George was born in Birmingham before moving to London. At sixteen he sat for a trade scholarship, then went onto an apprenticeship in printing and manufacturing. Whilst still serving his apprenticeship George joined the 9th (2nd City of London) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. He took courses in gas warfare, sniper training and trench digging, and went to St Mary’s Bay Kent to meet other volunteers and his Commanding Officer (C.O.) in the Manchester Regiment. He signed a non-evacuation form, joining war office No.5 Scissors Company, and boarded the Ulster Prince ship in Scotland.

Landing in Norway, George describes their dangerous mission, which was to sabotage the advancing Germans alongside the Foreign Legion, so they wouldn’t obtain iron ore deposits in the mountainous town of Narvik. They journeyed down to the Swedish border and faced German machine guns across the fields, marching to Bodo to board a ship back to England.

After intensive training on Dartmoor, the independent Company George was part of reformed into No.1 & No.2 Commando Special Service Battalion under the control of Colonel Charles Newman. George was stationed around Scotland, then Gibraltar, North Africa, Malta, Solerno Italy and Monte Cassino where the famous abbey was destroyed. George then went to Yugoslavia with the No.2 Commando.

When the Commandos were disbanded George was sent back to the Fusiliers before transferring to the Pay Corp as a Clerk Class 1 and was demobbed. George talks about his disillusion after the war, but also the camaraderie and keeping in touch with friends. Postwar George became a minister, explaining how his experiences during the war influenced his decision to become ordained.