— Others Listed from Previous Genesee County Rolls —
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George P Rawlinson
Serjeant, 9th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, 12th Division, British Expeditionary Force. Died of wounds received in action near Aveluy, France, March 28, 1918. Age 27.
Listed under Batavia on County List 4; also on “Batavia’s Honor Roll”
Actual home town: Southall, Middlesex, England
Burial: Doullens Communal Cemetery, Extension No. 1, Plot 5 Row D Grave 11, Doullens, France
George Philip Rawlinson lived and worked in Batavia (Genesee County), New York, for about a year just before war broke out in Europe in August 1914. But he was a British citizen and soldier, and should be honored as such.
Rawlinson was born in Patching, Sussex, England, in 1891. He was the first of eight children of Philip Rawlinson and Louisa Emma Rawlinson. The 1891 Census of England shows George at two months of age living with his parents in Patching. The 1901 and 1911 England censuses place the Rawlinsons in Southall, Middlesex; in the latter census, George, at age 20, is shown as a milk carrier.
According to the May 2, 1918 Batavia Daily News article announcing his death, Rawlinson had resided at 37 State Street in Batavia with a friend, James Coles, and worked at the Chapin can factory. “He came to Batavia originally with Leonard Vanness, who is in the American military service in France,” reported the article. “He left for a visit to his former home in England in the fall of 1914. While he was there the war broke out and he enlisted in the 9th Royal Fusilladers [sic]. . .
Correspondingly, passenger lists and immigration records show George Philip Rawlinson, who listed his age as 22 and his occupation as milkman, and Leonard Venness [sic], dairyman, departing Southhampton, England on June 12, 1913 aboard SS Ascania, destination Batavia, New York, and arriving in the United States via Quebec and Buffalo on June 23, 1913. Rawlinson’s likely return to England is indicated in records of 1914 passenger arrivals to England; a George Rawlinson is listed landing in Liverpool, England from Montreal on November 30, 1914.
As a member of the 9th Royal Fusiliers, 12th Division of the British Expeditionary Force, Serjeant Rawlinson would’ve seen combat almost constantly from the time he arrived in France in May 1915. His regiment was in action in the front lines throughout the war, fighting mostly in the Somme sector.
Serjeant Rawlinson received his mortal wounds during Germany’s last-ditch, all-out March 1918 offensive, when the enemy assaulted British and French troops across the entire front from Ypres to St. Quentin in an effort to push the Allies back towards the English Channel. On March 25, 1918, three days before Rawlinson’s death on March 28, the 12th Division had been rushed to defensive positions in and around Albert. The next day, the 9th Royal Fusiliers were assigned positions north of that city at Aveluy, on the west bank of the Ancre River, facing the advancing enemy. The following two days saw bitter, heavy fighting as the Germans attacked repeatedly, eventually crossing the river and inflicting heavy casualties as they pushed the 9th Battalion back to high ground near Martinsart Wood. The unit was relieved on March 29, the day after Rawlinson died.
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—— [CLICK ON DOCUMENTS TO OPEN FULL VIEW IN SEPARATE TAB] ——
May 2, 1918 Batavia Daily News p1 c6
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May 4, 1918 Batavia Times p2 c3
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George P Rawlinson Sources:
– County List 4; also BHR
– May 2, 1918 BD p1 c6*
– May 4, 1918 BT p2 c3
– “1891 Census [of England].” Online transcriptions database, FreeCEN (www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl). Entries for Philip Rawlinson (head), Louisa Emma Rawlinson (wife) and George Philip Rawlinson (son, age 2 months), citing Census of England, RG12/839, East Preston-Sussex, Patching Parish, Folio 101, Page 5, Schedule 30.
– “1901 England Census.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for George P Rawlinson, age 10, citing Census Returns of England and Wales 1901, RG13/1182, Southall-Middlesex, Norwood Parish, Folio 24, Page 39, Schedule 175.
– “1911 England Census.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entries for household of Philip Rawlinson (head), with George Philip Rawlinson, son, age 20, citing Census of England and Wales 1911, RG14/6794, Southall-Middlesex, Schedule 186.
– “Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entries for George Rawlinson, age 22, and Leonard Veness, age 19, citing List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival, SS Ascania arriving in Port of Quebec/Buffalo Entry from Southampton 23 June 1913. Original source: National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; Manifests of Passengers Arriving at St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954; National Archives Microfilm Publication M1464, Roll 216, Record Group 85.
– “UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960. Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for George Rawlinson, age 24, citing Names and Descriptions of British Passengers, SS Missanabie arriving in Port of Liverpool from Montreal 30 November 1914, page 8, line number 33. Original data: Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Series BT26; 1,472 pieces.
– “The 12th (Eastern) Division in 1914-1918,” The Long, Long Trail website (http://www.1914 -1918.net/12div.htm)
– The Royal Fusiliers in the Great War, pp 4, 249-50
– “Rawlinson, George Philip,” Graves Registration Reports, Debt of Honour Register, and Headstone Schedule, Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website, (http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/83377/)
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