PRIVATE 12842 GEORGE PEACOCK, 1/6th BATTALION WEST RIDING REGIMENT. DIED OF WOUNDS 28th FEBRUARY 1918, AGED 22 YEARS.
PRIVATE 12842 GEORGE PEACOCK, 1/6th BATTALION WEST RIDING
REGIMENT. DIED OF WOUNDS 28th FEBRUARY 1918, AGED 22 YEARS.
George Peacock was another
'Ilkley Pal' who had enlisted into the 9th Battalion The West Riding Regiment
in late August 1914.
Born in Ilkley in 1895 he was one of ten
children of stonemason William Peacock and his wife Maria. Raised at 4 Nelson
Road, before the war he had been employed by Jabez Dobson of Woodbank as a
gardener. George was also a committed member of the
Methodist community and worshipped at Christchurch on The Grove.
George Peacock remained with the
Ilkley Pals during his training and landed in France with the battalion in July
1915. During his service he was wounded at least twice and in 1917 upon his
return from convalescence was posted away from the Ilkley Pals and into the
1/6th Battalion of the West Riding Regiment.
On the 27th February 1918 the
1/6th were in the front line east of Ypres near to the village of Polderhoek.
Subject to intense German shelling the battalion lost 5 men killed and 6
wounded including George. The wounds to his back and shoulder were severe but
as a hospital chaplain wrote to his parents, "he was bright and cheerful
and there was every hope that he would pull through." However, the
following day the chaplain reported that George gently slipped into
unconsciousness and at 2pm succumbed to his wounds.
Today Private George Peacock
lies in the British Military Cemetery at Lijssenhoek and is remembered with
pride on our war memorial here in Ilkley.
Photograph of George taken
from the Christchurch memorial Booklet and is courtesy of James Cooper. On his
left lapel he is wearing the cap badge of the West Riding Regiment.
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