George Kewley

At school George was gifted and popular. He joined the same regiment as his older brother, John, and died in France in his first action.

Brother on the memorial

George Raymond Kewley was born on 30 March 1895 in Somerset, as the son of a Methodist minister. The family moved frequently, as was usual for ministers at the time, and were later in Leicestershire, Cheshire then Lancashire. George was the younger brother of John Kewley, who is also listed on the war memorial.

Gifted and popular

The brothers attended Kingswood School in Bath, a Methodist foundation, as boarders. According to the school magazine George was very gifted and popular. He was selected for school teams for both cricket and rugby, and played Miranda in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’.  Like John, George gained a scholarship at Oxford University, and he began at Pembroke College where he achieved Second Class in his Classics course exams in 1915.

Died in first action

George interrupted his studies in June 1915 to join the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. Again he was following John, but he went as a Second Lieutenant into a different battalion, the 8th, that was still in England at this time. The unit landed at Boulogne in September, and saw its first action at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which started on 21 May 1916 with a German advance. But George died the day before, killed by a sniper whilst exposed on the lip of a crater. He was aged 21 and is remembered on the Arras Memorial.