Name
George Handscombe
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Air Mechanic 1st Class
212616
Royal Naval Air Service
Air Service Construction Corps
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Pirton School Memorial
Biography
George appears on the School War Memorial, confirming that he attended the school. Parish and census records suggest only one man of this name who could have served, and he was born on June 3rd 1880 to John and Caroline (née Burton). He would have been thirty-four at the outbreak of war. Baptism records list five children: George (b 1880), Ruth (b 1882), Fred (b c1885), Harry (b 1886) and Mary Rose (b 1898). Although of an age to have served, it is unlikely that Harry followed his brother into the army as the Hertfordshire Express dated April 28th 1917 reports that he had applied to the Hertfordshire Appeal Tribunal for exemption, presumably because of his work as a farmer and this was conditionally granted.
George married Alice Arnold in 1906, with his sister Ruth, and brother Harry, as witnesses. By 1911, he was thirty and had been married to Alice for five years and was a carpenter by trade. They were living in Woodbine cottage (still in the High Street by The Fox) and they had two children of their own: Dorothy Ruth (b c1908) and Edward George (b 1910). So, when George went to war, he was married and a father.
The Parish Magazine of June 1917 records George as serving in the Royal Naval Air Service. As a carpenter, he would probably have been involved in the maintaining and repairing of those fragile aircraft of the time. The 1918 Absent Voters’ List clarifies this further, recording him as 212616 1st A.M. (Air Mechanic) Air Service Construction Corps, and confirms his home address as Woodbine Cottage in the High Street.
George and Alice are both recorded in the St. Mary’s Church’s cemetery records; George died in 1951, aged seventy, and Alice in 1968, aged eighty-six. The headstone also records Leslie William Handscombe, who was presumably another son.
Acknowledgments
Text from the book ‘The Pride of Pirton’ by Jonty Wild, Tony French & Chris Ryan used with author's permission.
