Pte 49570 George Lockerby

• Age: 22
• From: Crossmichael
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 20th Btn
• K.I.A Tuesday 10th April 1917
• Commemorated at: Henin Crucifix Cem
  Panel Ref: A.6

George was born in 1894 the son of George Lockerbie and his wife Elizabeth (nee McRobert) of Scroggie Hill, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire.

All records, civilian and military, as well as newspaper reports, show his surname as Lockerbie.  The original CWGC Graves Registration report lists the name Lockerbie, but by the time they corresponded with his family regarding his headstone after the war the spelling had been changed to Lockerby. 

George McRobert Lockerbie was born in 1894 in Crossmichael, a small village on the east side of Loch Ken, in Kirkcudbrightshire, about 4 miles north of Castle Douglas, now in Dumfries and Galloway. He was the son of George Lockerbie from Crossmichael and Elizabeth (née McRobert), from Anworth Kirkcudbrightshire, who married in 1885. Six children are found on censuses;  their first child, Alexander, was born in 1886 in Urr, after which the family moved five miles west to Crossmichael, where their other children were born:  Robert 1889, Mary J. 1891, William 1893, George, and Matthew in 1897. 

At the time of the 1901 census the family is living at Chapmanton, Crossmichael, with six children.   (Chapmanton appears to be a large farm or estate north of Castle Douglas.)  His father, 38, is a shepherd, and his mother is 43.  Alexander, 15, is an agricultural labourer, Robert, 12, Mary, 10, William, 8, and George, 7, are at school, and Matthew is 4.

Unfortunately the 1911 Scotland census is not available.  George has not been found on the census anywhere else in the U.K., or on crew lists. 

According to SDGW, George enlisted in Liverpool.  The amount of the War Gratuity suggests that he enlisted in about May 1915, confirmed by a later newspaper article. 

He initially served as Private 4371 in the 1/8th Bn. King’s Liverpool Regiment (Liverpool Irish), and went to France in 1916.  In January 1916 the Liverpool Irish were to transfer to the 55th (West Lancashire) Division. 

The division was committed to the Allied Offensive at the Somme in late July.  Positions adjacent to the village of Guillemont were occupied on the 30th; in the process of relieving a battalion east of Trônes Wood, the 1/8th sustained 18 casualties.^[ Guillemont, where other battalions of the King's Regiment (including the Pals) had fought with high casualties, was the 1/8th's second major battle, on 8th August.  The five-day tour that preceded it was costly, with about 50 casualties, and an intense skirmish occurring on 2nd August.  In the subsequent battle, the battalion’s orders were to attack and establish itself on the northern boundary of Guillemont. The battle commenced at 4:20 a.m., at which time the artillery bombardment ceased.  The Liverpool Irish, attacking in severely limited visibility, penetrated the frontline and continued to advance rapidly.  Progress had been so sudden that the first-line trenches remained uncleared of German troops. The supporting battalion withdrew from the German trenches as a consequence and after their withdrawal the 1/8th became isolated and surrounded. Casualties for the Liverpool Irish exceeded 550: 5 officers and 10 O.R. killed, 8 officers and 47 O.R. wounded, and 502 missing. (Wikipedia) 

George was wounded in action, his name (Lockerbie, 4371, G.) appearing in The Scotsman and the Liverpool Post & Mercury on 13th September 1916 in the list of wounded. 

He was subsequently posted to the 20th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 49570 most likely after recuperating from his wounds. 

He died of wounds on 10th April 1917, aged 22.

George now rests at Henin Crucifix Cemetery in France where his headstone bears the epitaph:

"GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN" 

Henin-sur-Cojeul was captured on 02nd April 1917, lost in March 1918 after an obstinate resistance by the 40th Division, and retaken on 24 August 1918 by the 52nd (Lowland) Division.

Henin Crucifix Cemetery is named from a calvary standing on the opposite side of the road. It was made by units of the 30th Division after the capture of the village in 1917.

Henin Crucifix Cemetery contains 61 burials and commemorations of the First World War. Two of the burials are unidentified and eight graves, destroyed in later fighting, are now represented by special memorials.

The cemetery was designed by G H Goldsmith.

Of the 61 burials and commemorations in this cemetery, 5 miles southeast of Arras; over half, 33, are from the King’s Liverpool Regiment, all but one of whom are Liverpool Pals. 

His death was reported in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard on 02nd May 1917, giving his age as 23. 

George’s name (Lockerbie) appeared in the list of K.L.R. killed published in The Scotsman on 16th May 1917. 

His Army effects and a War Gratuity of £8-10s went to his mother Elizabeth.  The pension card in the name of his mother, at Chapmanton Cottage, Castle Douglas, does not show the amount awarded, if any. 

His younger brother Matthew Lockerbie served in the Balkans with the K.O.S.B. from 22/9/1915, suffered a gunshot wound to the left hip in late 1917, and was demobbed in January 1919. 

George Lockerbie is commemorated on the following memorials -

Crossmichael Cross 

Crossmichael Parish Church

Crossmichael Memorial Hall.

We currently have no further information on George Lockerby. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.