George Leonard

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Royal Berkshire Regiment

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 9194

Parents: Robert and Martha Leonard

Marital status: Married

Home address: 7 Byron Terrace, Hanham Road, Hanham, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Labourer / Carter

Date of birth: 1859

Place of birth: Hanham, Bristol

Date of death: 25/09/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but Commemorated at Ploegsteert Memorial, Hainaut, Belgium and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial

Age: 56

Further information:

George was born in Hanham, the son of a labourer and a middle child of nine with five sisters and three brothers. He married Mary Jane Salter on Christmas Day 1883 and they had four girls followed by four boys. His oldest son Arthur George was killed in action 15 months after him.

George served with the 2nd Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's Royal Berkshire Regiment.

George's regiment mobilised to France in December 1914 and died the following year in the Battle of Bois-Grenier, a subsidiary action and German victory that took place on the first day of the Battle of Loos (25 September – 8 October 1915). There were over 59,000 casualties from the Battle of Loos. Some were victims of poison gas released by the British that blew back into their own lines. George was originally listed as missing then killed in action but his body was never found. The Ploegsteert Memorial on which he is remembered, commemorates more than 11,000 servicemen of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in this sector during the First World War and have no known grave.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/