The Roll of Honour, Volume 1 : A biographical record of all members of His…
1915. He obtained a Junior Classical Scholarship at Cheltenham College,
1520 words | Chapter 83
and a Senior in 1882, a Silver Medal for Classics and the Jex Blake
prize for English Literature, and was Cox of his College Boat, 1881–83.
He _m._ at All Saints’ Church, Dearne, co. Hants. 3 March, 1908,
Vera Colville (residing at Oakley Hall), dau. of William Oswald
Gilchrist, of Oakley Hall, Basingstoke: _s.p._ His two brothers,
Brigadier-General John Gordon Geddes, C.B., R.A., and Lieut.-Col.
George Hessing Geddes, C.B., R.A., are both (1916) on active service.
[Illustration: =Augustus David Geddes.=]
=GEDDES, WILLIAM=, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., Ch. B. 10500), 209339,
H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=GEE, FREDERICK WILLIAM THOMAS=, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 838, H.M.S.
Hawke, _s._ of Charles Frederick Gee, of Mill House, Whitfield,
Dover; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
=GEE, ROBERT FRANCIS McLEAN=, 2nd Lieut., 3rd, attached 1st,
Battn. Wiltshire Regt. (The Duke of Edinburgh’s), eldest _s._
of George Francis Gee, of Wellington, New Zealand, and of Te Whare,
St. John’s Road, Eastbourne, by his wife, Mary Elizabeth, dau. of the
late Hon. George Buckley, of Christchurch, New Zealand; granddau. of
Capt. William Henry Buckley, 82nd Regt., and great-granddau. of Capt.
William Buckley, Royal Scots Regt., who was killed at Quatre Bras;
_b._ Wellington, New Zealand, 29 April, 1894; educ. at Wellington,
New Zealand, and Eastbourne College, and had entered at Trinity
College, Cambridge. He was in the Eastbourne College O.T.C., and
having volunteered his services at the outbreak of the war, was given
a commission in the 3rd Wiltshire Regt., 15 Aug. 1914. He joined on 3
Sept. 1914, and after four weeks’ training at Weymouth, was transferred
to the 1st Battn. and went to France. He received his fatal wound--a
sniper’s bullet in the head--a few days after his arrival at the firing
line, during an attempt to capture the village of Ilies, and died at
Netley Hospital, 27 Oct. 1914, being buried in Ocklynge Cemetery,
Eastbourne; _unm._ His younger brother, Alan, is a Lieut. in the
R.H.A.
[Illustration: =Robert F. McLean Gee.=]
=GENERY, HUGH THOMAS WATSON=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 7382),
S.S. 102512, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept.
1914.
=GENT, EDWARD=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 3823), S.S. 101485,
H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1
Nov. 1914.
=GEORGE, ALEC=, Private, No. 21145, 7th Battn. Canadian
Expeditionary Force, eldest _s._ of John George, of Granite
House, Eversfield Place, St. Leonards-on-Sea, by his wife, Annie, dau.
of Thomas Allen; _b._ Narborough, near Leicester, 3 Feb. 1893;
educ. The Wyggeston School, Leicester; and became a Sanitary Engineer.
He left for Canada 19 March, 1914, and settled at Winnipeg, but on
the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, immediately volunteered and joined
the Expeditionary Force. After going through a course of training at
Valcartier, he came over with the first Canadian Contingent on 15
Oct., went to the western front 27 April, and died 8 June, 1915, from
wounds received in action on 6 June, 1915. He was buried at Lillers;
_unm._ At Wyggeston, George was in the cricket XI and football XV,
and afterward played both for Hendon and Golders Green, He won several
medals for boxing, including one at the St. Pancras Boxing Club and one
at Lark Hill--Canadians _v._ A.S.C.
[Illustration: =Alec George.=]
=GEORGE, BERTIE AARON=, Seaman, R.N.R., 2779C, H.M.S. Hogue; lost
in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=GEORGE, ERNEST FREDERICK=, Corpl., No. 51, A Coy. 8th Battn.
(90th Winnipeg Rifles), 2nd Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force,
elder _s._ of Arthur Atherton George, of Leverington, near
Wisbech, by his wife, Sarah, sister of Capt. Thomas Elson-Ivey, 1st
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire L.I. (taken prisoner at Kut), and dau.
of Samuel Ivey, of Bristol; _b._ Leverington, co. Cambridge, 23
Sept. 1889; educ. Church School, Wisbech; was employed for five years
with Messrs. Dawbarn & Sons, Wisbech; went to Winnipeg, Canada, in
April, 1912, and worked on the Canadian Pacific Railroad; volunteered
on the outbreak of war and joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force;
came over with the 1st Contingent in Nov. 1914; trained at Valcartier
Camp, Quebec, and Salisbury; went to France, 8 Feb. 1915, and was
reported missing after the heavy fighting at Ypres, 22–24 April, 1915.
