252143 Pte. George William Lock British Army 15th (Leeds Pals) Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment from:Hunslet (d.16th Oct 1917) George William Lock (uncle to Herbert Dowd) was born on 18th of January 1898 in Leeds and was christened on 24 March at Leeds Wesleyan Methodist Church. He was recorded as being the son of Robert Watson Lock & Mary Lock even though Robert Watson Lock had died on 30th of December 1895!
His mother, Mary, later married George McCullon in the second quarter of 1899 and had three children with him, Amy, born 15 September 1900, James, born 17 January 1903 (died in the second quarter of 1904) and Alice, born fourth quarter 1905.
Mary already had five living children from her first marriage to Robert Watson Lock, Jane Elizabeth, christened 4 September 1884; Polly, christened 1 August 1886; Ann, born 25 October 1888; Dorothy, born 20 December 1890; and Harriet, born 6 November 1892. A sixth child, Alice, was born 29 November 1894 and was buried 10 March 1896.
In 1901, at the age of 3 and named George W McCullon, he was living in the family home at 12 Red Lion Place in the parish of Hunslet St Mary, with his father George, a coal miner; his mother, Mary, and his sister, Amy. His older sisters, Polly (aged 14), Ann (aged 12), Dorothy (aged 10) and Harriet (aged 8) were all in the Hunslet Childrens Home in Rothwell.
In 1903, Ann, Dorothy and Harriet would all be sent to Canada under the Dr Barnardo scheme. Harriet married there and, as far as is known, never returned. Even though Ann and Dorothy came back, it is not known whether they were ever reunited with George.
In 1911, the family lived at 54 Sussex Avenue, Hunslet. His mother, Mary, had passed away in 1907 aged 45, so he, aged 13, was living with his father, George; his younger sisters Amy (aged 10) and Alice (aged 5); and a housekeeper, Grace Evans.
His attestation records do not survive, so it is not possible to say when he enlisted. Officially, the age at which a man could enlist in the army was 18 during World War 1 but many boys enlisted giving false ages or being encouraged to do so by recruiting staff. Often, these boys would be kept in the UK until their nineteenth birthday (when they became eligible for overseas service). Therefore, it is possible (although unlikely since he didn't receive the Egypt Star 1914-1915) that George could have enlisted as early as 1914 when he would have been just 16 years old.
He joined the 15th Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), known as the Leeds Pals as part of Kitcheners Army. He may also have volunteered later or, most likely, been called up as a result of conscription under the Military Service Act 1916 (for single men aged 16-41). It is not known when he arrived in France but he probably joined the battalion as one of the many casualty replacements. Throughout the year so far there had been a steady flow of reinforcements joining the battalion and early in April 1917 a detachment was sent to Robecq to train reinforcements. They moved to Ecurie for two weeks where they were joined by reinforcements on 4th of Sep 1917.
On the first day on the Somme, 1st July 1916, the 31st Division attacked towards the village of Serre with the Leeds Pals advancing from a line of copses named after the Gospels. The battalion was shelled in its trenches before Zero Hour 0730hrs and, when it advanced, it was met by heavy machine gun fire. A few men got as far as the German barbed wire but no further. Later in the morning the German defenders came out to clear the bodies off their wire, killing any that were still alive. The battalion casualties, sustained in the few minutes after Zero, were 24 officers and 504 other ranks, of which 15 officers and 233 other ranks were killed. One of the survivors, Private A.V. Pearson, Leeds Pals said "The name of Serre and the date of 1st July is engraved deep in our hearts, along with the faces of our Pals, a grand crowd of chaps. We were two years in the making and ten minutes in the destroying."
The battalion returned to the front-line trenches of the Somme at Arleux again on 13th of October, and on the 19th went back into the support line. During this time, on Tuesday 16th of October 1917, George was killed. The details are recorded in both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and in the Index to Roclincourt Military Cemetery in, France where he is buried. His father is named as George McCullen of 1 Greenwood Square, Waterloo Rd, Hunslet, Leeds,YKS. He was one of the 773 or so men from the Leeds Pals who did not come home. He was posthumously awarded the Victory and British Medals.
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