b. 10/04/1884 Easington, County Durham. d. 14/10/1915 Poperinghe, Belgium.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 14/10/1915 Poperinghe, Belgium.
George Alderson AM
George was born in the village of Easington on 10th April 1884. Little is known about his childhood. In 1906, he married Edith Stevenson in Chester-le-Street. The couple would have two childen, Joseph (born 1908) and Sarah Ann (born 1914). George enlisted on the outbreak of war at Gateshead into the Durham Light Infantry.
George was posted to France on 21st May 1915, and would be involved in the incident that cost his life less than six months later. His posthumous Albert Medal was presented by Field Marshal Sir John French to his widow at The Haymarket, Newcastle upon Tyne.
AM CITATION:
On the evening of the 14th October, 1915, Alderson, with two other non-commissioned officers, was moving some bombs into a room in a farmhouse where they were to be stored. While the bombs were being stacked, one of them fell to the floor and the percussion cap was fired. Alderson, knowing that the bomb would explode in four seconds, and that to throw it out of the window would endanger the men who were outside, picked it up and tried to reach the door. Before he could get out of the door the bomb exploded, blowing off his hand and inflicting other serious wounds, from which he shortly died.
By his prompt action in picking up and carrying the bomb he probably saved the lives of the three men who were in the room with him, and by his presence of mind in not throwing it out of the window he certainly saved the lives of those standing outside.
This act was the more meritorious as Alderson was fully aware of the deadly nature of the bomb and the danger to himself that his act involved.
BURIAL LOCATION: LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, LIJSSENTHOEK, BELGIUM.
PLOT I, ROW B, GRAVE 14A.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY COLLECTION.
