Person

George Nelson, the son of John and Mary Nelson, was born in Gateshead on 8 November 1892. He had two brothers and two sisters. Apart from his military service, he appears to have spent all his life in Northumberland and was a ship’s cook when he enlisted in the 9th Battalion Durham Light Infantry (DLI) in Gateshead on 17 October 1914. He was transferred to the 2nd/8th Battalion on 23 October 1916 and landed in France on 5 July 1917. At the same time, he was transferred to the 12th Battalion DLI and was awarded the Military Medal shortly afterwards. On 6 June 1918, the Battalion was transferred to Italy and on 26 October he was Mentioned in Despatches. The following day, he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) along with Private George Brown (also of the 12th Battalion) and was awarded the the Italian Bronze Medal for Valour. He was promoted to lance corporal on 15 January 1919 and was demobilised on 21 March 1919. In 1921 he married Amy Elizabeth Landless in Gateshead and they had two daughters.

His award of the DCM was gazetted on 25 February 1920 and the citation reads:
“At the forcing of the River Piave on the 27th October, 1918, and during the actions of the 28th-29th, he constantly showed the gallantry and devotion to duty in carrying messages under the heaviest fire. On the evening of the 29th October he carried a message to a company which had got separated across two different streams through a country swarming with snipers and machine-gun posts”.

He was presented with his medals during a ceremony at the Gateshead Empire on 29 March 1919. The presentation was made by General Hibbert during the “first house performance” on a Saturday. A newspaper report states that, “the heroes were cheered enthusiastically as the curtain rose on a row of khaki.” As well as the military decorations, each of the 16 men received a “wristlet watch” from the Gateshead War Honours Committee and War Honours Fund. (Gateshead War Honours scrapbook, Ancestry.co.uk).

Civil Parish: Heworth

Birth date: 8-Nov-1892

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 2 Rodesley Avenue, Gateshead, Durham (1901 census)
2 George Street, Pelaw, Gateshead (1911 census)
90 Trewitt Road, Seaton, Northumberland (British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920)
28 Walwick Road, Seaton, Northumberland (1939 Register)

Employment: Ship’s Cook (British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920)
Miner, Stone putter (1911 census)

Family: Father: John Nelson
Mother: Mary Nelson
Siblings: William, John, May and Ada Nelson
Wife: Amy Elizabeth Nelson (nee Landless)
Children: Joan & Clair Nelson

Military service:

9th, 2nd/8th & 12th Battalions Durham Light Infantry
Regimental numbers: 2879, 7543 & 302936
Lance Corporal

Medal(s): Distinguished Conduct Medal
Military Medal
Mentioned in Dispatches
Italian Bronze Medal for Valour
British War Medal
Victory Medal

Gender: Male

Contributed by John Edwards