George Edwin Ellison

For other people named George Ellison, see George Ellison (disambiguation).

George Edwin Ellison (1878 – 11 November 1918) was the last British soldier to be killed in the First World War.

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Biography

Ellison came from Leeds, England, and was serving with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. He had previously worked as a coal miner, but was already serving in the army at the start of the war. He fought at the Battle of Mons in 1914, and several other battles on the Western Front. He was killed an hour and a half before the armistice, on a patrol on the outskirts of Mons, Belgium.

Ellison is buried in the St Symphorien military cemetery, just southeast of Mons.[1] Coincidentally, his grave faces that of John Parr, the first British soldier killed during the Great War.[2]

He was survived by his wife Hannah and a four-year-old son. At least two grandchildren of his were alive in 2008.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Casualty Details—Ellison, George Edwin, Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved on 13 November 2010.
  2. ^ John Lichfield, Two soldiers linked in death by a bizarre coincidence, The Independent, 8 November 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2011
  3. ^ Michael Palin, The grandfather we never knew, BBC News, 29 October 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2011

Further reading