SIVITER, George Henry

George Siviter was the son of John and Nancy Siviter of 6 Mott Street, Blackheath, and was married to Emily (later Jackson). He was a pre-war regular soldier and was probably recalled to the colours in August 1914. He served in the 1st Battalion of the Warwicks in the original British Expeditionary Force and would have experienced the Retreat from Mons and the fearsome battles of 1915 and 1916. In the Spring of 1917 the Warwicks were in the front line for the first Battle of Arras which started on the 9th April and made immediate gains. The second phase of the battle was defence against severe German counter-arracks and it was on the 13th April that Lance Corporal George Siviter was killed in action. He was 30 years of age and is buried in Athies Communal Cemetery (Special Memorial 2), now in the suburbs of Arras, and commemorated on the Blackheath and Halesowen Memorials.