MEERING, corporal George Henry (1896-1975)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 LMA/4626
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: MEERING, corporal George Henry (1896-1975)
Date(s)	: 1905-1975
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 0.5 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Meering | George Henry | 1896-1975 | Corporal

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

George Henry Meering (1896-1975) was the eldest son of George Henry Meering, a lace manufacturer in Nottingham, and Ada Meering. After his parents' divorce, George and his three siblings moved with their mother to London, where she later remarried a Mr Geach.

During World War One, George was a corporal with the 'B' Squadron of 1st County of London Yeomanry (also known as the Middlesex Duke of Cambridge's Hussars). On 27 October 1917 his detachment was involved in a battle against the Turkish Ottoman forces on Hill 720, south of Beersheba in Palestine. Vastly outnumbered, the troops put up remarkable resistance, fighting to the last man. George was seriously wounded and taken to a Turkish hospital at Tel el Sheria as a prisoner of war. Left behind by the retreating Turks, he was discovered by the advancing British troops and sent to a British hospital in Cairo and then to Bristol, where in April 1918 he wrote a survivor's account of the battle. In September that year he wrote about his experiences as a prisoner of war. For the rest of his life, he had periodic operations to remove shrapnel from his body.

George was married twice, but both his wives had predeceased him. His first wife gave birth to stillborn twin sons; he had no other children. He died on 16 July 1975 at Kingston Hospital, aged 79.

The papers were deposited at LMA on 27 May 2005 by George Meering's niece, Mrs Pamela Burgess, who also provided some of the biographical information used above.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Almost all papers relate to George Meering's experience in World War One. They comprise typewritten contemporary accounts of his war experience and as prisoner held by the Turkish, correspondence (including letter from General Edmund Allenby), newspaper articles, photographs of regiment and nurses, dinner invitation, medals and other memorabilia.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

LMA/4624/01: Personal Papers
LMA/4624/02: Newspaper articles and cuttings
LMA/4624/02: Photographs and postcards
LMA/4624/04: Memorabilia

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright is held by the City of London.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited in May 2005.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Added February 2013.