George Vickers (Service No. 4470006) was killed in action on 12 October 1944 aged 23. At that time, he was a Private in the 1st  Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment. He was initially buried at the premises of Widow Goemans which lay south west of Overloon and subsequently re-interred on 27 May 1947 in grave IV. B. 4 at the Overloon Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. His inscription reads “Time cannot change the memory this day brings. Mother, Father and sisters.”

Family background

George Vickers was the son of Alfred Vickers and Elizabeth Murphy who had married in South Shields in 1913.
 
Alfred Vickers was born on 11 January 1881 in Blaydon which lies on the south bank of the River Tyne west of Gateshead. He was the son of Thomas Vickers and Mary Ann Hymer who had married in the Darlington District of County Durham in 1872. Thomas was born in 1851/3 in Sadberge near Darlington and Mary Ann in 1853 in Middlesborough. Thomas and Mary Ann had eight children between 1872 and 1886. However, two of their children died in childhood.
 
In 1881, Thomas and Mary were living at Railway Side, Wood House, Winlaton, Gateshead. Thomas was a Railway Pilot Guard. With them were two of their children, though their eldest was staying with his grandfather, Francis Vickers, at Dean Head Farm, Coatham Mundeville, Darlington.
 
Alfred’s mother died in 1889 in Gateshead aged just 36 leaving Thomas as a widower. In 1891 he was still a Railway Goods Guard and was living at Railway Sidings, Bottle House Yard, Winlaton, Gateshead. With him were four of his children, including Alfred.  A servant named Sarah Schultz who was born in Sunderland in 1872 was present. There too were three visitors. These included Sarah Schultz’ mother, Ann, and brother Charles, and also Richard Stewart born 1885 in Sunderland. Charles was a Blacksmith.
 
In late Spring 1891, Thomas Vickers married Sarah Schultz in the Gateshead district. They went on to have eight more children between 1891 and 1903. All except the first were born in Gateshead. Sadly, two died in infancy.
 
By 1901, Thomas and Sarah were living at 29, Davidson Street, Gateshead. Thomas was still working as a Railway Goods Guard. Alfred and two other children from Thomas’ first marriage were still living with their father and step mother along with five of the children from his later marriage.  Alfred was working as a Brickmaker’s Labourer.
 
By 1911 Thomas and his wife were living at 51 Bank Street, Gateshead. Thomas was a North Eastern Railway Goods Guard. All six children from his second marriage were present but none of those from his first marriage. Two sons were working as Colliery Pony Drivers Below Ground.
 
Thomas died in 1916 in Newcastle. In June 1921 Sarah was living at 53 Bank Street, Gateshead. One of her step sons and three of her own unmarried children were with her. Also, there was a married daughter, husband and child. Sarah Vickers died in 1926 in Gateshead. One of her sons may have died in the same year.
 
Alfred Vickers married Elizabeth Murphy in 1913 in South Shields, County Durham. Elizabeth was born on 1 February 1885 in Durham. Little more is known about Elizabeth. They had five children in South Shields as follows: Thomas Alfred 1914, Elizabeth 1915, Jenny 24 April 1918, George 22 August 1920 and Theresa 7 January 1923. However, Elizabeth died in early 1917 in South Shields.
 
In June 1921, Alfred and Elizabeth were living at 42, Charles Street, Jarrow, County Durham. Alfred was a General Labourer at Palmer’s Shipbuilding Company, Jarrow On Tyne. With them were Thomas A  (referred to as Alfred), Jenny and George. One of Alfred’s brothers was also working as a Shipyard Labourer at Palmer’s at this time. Thomas Alfred died on 19 October 1928 aged 14, leaving just George and his two surviving sisters.
 
In September 1939 Alfred and Elizabeth were living at 35 Union Street, Jarrow. Alfred was working as a General Labourer. With them were Jenny and George. Jenny was shown as incapacitated. George was working as a Machinist (Metal Sawyer). George’s sister, Theresa, was working as a domestic servant for Thomas G and Gladys M Percival at 66 St Mary’s Avenue, Whitley Bay, Northumberland.
In 1941 George was working at Palmer’s shipyard. His sister Theresa told her son that George was sacked from Palmer’s. His mother was so upset that she went to the yard to complain to the manager – but to no avail. Working in a ship yard may have meant that George would not have been called up.

