BORN HULL 1896. SON OF WILLIAM HENRY & MARGARET HESLOP. ENLISTED IN THE HULL PALS. KILLED IN ACTION AT OPPY WOOD, ON 03/05/1917, AGED 21. LISTED ON HULL GRAMMAR SCHOOL MEMORIAL. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED, WITH HIS PHOTOGRAPH, IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON 6TH JUNE 1917. *
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE GEORGE HENRY HESLOP 11/271. Born in 1896, George was the youngest of six children to William and Margaret Heslop of 159 Beverley Road, Hull. A Turner by trade, he enlisted at Hull City Hall on 7th September 1914 joining the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. A veteran of Egypt and the Somme, he was killed in action on 3rd May 1917 as the Pals attacked German positions in front of Oppy Wood. George’s body was never recovered and his name is commemorated on the Arras memorial; he was 21 years old. In the Battalion History there is a passage which proves something really rather sickening, that despite the slaughter of 1st July 1916 on the Somme, the Top Brass appeared to have learned absolutely nothing at all. Divisional Headquarters had assured the battalion that:
“…..the attack of May 3rd would be met by shaken and demoralised troops, whereas events showed that our attempt followed immediately upon the strong reinforcement of the enemy lines by fresh troops.”
The Pals advanced through smoke and early morning mist into uncut barbed wire and well-hidden machine guns which mowed them down in the old familiar fashion. Somewhere out there was George Henry Heslop, a youngest son and baby brother.
