Name
George Ansell
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
3028
East Surrey Regiment
2nd Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Not Applicable
Biography
George Ansell was the eldest son of Charles and Annie Ansell. Charles worked as a House Painter, and in 1891 the family –two sons and three daughters – lived at Railway Terrace, Abbots Langley. In the 1901 Census the family had moved to Breakspeare Road, Abbots Langley, and George moved with them, but by 1911 he had moved in, as a Boarder, with William and Elsie Rye, and was living at 90 Breakspeare Road. He was identified as a “Widower”, which indicated that he had previously been married, and subsequently widowed. Both William and George worked as Labourer Gardeners, but when George enlisted he worked as a Kitchenman at Leavesden Asylum.
The National Roll of the Great War noted that George volunteered in September 1914. He was recorded in the Hertfordshire Advertiser on 17th October 1914, in the Asylum Roll of Honour, which was a list of men from the Asylum at Leavesden who had enlisted at that point in the War. This indicated that when War was declared in August 1914, he was employed at the Asylum. His brother Charles was also listed in the same Roll of Honour.
The Abbots Langley Parish Magazine Roll of Honour first included George Ansell in its monthly listing in October 1914, and indicated that he was serving with the 4th East Surrey’s. In February 1915 he was drafted to the Western Front and in March 1915 the Parish Magazine recorded that his wife, Rose, had given birth to a son. In the June 1915 edition it was reported that George had been wounded and the National Roll of the Great War confirmed that he was wounded in the severe fighting that took place at Hill 60, near to Ypres. In December 1915 the Magazine recorded that he had transferred to the 2nd East Surrey’s and during 1916 he moved to Salonika. The December 1916 Parish Magazine reported that he was wounded again. He remained with the 2nd East Surrey’s for remainder of the War and after the Armistice proceeded to Turkey, and was recorded in the Absent Voter Records in both Autumn 1918 and Spring 1919, that he was serving with the 2nd East Surrey’s, and his home address was given at 18 Breakspeare Road. He was sent home in January 1919 and demobilised in the same month.
His brother, Charles, was also demobilised to 18 Breakspeare Road in April 1919.
George Ansell survived the War.
Acknowledgments
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org