Military career

George enlisted as a Private in the Army on 12 February 1942. He signed on for the duration of the war. He was described a 5 ft 5 ¾ in tall, weighed 131 lbs and had grey eyes and fair hair. He was classified as Grade A1 medically. He had been working as a Labourer. He gave his religion as Roman Catholic. He gave his address as 14 Berkley Square, Jarrow on Tyne. He was not married and gave his father as his next of kin. He was at the same address but was referred to as Frederick Vickers vs Alfred.
 
George was initially posted to No. 4 Infantry Training Centre and then, on 19 June 1942, to the 14th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry. This Battalion was used for Home Defence duties at that time.
 
George left the UK for the Middle East on 24 August 1942, seeming to arrive there only on 17 October 1942. He was then posted to the 9th Battalion Durham Light Infantry on 4 November 1942. This Battalion spent the war with 151st Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division until transferred elsewhere in December 1944. This Division had just been involved in intensive fighting in Libya in which the Division suffered many casualties and went into reserve near Tobruk on 7 November.  No doubt, George was intended to be one of the reinforcements.
 
However, not long after he had arrived, on 15 November 1942, he lacerated his foot. It seems that by 15 January 1943, it was found to have gone septic so he was put on a list of men that were sick. On 5 February 1943 the Officer Commanding the battalion decided that George was to blame as he was not on duty when he sustained the injury.  However, it was deemed that it wouldn’t interfere with his future efficiency. It seems that he may not have fully recovered until 15 March 1943 when he was put on a list of men waiting to be assigned to a unit.
 
On 31 March 1943 he was compulsorily transferred to the 6th Battalion of the Green Howards in Tunisia. They were also part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division. This division had returned to the front line in mid March when the Eighth Army reached the Mareth Line in Tunisia. On 20 to 24 March they had been involved in the Battle of the Mareth Line which again cost many casualties.
 
In early April, the 6th Green Howards were involved in the successful Battle of Wadi Akarit in the push up the eastern coast of Tunisia. The Eighth Army’s attack north along this coast and the First Army’s advance from the west, led eventually to the surrender of Axis forces in North Africa on 13 May 1943.
 
Meanwhile, on 24 April the 50th Division was ordered back to Alexandria in Egypt by road, arriving on 11 May. Based in the Nile Delta, they trained on the Great Bitter Lake and on the Gulf of Aqaba in amphibious landing techniques for the Allied invasion of Sicily.
 
George Vickers’ Service Record indicates that on 30 June 1943 he embarked on H Force. This was a naval formation which played a role in the conquest of Sicily in July 1943, codenamed Operation Husky. The 50tth Northumbrian Division sailed from Suez in Egypt. Landings were made on 10 July in difficult weather conditions. By 17 August the Allies had taken Sicily and the Axis forces had left.  
 
The 50th Division learned it was to return to Britain as it was chosen as one of the divisions to take part in the campaign in North West Europe. They left Sicily in mid October.
 
On 29 August George was struck off the strength of the Middle East Force and transferred to the British North Africa Force. He was still in the 6th Green Howards. On 17 October 1943 he embarked for the UK where he disembarked on 8 November 1943.
 
His sister Theresa told her son that she could remember him coming home looking very brown with the sun.
 
He was initially posted to No.101 Reinforcement Holding Unit and then, on 21 March 1944, to an Infantry Training Centre. He was posted to the 14th Battalion Durham Light Infantry on 30 March. By this time this battalion’s role had been changed to being a reception centre for returning PoWs and convalescents. It may be he was suffering from an illness as on 8 April 1944 he was admitted to Stannington Military Hospital in Northumberland from where he was discharged on 18 April.
 
He was posted briefly to the 11th Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment on 10 May 1944, then to No 40 Reinforcement Holding Unit on 2 June  and No 39 Reinforcement Holding Unit the following day. These moves will have been in preparation for him being used as a reinforcement following D-Day. He was posted to the 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment on 25 June 1944.
 
Following the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940, the 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire regiment was in the 8th Infantry Brigade (which included the 1st Suffolk Regiment and 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment) attached to the 3rd Infantry Division, nicknamed Monty’s Ironsides. With this division, it landed at Sword Beach on D-Day. They
suffered heavy casualties on 22 to 27 June while attempting to capture the Chateau de la Londe in Normandy. On 26 June they received 22 reinforcements from the West Yorkshires. It may be that George Vickers was one of these.
 
However, only two days after he was posted to them, he suffered gun shot wounds to his right hand and arm. He was treated at a Field Ambulance but on 28 June he was put on the Duke of Rothesay, a merchant ship being used as a hospital ship, and taken back to the UK and again put on the sick list. He was sent to No 122 Medical Convalescence Depot which was based at Trentham Park in Stoke on Trent.
 
