Name
George Knight
1898
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
05/08/1918
19
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
G/65848
Royal Fusiliers *1
13th (County of London) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Panel 6 and 8.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
NA
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, British Schools Museum Memorial, Hitchin, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour (Book), Hitchin, Letchworth Town Memorial
Pre War
George was born in 1898 in Hitchin and christened on 10 July 1898. His parents were John and Kate Elizabeth Knight (née Westwood) and they had married on 1 June 1891.
In 1901 the family were living at 2 Hope Cottages, Old Park Road, Hitchin. Present were both parents: John (34) and Kate Elizabeth Knight (32), with John working as a brewer’s drayman. Their children were: John Charles (8), Ethel Rose (5) and George (2). Also present was William Charles Ebbs, who is oddly listed as Kates’s brother, but we are confident that her name before marriage had been Westwood. Perhaps he was brother-in-law or half-sibling. He was working as a carpenter’s apprentice
George was educated at St. Mary's School
By 1911 the family were living at Grange Lodge, 108 Queen Street, Hitchin. Kate was now a widow, John had died, probably later in 1901, she was working as a charwoman. All of the above named children were still present, with George still at school.
Before he enlisted he had been apprenticed to Mr E. Allsopp, hosier, of Market Place, Hitchin, serving in his shop. He had also been a Sunday School Teacher at St. John's Church and was a good gymnast in the Blue Cross Club.
Officially George was recorded as born, living and enlisting in Hitchin.
Wartime Service
He was in the 13th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers with the Regimental Number 65848, and had previously served in the Bedfords with Number 30642, having attested on the 28th June 1916, being his 18th birthday. He went to France on the 22nd May 1917 and was killed in action on the 5th August 1917. He is said to have been shot by a sniper and died where he fell. His grave was marked with a cross on which had been written his name and Regiment. His mother was Mrs Knight of 8, Old Park Road, Hitchin. Bearing in mind the close connection with Hitchin, if he is not the ‘C. T. Knight’ on the Hitchin War Memorial it is strange that he is not recorded separately under his own initials. However, at that time it was common for men to have nicknames and this makes for considerable confusion of identification.
The action on the 5th August 1917 was an attack on Ration Trench at Pozieres Ridge north east of Albert. At 1.00am reports came of sniping from Germans who were in No Man’s Land, a situation that was not cleared until the afternoon. Many of the men were new to warfare but were said to have had an admirable bearing in their first experience of actual fighting.
The Rev. Basil Davis, who was chaplain to the rifle brigade wrote with the sad news “your son, Private G. Knight, Royal Fusiliers, has been killed in action. But I want to write a few lines to you because I hope it may be some little comfort to you in your great sorrow to know how deeply it is shared by us out here. Your boy was much loved by his many chums, and was most highly respected by all in the Battalion, both officers and men. His death is a great loss to us. To you I know it is a hard blow indeed, but like your brave boy you, too, must be brave. You must have the consolation of knowing that he has given his life for others -- the greatest thing a man can do, and also that he did not have to suffer before he died; he was killed instantly. His grave is marked by a cross which has his name and regiment on it, and it will be as carefully kept as possible under difficult circumstances.”
Additional Information
After his death £1 0s 9d was authorised to go to his mother, Kate Elizabeth on 28 January 1918. Later, a war gratuity of £4 was authorised to be paid to her on 3 November 1919.
His pension cards record his mother, as his dependant, living at 8 Old Park Road, Hitchin. He/She was awarded a pension of 6d a week from 26 February 1918 to 13 May 1918, plus 6d from 14 May 1918 and then 10s a week from 3 December 1918 to 20 January 1920 – it is not clear why this end date is in place because normally these awards were for life. An exception being when a widow remarried, in which case a marriage grant was normally issued.
The Hitchin War Memorial refers to him as ‘C.T.’ whereas the Lawson Thompson Scrapbooks refer to ‘W.G.’ of the Royal Fusiliers. George had a brother whose name was John Charles Knight, a Corporal in the Hertfordshire Regiment who went missing on the 31st July 1917 and was later reported as a prisoner of war at Dulmen in Germany, though there is no evidence that he died.
George’s brother John Charles Knight, a Corporal in the Hertfordshire Regiment who went missing on the 31st July 1917 at St Julien, was later reported as a prisoner of war at Dulmen in Germany, and is believed to have survived.
His mother died in her sleep on 15 February 1927 – still living at 38 Tilehouse Street, Hitchin
*1 Believed more correctly, (County of London) Bn. London Regiment (Kensington).
Acknowledgments
Adrian Dunne, David C Baines, Dan Hill, Janet Capstick, Jonty Wild
