Date of birth: 13/05/1895

Place of birth: Georgetown, British Guiana

Last known residence: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Profession: Farmer

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Enlistment date: 16/05/1916

Units:  —  Lancashire Fusiliers, 3rd/5th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 19/11/1917

Place of death: Zonnebeke Château Grounds, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 22

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

George Leslie Fresson Forshaw was born on May 13, 1895 in Georgetown, British Guiana. He was the son of Edward Roney Forshaw (a former barrister, born in Demerara, British Guiana) and Augusta Maud Forshaw (born in Worthing, West Sussex, England). His grandfather, George Anderson Forshaw, was the mayor of Georgetown, British Guiana (to whom Forshaw Street still refers to). His parents got married in Kent, England on August 11, 1894 and then moved to British Guiana. After finishing his education at Queens College, Georgetown, British Guiana, George worked in Georgetown at the Archiepiscopal at Bishop’s Court and at the Magistrate’s Court. Later, he moved to Montreal, Canada where he worked at a farm (with a malfunctioning heart valve he was advised to do a lot of physical work). He served in the Canadian Expeditionary forces (as a Lance Sergeant in the 117th Battalion Canadian Infantry). He arrived in England in August 1916, and later joined the Lancashire Fusiliers, 3/5th Battalion, part of the 197th (Lancashire Fusiliers) Brigade of the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division. His brother Lionel escorted him to the embarkation and his last words were “Goodbye old chap, we won’t see each other again”.

On November 19, 1917, the Battalion was relieved by the 198th Infantry Brigade and withdrawn to Ypres. During the night, there was heavy enemy shelling.

George Leslie Fresson, aged 22, was killed in action on November 19, 1917. He died due to shell fire on the trenches he was in, while laying duckboard tracks, possibly during the night. Second Lieutenant Forshaw was initially buried where he fell, near De Knoet Farm (28.D.28.b.20.30). After the war, his remains were exhumed and reinterred in the Perth China Wall Cemetery, Plot V, Row J, Grave 3.

3/5th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 95/3137/2). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), RG14). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Picture George Leslie Fresson Forshaw, Find-A-Grave https://nl.findagrave.com/memorial/11151653/george-leslie_fresson-forshaw Sources used

War Office: Soldiers’ Documents, First World War (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 363). https://www.ancestry.com/ Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/103353

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/5872112

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=d276ebd2-6c23-4e45-8113-ad71d62ed679