Person

George Thompson, the son of George and Jane Thompson, was born in Gosforth, Northumberland on 29 November 1875. He had five brothers and four sisters and lived in Coxlodge until he married Catherine Robinson at Gosforth on 1 March 1911 and they moved briefly to Wallsend. They had three children and he was employed as the club steward in the Coxlodge and Gosforth Social Club when he enlisted on the 28 November 1915 and was posted to the Army Reserve.

George was mobilised on 7 August 1916 and posted to the 25th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (DLI). After initial training he was transferred to the 3rd Battalion on 4 April 1917 and landed in France on 25 September. The following week he was transferred again, this time to the 8th Battalion and fought in the Third Battle of Ypres. Early in 1918 the battalion was attached to the 50th Infantry Division and in March was sent to resist the enemy attack on the Somme. They were forced to retreat and were then involved in the fighting on the River Lys. In May the battalion was virtually wiped out in the fighting on the River Aisne and George was captured. He was sent to the prisoner of war (POW) camp at Friedrichsfeld and died there of pneumonia (often a euphemistic term for starvation) on 18 November 1918. He was buried in the local cemetery but was subsequently re-interred in the Cologne Southern Cemetery.

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/5465789/3/2/
https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/34600/cologne-southern-cemetery/

Birth date: 19-Nov-1875

Death date: 18-Nov-1918

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: Fawdon Square, Fawdon, Northumberland (1881 census)
Riddell Terrace, Coxlodge, Northumberland (1891 &1901 censuses)
13 Westmoreland Street, Wallsend, Northumberland (1911 census)
Coxlodge & Gosforth Social Club, Jubilee Road, Gosforth, Northumberland (British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920)

Employment: Coal miner (1901 census)
Carman in Public House (1911 census)
Club Steward, Coxlodge & Gosforth Social Club (British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920)

Family: Father: George Thompson
Mother: Jane Thompson (nee Smith)
Siblings: John R, Hannah, Thomas, William, Jane, Joseph, Henrietta (Ettie) & Isabella Thompson
Wife: Catherine Thompson (nee Robinson)
Children: Doris, George & Isabella Thompson

Military service:

25th, 3rd & 8th Battalions, Durham Light Infantry
Service no,: 40975
Private

Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal

Memorial(s): Cologne Southern Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Grave Ref.: XIII.G.39
All Saints Church, Gosforth 1914-1918 Memorial Panelling
Gosforth 1914-1918 Memorial Welfare Centre
CoxlodgeMethodist Church 1914-1918 Roll of Honour
D.L.I. Book of Remembrance, Durham Cathedral

Gender: Male

Contributed by John Edwards