George Lewin George Lewin was born in Middleton in 1889. He was baptised on 10th November 1889. His father was Frederick Herbert Lewin originally from Seaton in Rutland, his mother Harriet Lewin (nee Groocock) from Middleton. Frederick and Harriet married in February 1881. The Family In 1891 Frederick and Harriet were resident in Towns End, Middleton. Frederick was employed as a road labourer. Sam Groocock (Frederick’s stepson) was resident; Sam was employed as an agricultural labourer. Also resident, Frederick and Harriet’s children Susannah, Herbert and George. In the 1901 Census, Harriet was employed as a washerwoman. Daughter Susannah was a housemaid and George (aged 14) was employed as an agricultural labourer. Frederick Lewin died in 1905. George’s brother Herbert died in 1907. George Lewin married Catherine Jane Dye in 1910 at Easton-on-the-Hill. In 1911, George and Catherine were living with Harriet in Middleton. George was employed as a bricklayer/labourer attached to a local estate. Harriet Lewin died in 1912. Military Service George Lewin enlisted and served as a Private (16684) in “D” Company of the 5th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers), Northamptonshire Regiment. The 5th Battalion was formed in Northampton in August 1914. It was attached to the 12th Division. In January 1915 it became a Pioneer Battalion of the 12th Division. On 30th May 1915 the Battalion mobilised and landed in France. The Battalion was to serve on the Western Front for the duration of the War. It is recorded that Private George Lewin was in the Battalion when they landed in France in May 1915. Private George Lewin died of wounds on 9th December 1917. George may have been wounded during the Battalion’s participation in the Cambrai Offensive of late November 1917. His service records have not survived.

 

 

 

Private George Lewin is buried in the Tincourt New British Cemetery in the Somme locality of France. He is commemorated on the Cottingham/Middleton War Memorial and the Easton-on-the-Hill War Memorial. The villages of Tincourt and Boucly were occupied by British troops in March 1917, during the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line From the following May until March 1918, Tincourt became a centre for Casualty Clearing Stations. On the 23rd March 1918, the villages were evacuated and they were recovered, in a ruined condition, about the 6th September. From that month to December 1918, Casualty Clearing Stations were again posted to Tincourt. The cemetery was begun in June 1917, and used until September 1919; the few German burials, during their occupation of the village, are in Plot VI, Row A. After the Armistice it was used for the reburial of soldiers found on the battlefield, or buried in small French or German cemeteries. Reference Commonwealth War Graves Commission www.cottinghamsoldiers

Lest We Forget

George Lewin

of Northamptonshire Regiment

d. 9th December 1917

April 2016 Copy