Personal History
Edward George Hill was born in Lemsford on the 3rd of June 1881, the youngest son of John and Jane Hill. He was baptised at St. John's church, Lemsford on the 20th September 1885 together with two brothers, John and Henry Charles and his youngest sister Annie Elizabeth. The children attended Lemsford School. In 1901 George, aged 19, was living at home and working locally as a general labourer. By 1911 he was in lodgings in Manor Park, London and employed as a waterman, probably on the nearby River Lea. He never married.
In 1917 George, then aged 36 and living in Buckhurst Hill, Essex enlisted at Mill Hill and joined the 1st Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment as Private 25303. He was sent to France in the October.
No record of attending St John's School
War Record
1st Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment
On the 1st November 1917 the writer of the 1st Battalion East Surrey Regiment War Diary complained about the problems faced by “men sent as reinforcements to units only a few days or even hours before they are sent into action. The men, through inexperience of milder forms of trench warfare have no idea of making the best of the rough conditions in which they suddenly find themselves.” George, who had only arrived in France the previous month, was such a man.
On the 6th November 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele, the 1st Battalion faced a heavy barrage whilst deployed in sending smoke bombs from the front trenches. The Diary reports that casualties were light - 14 ordinary soldiers killed and 25 injured! Sadly George Hill was one of those killed that day.
War Memorial
The Tyne Cot Memorial commemorates nearly 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom and New Zealand who died in the Ypres Salient after 16 August 1917 and whose graves are not known. George Hill's name is on Panel 79 to 80 and 163A.
