L/Cpl 15286 George Frederick Wright

• Age: 20
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

George Frederick Wright was born on the 07th February 1896 in Liverpool, the son of James Wright and his wife Sarah (nee Perrins) Wright who were married on the 16th September 1877 at St. Clement’s C. of E. Church, Longsight, Manchester. James was a 20 year old railway guard, father James, whilst Sarah was aged 23 and a domestic servant, father Thomas, their address 4 Hyde View. His father was born at Melling and worked as a railway inspector. His mother and eldest sister were born in Shropshire.   

The 1881 Census shows his parents living at 1 Malcolm Grove, Kirkdale  with their daughter Sarah E.

The 1891 Census shows the family at  76 Beckett Street, Kirkdale - Parents James and Sarah with children Leah E, Florence, James A and Maud A. Alfred Perrins, who was also a railway inspector, was lodging with the family.

George was baptised at St Mary’s Church, Liverpool. 

George enlisted in Liverpool joining the 17th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private 15286.

He was billeted at Prescot Watch Factory from 14^th September 1914, he trained there and also at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 17th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. He arrived in France on 7^th November 1915.

He had reached the rank of Lance Corporal when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916, aged 20, during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

17^th Bn War Diary:  Battle of Transloy Ridge –                                               

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday.  Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16  - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak.  2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced.  Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful.  Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed,  5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” p.140, adds: “As the whistle blew, the 17^th Battalion left its trenches to move forward.  […]  As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire.  […]  Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire.  As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.   The 17^th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets.  Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will.  It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners.  There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.”

 His death was also reported in the Bootle Times 24th November 1916:

CUNARD EMPLOYEES KILLED.

Mr. and Mrs. James Wright, 27, Exeter-road, Bootle, have received news of the death of their youngest son, Lance-Corporal George F. Wright (20), in France. He was wounded whilst leading his section forward, and killed instantaneously by a bullet on his way back to the dressing station. His loss will be keenly felt by his many friends, and also by his fellow colleagues at the Cunard Steamship Company, in whose employ he was prior to the war.

George's body was not recovered or was subsequently lost as he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

Soldiers Effects to father James, pension to mother Sarah, 27 Exeter Rd, Bootle, then after her death to father, of “Lyncroft”, 45 Oxgate Gardens, Cricklewood, London. 

George's death was not the only loss that the family had to endure in 1916 as just before Christmas his brother Albert Victor of the 6^th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment was also killed in action on the 22^nd December 1916. He was aged 25 and prior to the war he had been employed by Messrs: H Tate and Sons as an Electrician.

Albert now rests at Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery in Belgium where his headstone bears the epitaph:

"JUST WHEN HIS HOPES SEEMED BRIGHTEST GOD CALLED OUR LOVED ONE HOME"

George is also commemorated on the following War Memorials:

Bootle Civic Memorial

Union Prestbyterian Church, Kirkdale
 
Liverpool Prestbytery (Union, Kirkdale) 

Bootle Secondary School for Boys
 
Cunard Steam Ship Co, Roll of Honour and Plaque. 

His mother died in 1924 (from pension card).