Name
George Baker
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Nova Scotia (Canadian Regiment)
63rd Rifles
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Biography
George is recorded in the Parish Magazine of September 1915 as enlisting in the 63rd Rifles, Nova Scotia (Canadian Regiment) during 1915 and before August. A newspaper article dated October 27th 1917 reveals that he was the only son of Mrs Barker, who lived on Great Green, and that he had previously emigrated to Canada, sometime around 1902.
Parish records suggest only one man of this name who could have served, and he was baptised on March 6th 1878, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Barker (née Smith). As George’s attestation papers give his next of kin as his mother, Elizabeth, he certainly appears to be the right man. Baptism records list eight children: Joseph (bapt 1875), Elizabeth (bapt 1876), George (bapt 1878), Emma (b 1879), Clara (b 1883), Minnie (b 1888), Daisie (b 1893) and Alice (b 1896). In 1911, his parents were living near the Blacksmiths Arms, which was in the High Street, opposite where the Blacksmith’s pond remains to this day.
His attestation papers provide other useful information; he was born July 7th 1874 and he was not married. The oath was taken on January 20th 1916 and so he was forty-one (albeit that the form records forty years and seven months). This age would normally have been too old to serve; however he was almost certainly accepted because of his previous service record, five years in the Royal Garrison Regiment and five years in the Bedfordshire Regiment. He was a well built man, 5’ 9” tall with a chest just short of 40”, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and dark hair.
By October 27th 1917, having been in France for over twelve months, the Hertfordshire Express reported that he was in a London hospital suffering with ague (shell shock).
Acknowledgments
Text from the book ‘The Pride of Pirton’ by Jonty Wild, Tony French & Chris Ryan used with author's permission
