Great uncle George Critchley, above, was a sergeant in the Prince of Wales Own Regiment of Civil Service Rifles. There is no dispute about that in family records and the plethora of pictures I have of him in uniform with his sergeant's stripes and the regimental badge on his cap. Based in London, he spent most of the first world war training Australian troops.
I have a postcard from George sent from France to his brother, my grandfather. It was written shortly after their brother William was killed in Action on 6th May 1916. It is doubtful George knew about his brother's death,when he wrote that card. He is optimistic: "look for some good news from France," he wrote cheerfully.
The mystery is what happened to George at the beginning of the Battle of Amiens 8th to 9th August 1918. This was a pivotal allied advance which included British, Australian, Canadian, French and American battalions.
The British reinforcements were transferred from the home army in Britain. They joined Australian and Canadian infantry for the first phase of the Battle of Amiens. The seventh division, made up from the British 18th Eastern and 58th (1st and 2nd London) Australian 2nd and 3rd and Canadian 1st, 2nd and 3rd were supported by the 33rd division of the US Army National Guard.
There was a fog on 8th August when Australian and Canadian troops surprised and captured some German troops who were having breakfast. By the end of that day, the allies had broken ten miles into the enemy lines. Chipilly Ridge was captured by the allies assisted by the American "dough boys" from the 33rd U.S. Infantry Division. The American officers led their men from the front. This method of operation had resulted in so many casualties among their officers that the action at Chipilly Ridge was led by Jake Allex. He was from Kosovo, a relatively recent Serbian immigrant to the U.S. who survived the action at Amiens to receive a medal of honour for his gallantry when he returned home.
The initial attack was led by the British 4th Army. Allied losses were more than 6,500, killed, wounded and missing. The 4th Army were commanded by Sir Henry Rawlingson. The lll Corps, which included George's London division (58th) was commanded by Lieutenant-General Richard Butler, who suffered a nervous collapse and was withdrawn from the action by Rawlingson.
We don't know why George was listed as a corporal when he was one of the early casualties of the Battle of Amiens. He died at Crisp-A-Croke north of the Somme. He was one of the British reinforcements who were transferred from the home army in Britain. Out of 7,000 men who served with the Prince of Wales Own Civil Service Rifles, 1,240 (18%) officers and men were killed.
We know George was killed in action according to index number M.R.16 Vis-en-Artois memorial. It reads:
"Critchley Corporal George 531439. Ist Battalion Prince of Wales Own Regiment Civil Service Rifles, posted to 2nd/12th Battalion London Regiment, The Rangers, Killed August 9th August aged 23, son of James and Mary Ellen Critchley of 149A Knowsley Road, St Helen's Lancashire."
This and his name listed on the Vis-en-Artois memorial are the only memorials for George except for a listing on the family memorial in St Helen's which reads : "There is no war grave for him. He was one of more than 8,000 casualties of the 8th/9th August 2018.
The one picture I have of George with corporal's stripes is of a younger man, perhaps taken when he first enlisted into the army, four years previously. Before he enlisted, George had been working as a clerk at Pilkingtons.
George had served most of the war as a sergeant, training Australians in London but he died as a corporal. £30.8s and 4d was sent to his parents.
So far my research has revealed nothing which might have demoted him from sergeant to corporal. Maybe he needed to have the rank of sergeant in his capacity training Australian troops in artillery. My grandparents, Tom and Annie Critchley told me they saw a lot of George and his girlfriend in London. Did he perhaps arrive late back to the barracks after one visit to my grandparents and was demoted for it? It's not something they mentioned. All I remember being told by my grandparents was that so many British troops had been killed or injured in WWl by August 1918, that all possible men, reservists and new recruits were hurried off to the front as quickly as possible. I had the impression from them he didn't even have a chance to see them to say goodbye or to see his family in St Helens before he went.
Two Critchley brothers were killed in action in WW1. They were all spoken of by my grandparents, Mollie and Auntie Mary with affection, particularly George, because they saw so much of him and his girlfriend. Another brother Jim Critchley was posted to India and returned. Mollie records that he talked about his experiences a lot and the family got tired of his stories and told him to shut up. I have pictures of Jim Critchley on his motorbike. He was a legend on it, so much so that he was reputed to take his frequent trips to the Isle of Man entirely by bike! Perhaps that's how my father came to hero-worship his uncle Jim when he was a small boy.
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