George’s Personal Life.
George was one of those people that just got on with life he accepted what he had been given and made this into what he was happy with. He enjoyed life and as he matured he became one of those people who everyone wanted as a friend, he was considerate to others and very respectful of peoples feelings and was a very approachable man. He had a dry wit and a wicked sense of humour he had that gift of seeing the funny side of botheration and aggravation and this ability ultimately gave him strength and an inner resolve to rectify any situation.
Once he had enlisted in the army he was suddenly freed from the mundane life that he had been living in, and now started to spread his wings and embrace life, he was keen to learn and absorb all the facets of military life and was a quick learner as an intelligent and educated man what he didn't know he was determined to learn and learn he did quickly this impressed his leaders.
George hand now grown into a good looking lad and was developing an interest in the opposite sex, The resultant of this was his meeting of a pretty Auxiliary Territorial Service [ATS women's army 1940’s] private Anne Tomlinson at a camp dance at Branspeth castle camp in Durham in 1946.
ATS private Annie Tomlinson who was attached to the officer’s mess steward duties, a relationship developed, and this led to them getting married on the 5th of October 1946. They were both 19 years of age. This was to have a major effect on Georges posting as at the time a man and his wife could not serve on the same camp together neither was, he eligible for a married quarter or marriage allowance until he reached the age of 25. The resultant was that he was posted as permanently attached to No 9 Primary training at Maryhill barracks Glasgow 4 days after his marriage.
The reality was that in 1946 George was now some 145 miles away from his wife with little or no chance of seeing her on a regular basis transport was very poor and cars were a scarcity and well out of the budget of an army and now unpaid Lance Corporal. It was shortly after this that Annie was discharged from the ATS as she was pregnant [obviously the reason for marrying in the first place? Comment her son!] Annie’s parents had moved from Co Durham to Askern in Yorkshire to find work in the colliery and the gas works and this is where Annie ended up now in 1946 some 265 miles away from George in 1946 this with was a recipe for trouble on Georges weekly wage of 48 shillings [£2:40p] per week.
Annie was working various jobs a post lady, canteen assistant and cinema cleaning in the evening it was in May 1947 she gave birth to twin boys. George through no fault of his own was somewhat an absent father and by 1949 his personal life was something of a disaster his marriage was all but over his wife had been cheating and had now told George that the marriage was over, and she was now in a relationship with this person.
George’s solution to his situation he found himself in 1950.
George’s young son Alan had passed away he was missing his surviving son and he was now in a foreign land far away from home and had no way of sorting things out? I know through his letters that this was constantly in his thoughts as to how he could get the impedimenta that he found himself in sorted. The veracity of his situation was that he only had under a year left to serve in the army and his mind was contemplating the realities of resettling back into civilian life. Finding employment that he could successfully use the skills he had gained during his military service. His priority was to divorce his wife and take over the care of his son who was now being cared for by his sons Grandmother Tomlinson and the family. I also think that he was still hurting over his discovery that his marriage was over. I noticed on his photographs taken in Singapore 1949 and 1950 Hong Kong he was still wearing his wedding ring in fact, he was wearing it when he was killed. His letters home at the time shows his upset and annoyance at the situation he was experiencing none of which was his doing. He was hurting inside.
Personal epilogue:
[My mother always said that he was a lovely young man but in 1946-
She went on to marry the man she was having the affair with he did not want her offspring! But they went on to have two more twin girls and a son. She died at 94 years of age.
In her early eighties she moved from Durham where she had lived for the last 40 odd years to Yorkshire to be nearer to her daughter and myself, in life she was an independent person but would always help her children if asked and if it was possible. In her old age after the death of two husbands and two sons she was at some moments quite remorseful of parts of her life, but she never ever had a bad word said about George.]
