George Foard King, born in Midhurst, Sussex, United Kingdom in July 1895, was baptised on 16 Sep 1895 in Tillington, Sussex.
George was educated at Duncton School, Sussex and served with 1/1st Sussex Yeomanry during the Great War. George landed at Cape Helles, Gallipoli with 1/1st and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant with the Norfolk Regiment on 18 September 1918.
After the war George worked as a farmer at South Dean Farm, Tillington, Sussex and passed away on 15 Jan 1942.
1/1st Sussex Yeomanry
The 1st Line regiment went to its war station at Canterbury (under Second Army of Central Force) until September 1915. It was dismounted and left Kent for Liverpool; on 24 September, it boarded RMS Olympic and sailed the next day. It arrived at Lemnos on 1 October. The regiment landed in Gallipoli on 8 October and was attached to the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. Within days of the landing the Regiment reported many men suffering from enteritis. While at Gallipoli they spent time in the trenches at Border Barricade and Fusilier Bluff. On 30 December it was evacuated to Mudros with 42nd Division; it left the Division at Mudros on 2 January 1916.
The brigade, with the regiment, was withdrawn to Egypt in February 1916 and formed part of the Suez Canal Defences. On 22 February, South Eastern Mounted Brigade was absorbed into the 3rd Dismounted Brigade (along with the Eastern Mounted Brigade). The brigade served as part of the Suez Canal Defences from 14 March to 26 July attached to 42nd (East Lancashire) Division; it then joined the Western Frontier Force. By the end of the year, it was back on the Suez.
The brigade was with the Suez Canal Defences when, on 14 January 1917, Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) Order No. 26 instructed that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Dismounted Brigades be reorganised as the 229th, 230th and 231st Brigades. The brigade units were reorganised in January and February 1917. As a result, the 1/1st Sussex Yeomanry was converted to infantry at Mersa Matruh on 3 January 1917 and re-designated 16th (Sussex Yeomanry) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment and came under orders of 230th Brigade in 74th (Yeomanry) Division.
With the 74th Division, the battalion took part in the invasion of Palestine in 1917 and 1918. It fought in the Second and Third Battles of Gaza (including the capture of Beersheba and the Sheria Position). At the end of 1917, it took part in the capture and defence of Jerusalem and in March 1918 in the Battle of Tell ‘Asur. On 3 April 1918, the Division was warned that it would move to France and by 30 April 1918 had completed embarkation at Alexandria.
In May 1918, the battalion landed at Marseilles, France with 74th (Yeomanry) Division. It served in France and Flanders with the division for the rest of the war. By 18 May, the division had concentrated around Rue in the Abbeville area.
On 14 July 1918, the Yeomanry Division went into the line for the first time, near Merville on the right of XI Corps. From September 1918, as part of III Corps of Fourth Army, it took part in the Hundred Days Offensive including the Second Battle of the Somme (Second Battle of Bapaume) and the Battles of the Hindenburg Line (Battle of Épehy). In October and November 1918, it took part in the Final Advance in Artois and Flanders. By the Armistice, it was near Tournai, Belgium, still with 74th (Yeomanry) Division.