A distant family member

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, I thought that I would write about another family member who served in WW1.

I should explain the family relationship here to me. He was a distant relative on my Mum's side of the family, being related to my Mum's Aunt. The exact relationship being "Uncle of wife of grand uncle". But his Grandma was a Stevenson, so he is a blood relative too.

His name was George Grice.

Here is a photo of him and some comrades taken prior to their departure of the Western Front. The post card photo is captioned "The Hyde Park Ramblers at Marlow" . He can be seen on the left side, at the back, with his arms folded. He was a member of the Grenadier Guards. Their usual reputation for smartness is not captured in this informal photo! I have looked up the info on the 4th battl and this ties in nicely with the postcard photo being taken at Marlow:

4th Battalion
Formed at Marlow.
Moved overseas 14 July 1915.
19 August 1915 : attached to 3rd Guards Brigade, Guards Division.
8 February 1918 : transferred to 4th Guards Brigade, 31st Division.
20 May 1918 : transferred to GHQ Reserve

I did once have a very nice portrait postcard photo of him in uniform. However, many years ago I loaned this to a prospective author who never returned it and moved house taking my photo with him. This was a hard lesson: never loan anything to anyone!

Here is his medal card index which I only recently obtained. Sadly he was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in 1915. There is some confusion of dates here. Note the date of his arrival in France on the previous document of 19/11/1915 but his date of death is listed on the Commonwealth War Graves website, where this info was obtained is 21/10/1915 ????


Name: GRICE, GEORGE
Initials: G
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Grenadier Guards
Unit Text: 4th Bn.
Age: 18
Date of Death: 21/10/1915
Service No: 17176
Additional information: Son of Robert and Bertha Grice, of Shaw St., Ruddington, Nottingham.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 5 to 7.
Memorial: LOOS MEMORIAL

From this entry, it would appear he has no known grave. He is just one of 20,000 names listed with no known grave........

The photo shows a general shot of the cemetery.

[Adrian Stevenson]

I know that forum members will be interested to know about his medals and death plaque. Sadly, I do not know the whereabouts of these.

My God Mother however owns his Princess Mary's gift tin and she has loaned me the tin and the letter which is contained within it.

I asked her of the whereabouts of his medals and death plaque? Sadly, she has never seen or heard of these. They would have been sent to her Grandma and Grandad. So these must now be considered lost.

Here is the tin. It has been polished many times over the years and some detail loss is evident due to this. I have given this a final clean to remove all the old "Brasso" metal polish and then given it a coat of "Renwax". The interior however has not been polished and still retains it's original gilt plated finish.

The letter is the interesting part of course and has been kept in the tin since 1916.

[Panzer 3]

Hi ade
Great story it is good to share these with others as then they are never forgoten, And at such a young age to die. We have soldiers in our family who served and died in France 14-18,war, one is buried at albert on the Somme, he to was only 18yrs old when he was killed. thanks for showing it.
dave.

[HJ-Collector]

very good story and lovely items and intresting as usall ade thanks for showing!

[Davidh]

very interesting, thanks Ade for sharing , rgds Dave

[OKW]

Ade, just like my great uncle,1 Dragoon Guards, did for him at Loos after a month in France and Flanders. Things were really desperate to have called the cavalry in to man the line on hill 80. The Guards took an awful pounding marching up to attack. I have his BWM and Victory. I believe he was probably entitled to a 15 star as well, your chap might have been entitled to one also. As for the plaque " It was probably thrown out with the other rubbish when we moved mother". Moved the old lady in the morning apparantly it was cup final day and the match had to be watched in the afternoon, anything in the way was chucked.

[Alan M]

Hi Ade , i really like these tins , and i`ve looked at obtaining one a few times , but it`s great to know who the original owner was , by the way , your bit of bullshine makes the tin look tops ,

cheers Al

[Russell]

Hello Adrian, I was brows the web last night and came across this post, G W Grice is my Grandfathers brother on my mothers side, I was just looking for random info on him and had gave up years ago of finding a photo of him ( strange thing I feel like I've seen this photo before) my granddad (Robert) died about 12 years ago and my grandma several years later they lived in Ruddington all there lives.

I visited Loos cemetery about ten years ago and saw his name on the G G memorial, thanks for the Photo.

Here is a pic of George and Roberts parents in Ruddington.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Russel, wow this is great! The photo is wonderfull.

George is the "uncle of wife of grand uncle" to me.

George's parents are of course Robert and Bertha. I have just looked up my tree and I think I have found you. I need to add you in correctly.

Cheers, Ade.

[Nick Hessens]

Thanks for sharing, Ade!

Regards