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2nd Lt. George Mitchell Sutcliffe
British Army 237 Battery. Royal Garrison Artillery
from:Greetland, Yorkshire
(d.21st October 1917)
George Sutcliffe was the only surviving child of John Sutcliffe, a coal merchant who lived in Greetland near Halifax, and his wife Sarah. They married in 1883, but it was not until 1887 that their first child Samuel was born, followed by George on 15th September 1889. Both boys were given their mother's maiden name Mitchell as a middle name. Tragedy struck the family when Samuel died in 1894 aged seven. When George was thirteen in 1902 he went to Bradford Grammar School for two years in Forms Fourth and Fifth Modern. His best subject was German, in which he came close to the top of his class. His daily journey must have been a tiresome one, by tram and/or train. He left in July 1904 and went on to train as an architect. From June 1913 he was on the professional staff of the Inland Revenue in Halifax as an architect and surveyor.
He was still a single man when he volunteered in early November 1915, enlisting in the artillery. It was likely his knowledge of surveying which made him suitable for the Royal Garrison Artillery. He rapidly gained promotion to Bombardier, then to Corporal. He went to France with 103rd Siege Battery on 29th May 1916. This battery operated two of the largest calibre British heavy guns, 12-inch railway mounted howitzers, and throughout the Battle of the Somme it served at Gommecourt.
Sutcliffe had obviously impressed his superiors for in mid-November he was sent home on leave prior to joining an Officer Training Battalion at Trowbridge in mid-December. He received his commission in March 1917 and proceeded to France to join the recently arrived 237th Siege Battery which was armed with four 6-inch howitzers.
In April he returned home to marry Constance Rothera who lived near to Greetland in Hebden Bridge. There were no children.
In September Sutcliffe was hospitalized at 8th General Hospital with diarrhoea. On his recovery he was sent to a Base Camp where he was seriously wounded during a German bombing raid and died of his wounds the same day.
