George Heap
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George Heap was born in 1885 he was the son of the late William Heap a coal miner hewer and Ann Heap née Buxton of Headon Terrace, Nottingham. William was born in 1849 at Bretby, he died in 1909 aged 61 years at Nottingham, Ann Buxton was born in 1848 at Kilburn, Derbyshire they were married in 1869 at Burton Upon Trent, they had 5 children. George married Clara Lilian Rebecca Linthwaite Tudor (born 19th December 1885) they were married in 1904 at Nottingham, they had the following children, Doris born 24th December 1904, Cyril Joseph born 31st May 1907, Lilan Florence born 24th October 1909, Hilda Annie born 26th March 1911 and George born 29th June 1915. In 1911 the family lived at 1, Simkins Buildings, Clayton Street, Queen's Walk, Meadows, Nottingham George is 26 yrs and is coal miner hewer, he is living with his wife Clara Lillian 26 yrs and their 4 children. Commencing 5th February 1917 his widow was awarded a pension of 24 shillings and 6 pence a week, she was living at 87 Briar Court, The Meadows at this time.
Private George Heap enlisted at Nottingham, he served in Gallipoli during 1915 with the 9th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derbys) Regiment and was later transferred to the 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derbys) Regiment. He was killed in action, on 1st July 1916, aged 32, in the attack on the German positions at Ovillers, France, on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. George Heap was killed on the first day of the Somme. Battalions attacking Ovillers on 1st July 1916 had to cross 'Mash Valley' one of the widest expanses of No Man's Land (750 yards) along the entire Somme front. Today, looking from Ovillers Cemetery (German front line) towards distant houses (British front line) across open fields offering little cover, the magnitude of their task is still evident. 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters' War Diary recorded: 'Casualties along the whole line were very heavy and a general attempt was made to crawl forward under intense machine gun and shrapnel fire, any available cover being made use of.... Lt Colonel Watson, walking diagonally across the front collecting men as he went gave fresh impetus to the advance by his personal example... A third attempt, led by Captain C E Hudson*, to reach the German trenches by the sunken road on the right flank was made but... was brought to a standstill by heavy frontal and flank fire as they came over the brow of the hill in the last 80 yards. The casualties sustained by the battalion during the day amounted to 21 officers and 508 men. The strength of the battalion on entering the trenches on 26th June was 27 officers and 710 men.' 11th Bn Sherwood Foresters War Diary TNA WO95/21871(3). 125 men from 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters were killed during the attack on Ovillers (CWGC Debt of Honour Register). *John Cotterill adds 'The man who brought the 11th Foresters out of action on 1 July and, one of the 6 unwounded officers, was Capt Edward Hudson who would go on to get a VC as CO of 11th Foresters on Asiago Plateau in Italy in 1918'. 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment suffered 264 fatalities during the same advance. Concerns of their CO Lieutenant Colonel Edward Thomas Falkiner Sandys DSO, a brave and well respected officer, that his battalion would be badly mauled crossing such an expanse of open ground with uncut wire an added hazard, did not impress his superiors. Sandys was wounded during the attack and evacuated to the UK. Depressed at the fate of so many men who had trusted him, Sandys shot himself in a London hotel room and died a few days later. 8th Division's Official History records a total of 5,121 casualties on 1st July 1916. Military Research by David Nunn
He was buried in Buried in Blighty Valley Cemetery, Authuille Wood
