George Albert Wait
Memorial: Hawkesbury Upton
Regiment: Somerset Light Infantry
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Serjeant 17056
Parents: Walter and Florence Elizabeth (Nee Foster) Wait
Marital status: Single
Home address: Hawkesbury Upton
Pre-war occupation: Carter on a Farm
Date of birth: 1893
Place of birth: Northampton (Daventry)
Date of death: 25/08/1918
Age: 25
Further information:
George Albert Wait was born in 1893 2nd Quarter in Northampton (Daventry) and Baptised in Daventry on 10 June 1893. George's parents were from Northampton, and the then family of five moved to Hawkesbury around 1900. By 1911 there were 10 surviving children noted on the Census record, 8 of which were still living at home. George was one of five lads from the village who went off to enlist together in January 1915, after the recruiting drive in the school hall. He fought at the Battle of Loos in 1915, and went over the top and survived the 1st July 1916, although his friend George Eamer, serving with him was killed. 1917 saw him fighting with the 8th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry in the Battles of Arras, Ypres and Cambrai and by 1918 he was senior and a highly respected serjeant. He was Killed in Action on 24th August 1918.
George is remembered on the Chipping Sodbury War Memorial Cottage Hospital board, now at Yate and District Heritage Centre under Hawkesbury.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Many thanks to the researcher Simon Bendry.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Findmypast (Soldiers Died during the Great War, 1901 & 1911 Census etc), Researcher John Davis.