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this stage of the war most of the available Regular Army
had gone to France as the BEF (British Expeditionary Force)
and there was a real shortage of non-commissioned officers to
cope with the hundreds of thousands of men who were joining
up. The solution was to ask recruits if they wouldike to be given
a promotion.
It would appear that George saw the advantage of the small
increase in pay, as only 42 days after joining up, he was promoted
to Lance Corporal. He was now stationed at Lichfield, a driver in
the 11th Division Train ASC 112 Company. His promotion lasted
all of one week, when on 19th October 1914 he was returned to
the ranks for “misconduct”.
Kitchener’s New Army did not go straight out to join the BEF.
They had to be kitted out, found weapons and equipment and,
most importantly, they needed training. None of the equipment
existed in late 1914. It all had to be made from scratch; in many
cases new factories had to be created or converted to the
manufacture of this equipment.
During his training George broke his tibia and was in hospital for
nearly three months.
He did not see any real action until January 1916, when he
was sent from Aldershot to the Middle East. He sailed on the
“Japanese Prince” from Southampton on 19th January and
arrived in Alexandria on 6th February. His company stayed
in Egypt until March, when they were shipped to Salonica on
the 31st. death of the Austrian archduke. This war had spread
across the Balkans and southern Europe with Russia, Bulgaria,
Greece and later Turkey becoming involved.
In late 1915 there was real danger that the Bulgarians would
overrun Serbia (Britain’s ally) and
The British involvement in the southern Balkans is not widely
known, so some explanation may be in order. WW1 started with
the Greece, who were supporting the Serbs, asked for British/
French help. Britain had its hands full with the Western Front,
but agreed to send six divisions to Greece to help. George was
part of this gesture. In fact the British arrived too late to influence
230
had gone to France as the BEF (British Expeditionary Force)
and there was a real shortage of non-commissioned officers to
cope with the hundreds of thousands of men who were joining
up. The solution was to ask recruits if they wouldike to be given
a promotion.
It would appear that George saw the advantage of the small
increase in pay, as only 42 days after joining up, he was promoted
to Lance Corporal. He was now stationed at Lichfield, a driver in
the 11th Division Train ASC 112 Company. His promotion lasted
all of one week, when on 19th October 1914 he was returned to
the ranks for “misconduct”.
Kitchener’s New Army did not go straight out to join the BEF.
They had to be kitted out, found weapons and equipment and,
most importantly, they needed training. None of the equipment
existed in late 1914. It all had to be made from scratch; in many
cases new factories had to be created or converted to the
manufacture of this equipment.
During his training George broke his tibia and was in hospital for
nearly three months.
He did not see any real action until January 1916, when he
was sent from Aldershot to the Middle East. He sailed on the
“Japanese Prince” from Southampton on 19th January and
arrived in Alexandria on 6th February. His company stayed
in Egypt until March, when they were shipped to Salonica on
the 31st. death of the Austrian archduke. This war had spread
across the Balkans and southern Europe with Russia, Bulgaria,
Greece and later Turkey becoming involved.
In late 1915 there was real danger that the Bulgarians would
overrun Serbia (Britain’s ally) and
The British involvement in the southern Balkans is not widely
known, so some explanation may be in order. WW1 started with
the Greece, who were supporting the Serbs, asked for British/
French help. Britain had its hands full with the Western Front,
but agreed to send six divisions to Greece to help. George was
part of this gesture. In fact the British arrived too late to influence
230
