Private George James Gordon Hill
7th Battalion, Prince Albert's Regiment (Somerset Light Infantry) 27078, formerly Devonshire Regiment 23781
Date of Birth: Quarter 3, 1888
Place of Birth: Stokeingteignhead, Devon
Date of Death: 31st March 1917 aged 28
Buried: Bray Military Cemetery, France and remembered on the Stokeinteignhead war memorial.
Private George James Gordon Hill son of George and Thirzina Hill of Stokeinteignhead; brother of Henry (Harry) Walter J Hill (see Fallen).
Born in Stokeinteignhead in the 3rd quarter of 1888.
In 1901, the family was living at the Village, Stokeinteignhead, Devon. The census shows that the father George Hill, born in 1860, and a 'Carter On Farm' and the mother, Thirzena Hill, born in 1860.
| George and his siblings | |
|
Ida M Hill |
George James Gordon Hill |
|
Gertrude Hill |
Emily R G Hill |
|
Henry (Harry) Walter J Hill |
Violet E M Hill |
George was in the Somerset Light Infantry (7th Battalion).
The 7th (Service) Battalion was sent to the Western Front as part of the 20th (Light) Division in July 1915.
Somerset Light Infantry Cap Badge.
20th (Light) significant actions:
1916
The Battle of Mount Sorrel, a local operation in which the Division recaptured the height with the Canadians
The Battle of Delville Wood*
The Battle of Guillemont*
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette*
The Battle of Morval*
The Battle of Le Transloy*
The battles marked * are phases of the Battles of the Somme 1916
1917
The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line - 14 March – 5 April 1917
Trees felled by the German troops across the road at Peronne - March 1917 Imperial War Museum image Q5104 © IWM (Q 5014)
Hindenburg Line
The Germans began to retreat from the line in front of 20th division on the 17th March, after morning patrols had found them still in place. Thereafter the division kept pace with the German rearguard and by 28 March had advanced some 6 miles (9.7 km) from its position in front of Le-Transloy.
Here the Germans established a line of resistance along the line of the villages of Fins, Neuville-Bourjonval and Ruyaulcourt. During this time the division had been transferred to XV Corps and had been joined on 24 March by the 217th Machine Gun Company as the divisional machine gunners.
On 28 March the 61st brigade supported by the 91st artillery brigade, 84th engineer company and a squadron of the Corps cavalry regiment (King Edward's Horse) were ordered to take the villages of Neuville-Bourjonval (7th D.C.L.I.) and Ruyaulcourt (12th King's).
Starting from the village of Ytres at 20:15 hours against heavy machine gun fire Neuville-Bourjonval was entered early on 29 March and was occupied by 02:30 hours with posts established 100 yards (91 m) to its east.
The Hindenburg Line 1917 - Anon (1914–1921) The Times History of the War Vol XVII, London: The Times Retrieved on 16 November 2013. OCLC: 642276 Public Domain
Hindenburg defences, Quéant, 1917
The attack on Ruyaulcourt was defeated by a wire trap not previously known and the battalion entrenched 500 yards (460 m) south west of the village. The next night the village was found empty and occupied by the 7th S.L.I. while the 59th brigade established a line along the northern half of the Neuville-Bourjonval – Fins road.
On the 4th April the 59th brigade supported by 83rd engineer company and the whole of the division artillery attacked a German line between the village of Metz 1.7 miles (2.7 km) west of Neuville-Bourjonval and the corner of Haverincourt Wood.
The 10th and 11th K.R.R.C. suffered heavy casualties, around 25% due to machine gun and rifle fire but occupied the village some two hours after the assault began. German prisoners stated that they had not expected to be attacked until the 7th of April.
Thereafter the line was continually pushed forwards, and before the end of April was in front of the Hindenburg Line from north of Trescault, 9 miles (14 km) from Le-Transloy, north west through Haverincourt Wood to the Canal du Nord.
George's CWG commemorative certificate
Download commemorative certificate
