Plaque & pair to 340485 Pte G H Booth, 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action 7 May 1918 at La Bassee

George Henry Booth was born circa 1896, in Woodseats just south of Sheffield, to John Booth and Hannah Maria Booth, of 18, Coldstream Place, Woodseats. In 1911 George Henry was a grocer’s errand boy, aged circa 15, whilst his father, John, by now aged 59, was a general labourer with the corporation highways department. George Henry appears to have been the youngest of six children, five of whom were still living in the family home, Ethel, Edith and Annie being servants and John Arthur, nine years George’s senior, being an engineer’s toolmaker in a steelworks (Annie, the third eldest, does not have an occupation recorded and possibly assisted her mother around the house).

Judging from the records of 340497 Charles Henry Moxon, Pte Booth may have been a ‘Derby Scheme’ recruit and spent some time on the Army Reserve before being mobilised – possibly around June 1916 – and then posted to the Northumberland Fusiliers. He may have had a 4-digit Territorial Force number (now unrecorded) before receiving the new 6-digit number with which he went overseas upon the renumbering of the Territorial Force Infantry in March 11917. His six-digit number is in the range for the 36th Battalion, a Territorial unit formed in January 1917. After enlistment, at some point George passed through the 1/4th Northumberland Fusiliers. This was possibly a paper posting; as 340485 Pte George Henry Booth by May 1918 he had been posted-on to the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, a Regular battalion serving with the 9th Brigade of 3rd Division. Judging by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Soldiers Died in the Great War entries of comrades with adjacent numbers, this may have taken place some time prior to mid-April 1918, thus putting him in line to fight in the Battle of the Lys.

The 3rd Division had taken part in the battles of the German Spring Offensive around St Quentin in the previous month (March 1918) and when the German Lys offensive (Operation Georgette) broke on 9 April 1918 was in reserve. The division was brought forward and deployed as part of the defence of Estaires on the Lys in the southern part of the battle sector and then dispersed, the 9th Brigade, of which the 1st Northumberlands was a part, being sent to assist the 55th Division in XI Corps successfully defending Bethune against attacks from the southern divisions of the German Sixth Army. Following this the latter half of April was spent slightly more quietly in and out of the line at La Lawe Canal. In early May the battalion moved from billets in Choques, where it had been reorganising, undergoing inspection, using the baths, practising on the rifle ranges, assimilating a draft of 100 other ranks and trench digging, to once more take up the line around the canal on the night of the 4/5th May. The battalion marched out at 7,30pm, ‘Y’, ‘X’, ‘Z’ and ‘W’ Companies and HQ proceeding to the Left Front, Right Front, Support and reserve positions, respectively. As narrated in the War Diary “The B[attalio]n had some difficulty in getting into position. In the first place there was a small concentration of gas at the guides rendezvous, and secondly the enemy was barraging the Canal bridges, which hostile liveliness developed into an attack at about 3.5am 5/5/18…” The next day had poor weather and quieter conditions except towards evening when there was a call for retaliatory fire on a German post, establishment of new posts and taking of German prisoners from the 25th Hessen Division (“friendly people” according to the War Diary). The 6th saw enemy aircraft more active, one flying low over the new outposts established by ‘Y’ Company on the east side of the canal, and concentration ‘crashes’ fired by Corps artillery in the late morning. Improving visibility in the afternoon led to both sides’ artillery becoming more active. Orders were also given for an inter-company relief, ‘Z’ Company to replace ‘Y’ in the Left Front, east of the Canal.

It seems likely that Pte Booth was a victim of German artillery fire, killed in the attempts to relieve ‘Y’ Company as the front-line company for the battalion’s Left Front on the nights of 6/7th or 7/8th May. As indicated earlier, German artillery appears to have had the Canal bridges well-covered, the war diary for the 6th commenting “some blue cross  gas shells on vicinity of only crossing with result that only 1 platoon of Y was relieved”. Then, on the 7th it noted “Artilleries fairly active during early afternoon increasing in volume until night when enemy maintained a harassing fire for the whole night, all calibres being employed, gas and H.E. being utilized, only 1 more platoon of Y was able to be relieved.” 5963 Sgt W Coates, also of the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed on the same day and lies next to him in Choques Military Cemetery. Pte Booth was one of 25 men of the battalion killed during the month. His financial effects of £9 13s 4d, and War Gratuity of £8 10s, were paid to his father John in October 1918 and December 1919 respectively. A dependant’s pension was also claimed for his mother Hannah Maria, although the outcome of this does not appear to have been recorded.