On this occasion the 8th Battn. commanded by Lieut.-Col. Lipsett
held the extreme left of the Brigade position at the most critical
moment. The Battn. was expelled from the trenches early on Friday
morning (23 April) by an emission of poisonous gas, but recovering in
three-quarters of an hour, it counter-attacked, re-took the trenches it
had abandoned, and bayoneted the enemy; and after the 3rd Brigade had
been forced to retire, Lieut.-Col. Lipsett held his position, though
his left was in the air, until two British regts. filled up the gap
on Saturday night. It would seem that George was wounded and taken
prisoner, for, according to a postcard received from Corpl. W. S. Pozer
of the same Battn. (himself a prisoner), George died of wounds or gas
poisoning, in the Red Cross Hospital at Roulers, 26 April, 1915. He was
_unm._ His yr. brother, Private John Robert George, served with
the 1st Northamptonshire Regt. in France, Aug. 1914 to March, 1915, and
is now (1916) with the 3rd Battn. at Gillingham.
[Illustration: =Ernest Frederick George.=]
=GEORGE, MAXIM=, Stoker (Native), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action
off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
=GERMAN, THOMAS=, Stoker, R.N.R., 1884T, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in
action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=GERRANS, CHRISTOPHER DAVIES=, Private, No. 4220, Australian
Field Artillery; _b._ Peckham, S.E., 1870; educ. Rye College,
Peckham Rye; enlisted; served through the South African War, and was
in Ladysmith during the siege; went to Australia about 1907; joined
the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force after the outbreak of war and was
killed in action at the Dardanelles, 2 Dec. 1915; _unm._
=GERRISH, FRANK=, Acting E.R.A., 4th Class, M. 7615, H.M.S.
Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=GERRY, ALBERT JOHN=, Private, No. 13632, 5th Battn. Canadian
Expeditionary Force, 2nd _s._ of Albert Gerry, of Heward,
Saskatchewan, Canada, by his wife, Edith Jane, dau. of George Rowland;
_b._ Souris, Manitoba, 9 Jan. 1893; was in a Livery business;
volunteered on the outbreak of war, Aug. 1914; left Canada with the
First Contingent, 23 Sept., and after training on Salisbury Plain
during the winter of 1914–15 crossed to France, 15 Feb. 1915, and
was killed in action there, 24 May, 1915; _unm._ His commanding
officer wrote: “Private Gerry was a wonderfully cheerful man, nothing
seemed to damp his spirits. Even in those days at Ypres, when things
looked so black, he was cheerful. He was killed when we made a charge
on a strong German position which we captured on 24 May. We were able
to get his body and bury him near a little village called Festubert. He
met his death like a hero, his face to the foe.”
[Illustration: =Albert John Gerry.=]
=GETHING, HUGH BAGNALL=, 2nd Lieut., Royal Gloucestershire
Hussars Yeomanry (T.F.), yr. _s._ of James Edwards Gething, of
Siddington Hall, Cirencester, by his wife, Maria Llewellyn, dau. of
James Bagnall, of Castle Hill House, Carmarthen, J.P.; _b._
Letherllistry, Llanddarog, co. Carmarthen, 7 Oct. 1883; educ. Elstree
(1892–1897), Harrow (Bushnell’s and Graham’s Houses) (1897–1902), and
Trinity College, Cambridge (1902–1906), joined the Gloucestershire
Hussars Yeomanry 25 March, 1911, volunteered with them for active
service, and was killed at the Dardanelles 21 Aug. 1915. Writing to
his father, Col. Playne, who was himself wounded in the same action,
said: “Your son was one of our best officers and the whole regt. will
feel his loss keenly.” Major Yorke wrote: “Poor Lusty, as we always
called him, was most gallantly leading his troops, setting them a
splendid example, when a shell burst close to him, inflicting injuries
to his head, which must have caused instantaneous death”; and Capt.
Turner, the second in command of his squadron, also wrote “the whole
division was ordered to advance across a stretch of about a mile and
a half of open country after a heavy artillery preparation. They had
only started a few minutes, when heavy shell fire was opened, and we
began to suffer pretty heavy casualties amongst officers and men. Lusty
had survived almost the whole way across, and had just faced forward,
after turning to say a few encouraging words to his men, when he was
struck by a shrapnel, and killed instantly. He was later buried in a
grave by himself, close to where he fell, nearly under the shelter of
a hill, the one we are now on, ... he was ... always cheerful, and
was always ready to do anything that was going.” Gething was a keen
sportsman, was captain of the cricket and football eleven at Elstree,
played five years in the House Cricket Eleven at Harrow and four years
in the football eleven, and was captain one year. He passed the Dolphin
(swimming) test, 1899, and won the Beale Cup for diving, 1901, and the
middle-weight boxing in the Public School Competition at Aldershot,
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