Currie, killed in action April 24th 1917. Dad & Winnie.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Note: Charles Bateman and his daughter Winifred Jane. Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 24 April 1918: ‘Currie. In loving memory of Sergt. George Currie, killed in action in Serbia, April 24th 1917. Ever in our thoughts. Florrie and Harold (in Italy).’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Note: Florence Mary Bateman married Charles Harold Jowett in 1912 (J/A/S Nottingham). Her husband served in the RAF in the war. Probate: Currie George Nicholson of 45 Osborne-grove Sherwood Nottingham sergeant in HM Army died 24 April 1917 at Salonica Administration (with Will) Nottingham 20 August to Marguerite Elizabeth Currie widow. Effects £313 5s.