Pte
George Patrick Gardiner

Information about birth

Year of birth:
1881
Place of birth:
Bungay, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom

General information

Profession:
Building Contractor

Army information

Country:
England, United Kingdom
Force:
British Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Private
Service number:
40880
Enlistment place:
Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
Units:
 —  Hertfordshire Regiment, 1/1st Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
24/09/1917
Place of death:
Bitter Wood, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
36

Memorial

Tyne Cot Memorial
Panel: 49A

Distinctions and medals 2

British War Medal
Medal — 25/10/1920
Victory Medal
Medal — 25/10/1920

Points of interest 2

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place

My story

George Patrick Gardiner was a 36-year old Building contractor from Bungay, Suffolk. He was married to Ethel Johnson in 1905. They had four children together, two girls and two boys.

George was possibly conscripted in the army in 1916. He firstly served in the Bedfordshire Regiment, but by the time of the Battle of Passchendaele he was posted to the Hertfordshire Regiment, 1/1st Battalion.

On 23 September 1917 George’s Battalion relieved the 1st Cambridgeshire in the frontline, taking over the line captured by the 41st Division on the 20th of September. The Battalion took up positions in the Shrewsbury Forrest area in Bitter and Stout Wood. The 1/1st Hertfordshire held the line for two days until they were relieved on the 25th.

Private George Patrick Gardiner was killed in action on 24 September 1917. He possibly fell, due to German shellfire while holding the line near Bitter and Stout Wood. George has no known grave and is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Files 1

Sources 5

"The 16th Foot : a history of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment", London, Constable & Company, 1936 , pg; 186.
Sources used
Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.com/
Further reference
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/839552/gardiner,-george-patrick/
Sources used
The Long, Long Trail
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/
Sources used
War Diary Hertfordshire Regiment, 1/1st Bn.
http://www.nmarchive.com/
Further reference