Sergeant GEORGE EZRA PORTER

The Porters, lived at the Bury.  Arthur, a bricklayer’s labourer, and his wife, Lynnie (née Burrows) had twelve children, eight sons and four daughters[1] according to names recorded in the censuses of 1901 and 1911, one child appearing to have died under the age of 10.   In 1916 Arthur and five of his sons were all servicemen[2].

The eldest son, George, who was born in 1893, joined The Rifle Brigade in 1910 and was a Private stationed at Winchester Barracks at the time of the 1911 census[3].  He subsequently spent two years in India with the 2^nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own).  This battalion began the journey back to the United Kingdom on 4^th August 1914, when it left Kuldana en route to Bombay to board a ship bound for Liverpool on 20^th September 1914.  They arrived in the United Kingdom on 22^nd October 1914 and transferred to Hursley Park, Winchester, where they joined the 25^th Brigade, 8^th Division.  Two weeks later, the 2^nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, presumably with the rest of the Division, left for France, arriving at Le Havre at 10.30 am on 7^th November 1914[4].  By the time of his death at the age of 24 in the first battle of the Somme on 24^th October 1916, George had reached the rank of Sergeant.  He was awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal 1914-20 and the Victory Medal 1914-20[5], affectionately known as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred (See Fig.1).  His death is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial[6] which represents those who died on the Somme with no known grave.