George Cole (1896-1987)

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George Cole (1896-1987)

Gunner with the Royal Field Artillery

George Cole was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, on 26 November 1896 to William and Mary Cole.

On the 1901 census, the family, including an older sister, and younger brother, was living in South Kirkby, West Yorkshire. George’s father was working as a miner. By the 1911 census, the family had moved to Seaham Harbour, living on Ropery Walk. His father was still working as a miner, and George had followed in his footsteps. George was 17 years old then the war broke out, but in January 1915, he joined the army, enlisting in the 1st (Durham) Battery, Royal Field Artillery,
‘The pits were working badly, I used to look at the recruiting posters, and I think the one that hit me, was a wounded soldier, standing over his fallen pals, and the words were ‘Will they never come?’ I had just passed my 18th birthday and I went into our local Drill Hall, and started out on my most adventurous four years.’

He entered France on 12 July 1915, but his first action took place on 25 September, in support on the first day of the Battle of Loos.

Whilst near Bazentin le Petit on 20 September 1916, as part of the Battle of the Somme, Cole was struck as a 5.9 inch shell came down, knocking him out. He was taken to No. 4 Stationery Hostpital at Rouen by hospital train, then to recover at a camp at Le Havre, spending 10 days out of action. After this, he served with 50th Division as divisional artillery.

On 27 May 1918, whilst involved in the opening of the Third Battle of the Aisne, at Chemin des Dames, Gunner Cole was taken prisoner of war. ‘As Mark [Carr] and I came out of the wood, making for the bridge over the river, we ran into a party of Jerries. One had a bomb raised, and our weapons were pliers, so that put paid to us.’ This was the same action that saw many of 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, captured, included Captain PHB Lyon.

Both Cole and Mark Carr were made to carry a wounded German officer, a heavy man.
‘I gave Mark the tip, and while we were resting, I told Mark my plan… We were going on, no one anywhere near, and we came to one of our 6th Durhams lying wounded. Everything was handy. A nice big shell hole, just made for a Jerry, so we dumped him in, picked the Durham lad up, and off like hell. We seemed to be carrying a feather. We got him into the compound, there were hundreds there, and we left our lad in the hands of the Red Cross.’

Cole was made to work building a railway, before being sent to a camp at Lamsdorf (now Łambinowice, Poland).

After the Armistice was announced, Cole, who had been in hospital in the camp, was put back into the main area and able to mix with other soldiers, meeting one, Mick O’Hara, who lived near his aunts in Royston, and not far from his family in Barnsley. When he was to be repatriated, Cole’s journey took him from Stetin to Copenhagen, then to Leith. He remembers walking into his mother’s kitchen in Barnsley on New Year’s Day, just as this family were sitting down for dinner, they hadn’t known more than that he had been declared missing.

Cole also found out from one of his aunts that Mick O’Hara’s family had received notice that he was dead. He quickly wrote a letter to say otherwise, and that O’Hara would in fact be home in a few days, and sent it with his aunt.

After the war, George Cole returned to Seaham to find work and married Emily Francombe Jobling in the second quarter of 1920. They were still living in Seaham in 1939, Cole working as an underground chargeman in a colliery.

In the 1980s, George Cole began a correspondence with local military historian Harry Moses. This included Cole writing down his memories of his First World War experiences. George Cole was still living in Seaham when he died on 18 March 1987.

Civil Parish: Seaham

Birth date: 26-Nov-1896

Death date: 18-Mar-1987

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Company Buildings, Carr Lane, South Kirkby, West Yorkshire
Ropery Walk, Seaham, County Durham
Corbett Street, Seaham, County Durham

Employment: Miner

Family: Parents: William and Mary Cole
Siblings: Mary, John, Alfred, Eva
Wife: Emily Francombe Jobling