On this day in 1918, Corporal George Henry Jenkin died

George Henry Jenkin was the third son of James and Mary Jenkin to be killed in combat and the eldest of the four sons named on the Stoke Climsland War Memorial. He is erroneously listed as C Jenkin rather than G.H.

George was born in Downgate and was baptised in Downgate Chapel on 21st November 1889. At the age of 16, he was working underground as a tin miner but, at 24, he was living in Kelly Bray with a brother and sister and was a farm labourer. Both of their parents had died a few years earlier.

Although we do not know when George enlisted in the army, we do know that it was at Bodmin and he was drafted into the 1/5th Battalion. The Battalion was moved into active service in 1916 and remained in France until 1918.

At the time of George’s death, his unit was in the Somme region and engaged in the Battle of St Quentin, which took place between 21st and 23rd March, and which was part of the German Spring Offensive of 1918. The 21st March began with an extremely heavy German artillery bombardment of high-explosive and gas shells. The 1/5th DCLI were ordered to ‘man battle stations at 5.30 am’, moved into position and came under considerable enemy fire all day. In this action many men were lost, including George Jenkin. He was listed as ‘missing in action’ and his body was never recovered.

As well as being remembered in Stoke Climsland, He is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial Panel 45B), near Albert in Northern France. The Memorial commemorates over 14,000 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who have no known grave and who died on the Somme from 21st March to 7th August 1918.