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Geoffrey Hayes (1887-1976)


Bishopwearmouth man went to Sandhurst served with 11th DLI awarded DSO


Geoffrey Hayes, the son of Henry and Isabel Elliott Hayes, was born in Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland on 30 August 1887. He had a brother and a sister. At the age of 13 he was at the Orleton School in Scarborough, later to become Scarborough College, and from there went to Charterhouse and then the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

Geoffrey Hayes was commissioned into the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) as a 2nd lieutenant on 4 May 1907. Later he served in India with the 1st Battalion and, in December 1911, attended the Delhi Durbar. In January 1912 he was promoted to lieutenant and in September 1914 to temporary captain, becoming adjutant of the 11th (Service) Battalion until July 1915, when he was promoted to captain and temporary major.

He landed in France on 20 July and was mentioned in despatches twice during the year. In December 1916 he was promoted further to acting lieutenant colonel commanding the 11th Battalion and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). He continued in command of the battalion as temporary lieutenant colonel until he was forced to relinquish command, having been badly gassed in March 1918.

In January 1921 he married Gladys Mary Ingram at St Mary-le-Bone Register Office and they had a son and a daughter. He rejoined the regular battalions after the war and served in the West African Regiment as a major from May 1926 to August 1928. Having divorced his wife Gladys, he married Margaret Ellen Lowe, divorced ex-wife of Major George Edward Cookson CMG, in August 1930. In December 1933 he retired on half-pay and retired as a lieutenant colonel on 9 June 1934. By 1939 he and Margaret Ellen had moved to Wales and he died there in July 1976.

Civil Parish: Bishopwearmouth Without

Birth date: 30-Aug-1887

Death date: 4-Jul-1976

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 22 St Bede’s Terrace, Bishop Wearmouth, Sunderland (1891 Census)
Orleton School, Filey Road, Scarborough, Yorkshire (1901 Census)
Based in India but absent in England (1911 Census)
171 Clarence Gate gardens, St Marylebone, London, Middlesex (England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index 1921)
Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital, Millbank, London (England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index 1930)
Lapley Grange, Aberystwyth (1939 Register)

Education: Orleton School, Filey Road, Scarborough, Yorkshire
Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey
Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst

Family: Father: Henry Hayes
Mother: Isabel Elliott Hayes (nee Reay)
Siblings: Mildred & Basil Henry Hayes
Wives: Gladys Mary Hayes (nee Ingram) (Later divorced) & Margaret Ellen Cookson (nee Lowe)
Children: (By Gladys Hayes) Geoffrey Nigel & Eva Patricia Imogen Hayes

Military service:

11th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel
West African Regiment
Major

Medal(s): Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches (2)
1914-1915 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal

Gender: Male

Contributed by John Edwards

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