LEONARD G

LEONARD, George

Regiment: 13th Bn Cheshire Regiment

Rank: Private

Number: 3612

Died: 20 January 1916

Aged: 22

Buried/ Memorial: Tancrez Farm Cemetery, Belgium

Address: 67 Westminster Road, Hoole

Chester Chronicle 29 January 1916

FOUR COMRADES KILLED

HOW GERMANS SHELLED A HOUSE

CHESTER SIGNALLER’S FATE

“The sad news has reached his home in Chester that Signaller George Leonard, of the 13th Battalion Cheshire Regiment, and youngest son of Mrs. Leonard, 67, Westminster Road, Hoole, has fallen in action. He was a promising and patriotic young soldier and his comrades in the field deeply mourn his loss.

Signaller Leonard was well-known in Chester, having been formally employed as a clerk at Messrs. Dickson’s nurseries, and then at Messrs. R. Bolland and Sons. He then obtained a post in the office of Lever Bros. At Port Sunlight and it was from there that he enlisted in the 13th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, which it will be recalled, marched through the streets of Chester headed by Sir William Lever, Bart., and Mr Gershom Stewart, M.P. He proceeded to France with his battalion in August last year and had done good work out there as a signaller. Testimony to his proficiency and trustworthiness is forthcoming in letters received by the bereaved mother informing her of the sad news of the death of her gallant son on the 19th inst. “I could trust him absolutely,” writes one officer.

Deep sympathy is felt on all sides with Mrs. Leonard and the members of her family in the sudden blow which has fallen upon them. The deceased was a lad of manly character, and possessed personal qualities that endeared him to all who knew him. He had a high sense of dutifulness to his mother, and whether at camp or at the front, constantly wrote her letters cheerfully assuring her that he was well. From the training camp alone he sent her no fewer than 97 letters describing his daily routine of duty. He was of a bright and happy temperament, able to enjoy life with the full zest of youth, yet, like many more brave Englishmen serving their country in the presence of hourly peril, not without daily thoughts of the deeper things of life, and was not ashamed to be seen reading his Bible. When living at home, he was a member of the Rev. J.J. Hargreave’s Bible Class and he is the second member of that class who has fallen on the battlefield. The deceased was liked by all who worked with him or know him, and in particular his buoyant, open-hearted manner made him a favourite with children whose romps he would join in – though as a six footer of twenty two – with a whole-hearted interest to make them happy. His older brother, Corporal Tom Leonard, is serving in the Royal Engineers in France, and twice “gassed”.”