Private. 6th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. Regimental no. 4750206
Early life:
George was born on 2nd January 1917 in Keighley and in 1921 they are living at 9, Elmwood Terrace in Oakworth according to the electoral rolls and are living there at least until 1948.
George was aged four in the 1921 census and his father Herbert is a worsted warehouse foreman for Robert Clough at Grove Mills, Ingrow. The situation is pretty much the same in the 1939 Register, but George is now aged 22 and is employed as a mercantile agency clerk.
War service:
George was 23 years old and a Private in the 6th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment when he was killed in action on the 22nd of May 1940. The 6th Battalion were part of the British Expeditionary Force which was slowly being pushed back to the sea and to Dunkirk, where the remnants of the B.E.F. were evacuated at the end of May and early June 1940. The fighting was extreme with no let up for the men apart from a three day pause on 23rd May by the Germans which allowed British Forces to evacuate the Army across the English Channel, although it left huge amounts of equipment, armaments and ammunition behind.
George was buried at Watou Temporary Burial Ground shortly after his death. After the war, his grave was moved on 21st January 1948, to Hotton British Cemetery, a distance of around 160 miles. Watou Burial Ground is now effectively a nature reserve.
Remembrance:
George is remembered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at his grave and his headstone bears an inscription, presumably provided by his parents which says: ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,’ which is a line from Psalm 23 in the Bible.
Locally, George is named on a panel on the Oakworth WW2 memorial garden in Holden Park.
Post war:
George left just over £160 in probate to his father. His parents continued living at 9, Elmwood Terrace after the war.
His father Herbert Nicholson died aged 81 in 1969.
His mother Annie Nicholson died aged 87 in 1976.
George had a younger brother Maurice, who was born in 1919 and as far as we know, still alive in the early 21st century.
Information sources:
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007.
1921 Census of England & Wales.
1939 Register of England and Wales.
West Yorkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1962
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Oakworth War Memorial.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007.
