Pvt George F Hill • Foulsham

Private George Frederick Hill served in 1^st/ 6^th Battalion Durham Light Infantry.

George had worked as a chauffeur and lived with his family on Station Road before the war. George was just 19 when he died, but we have a unique insight into the last year of his life. George was injured and taken prisoner of war in March of 1918 and held until the September. On his return to the UK in the September he gave a statement which describes his experience in his own words. An extract of the document, which is held by the National Archives, reads:

               ‘I was caught by shrapnel on the 28^th March 1918 on the St Quentin front and wounded in both legs and hands, my right leg being practically blown away and only hanging by the flesh. The Germans took me prisoner and I was placed on a stretcher in a cart drawn by a horse, and was left there for six hours before being taken to the field ambulance behind the line. I do not known the name of the place.

At the field ambulance a German doctor immediately amputated my right leg below the thigh (under an anesthetic), dressed my wounds, gave me brandy and treated me well.’

George goes on to describe the conditions in the hospital, his treatment, and other aspects of his time in captivity.  While he survived the war, he would die a few months after his release from the wounds he received in France. He passed away on December 6^th 1918, aged just 19 years old. 

Grid Ref : TG 03342 25081

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Pilot Officer Ernest George Farrow • Foulsham

 

The second Commonwealth War Grave headstone I located on a recent visit to Foulsham was that of Pilot Officer Ernest George Farrow. He joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve and was flying with 30 O.T.U (Operational Training Unit). On 15^th May 1943 his crew took off in their Vickers Wellington HE468 from RAF Hixon for a night navigation sortie.  On its return something happened to cause it to stall at high altitude and it dived almost vertically into the ground. It crashed at 0357 at Mountford Farm, Salt, Staffordshire with the loss of all crew. 

Ernest was returned to Foulsham for burial. He was 26 years old.

Grid Ref: TG 03355 25058

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Cpl James Austin Armour • Foulsham

 

James was born in July 1922 in Foulsham. He joined the Royal Air Force and served with No 4242 Servicing Echelon, which was tasked with maintenance and servicing of aircraft for operational squadrons during the war. After the war he was based at RAF Oakington in Cambridgeshire.

On 1^st October 1947 he was involved in a motor-cycle accident, which was reported on in the local press. The Lynn Advertiser on October 3^rd 1947 reported:

               'The second fatal motor-cycling accident in West Norfolk in this week involved Corporal James Austin Armour (25) RAF of Foulsham. He was involved in a collision on Wednesday near Modney Bridge, Hilgay, with a motor car driven by Mr A W Underwood, of 3 Crown Lane, Littleport.’

James is buried in the churchyard of Holy Innocents chuch, Foulsham

GRID REF: TG 03345 25063

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