He was posted back to his battalion on 22 August 1944. It is not mentioned in his Service Record, but it seems that George was wounded again sometime around late August / early September while still in Normandy.
 
The Battalion moved out of Normandy on 16 September and moved in three stages through Belgium to reach Lille St Hubert, just south of the Dutch border, south of Eindhoven. Here they were to assist the East Yorkshire and Suffolk Regiments to make a bridgehead over the Escaut Canal which they crossed on 20 September to reach Hamont, just west of the Dutch border and then reaching Weert in the Netherlands by the 22nd, despite the Allied forces facing difficulties from bridges which had been destroyed.
 
They remained in this vicinity until 25 September when C Company moved eastward towards Schoor as part of a plan to clear the west bank of a canal which lay further east. The whole Battalion were expected to take part in this the following day, but it had been decided that they were to move to Maarheeze that day, so only C Company took part in this. Their progress was slow, so they were ordered to disengage and continue after the rest of the Battalion to Maarheeze. On 27 September they moved on again to reach Bakel which is just north east of Eindhoven. The following day they moved again slightly further north to Mortel to allow the American 7th Armoured Division to occupy the area at Bakel. The Americans were moving through to St Anthonis. The Battalion remained at Mortel until 1 October when they moved further north to Heumen which is just south of Nijmegen and north of Cuijk and then to nearby Mook on 3 October.
 
By this time, Operation Market Garden further to the north had failed to take the bridge at Arnhem. This left the Allies in a narrow corridor through the Netherlands. An attempt was made by the American 7th Armoured Division on 30 September to widen this corridor east to the River Maas by attacking Overloon from their position at St Anthonis, but this attack failed.
 
The 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment remained at Mook until 8 October when they moved south to Wanroij. It had been decided that the Americans were to withdraw and leave widening the corridor through Overloon, Venray and Venlo to the British. Initially, it was intended that the attack on Overloon would begin on 11 October. However, this was postponed until 12 October due to the very wet weather and ground conditions.
 
On 12 October the attack started at noon with a very heavy artillery barrage which caused considerable damage to the already evacuated village of Overloon. The 2 East Yorks. led the attack on what was described as Dog Wood to the west of Overloon while the 1 Suffolks targeted Overloon itself. Both achieved their objectives by 1500 hours, but with some mopping up still to do. The 1 South Lancs. were initially held in reserve but at 1700 hours A and D Companies were ordered to advance to clear a remaining area with one troop of the 3 Grenadier Guards in support of each forward Company. They met very little opposition and by dusk were in position on the forward edge of a clearing to the west of Overloon. However, this was the day on which George Vickers was killed in action.
 
He had served for a total of 2 years and 243 days of which 1 year and 73 days were in the Middle East and North Africa and 52 were in North West Europe.
 
George was awarded the 1939/45 War Medal, Africa Star with 8th Army Clasp, 1939/45 Star, France and Germany Star and the Defence Medal.
 
His death was reported in two local newspapers as follows:
Shields Daily Gazette 1 Nov 1944: “Private George Vickers, son of Mr & Mrs A Vickers of 14 Berkely Street, Jarrow, is officially reported killed in action in North West Europe. He was 23 and when called up in 1941 was employed at Palmer’s Hebburn.”
 
Newcastle Evening Chronicle 6 Nov 1944: “Pte George Vickers (23) S.L.R. son of Mr & Mrs A Vickers of 14 , Berkley Street, Jarrow.”
 
By 6 December, the Army had a different address for his father of 47 Naworth Terrace, Primrose, Jarrow on Tyne.
 
It is possible that his mother, Elizabeth, died in 1962 in South Shields District and his father, Alfred, in 1965 in Durham North East District, but these are not certain.

From FindMyPast website: Civil and Parish Birth, Marriage and Death Records; England Census and 1939 Register Records; Electoral Rolls; Military Records
Service Record for George Vickers National Archives Ref WO 423/827120
1 South Lancashire Regiment War Diaries from Normandy War Guide and Traces of War Websites
Wikipedia for information on Durham Light Infantry Battalions, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, the 1st South Lancashire Regiment
National Army Museum for information on the 1 South Lancashire Regiment
WW2 Talk – assistance on WW2 Abbreviations
Commando Veterans Website – assistance on X Lists
Photos and information from Shields Daily Gazette 1 November 1944, Newcastle Evening Chronicle 6 Nov 1944
Assistance from George’s nephew, Alfred Thorp

Research Elaine Gathercole