Newton-le-Willows and Earlestown War Memorial

In Memory of

Private George Goldsack

9762
2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers
Killed in Action 12th October 1916 Age 18

The death of Private George Goldsack is reported briefly in the Newton and Earlestown Guardian of 17th November 1916, but few details are given. His great niece, Hayley Goldsack has kindly supplied personal information about him

George was born in the first quarter of 1898, making him 18 years old when he was killed. He was the son of Edward Henry and Ada Goldsack, who moved to Newton-le-Willows in 1891/2 from Kent. George had two brothers and four sisters at the time of his death; one of the brothers being Arthur who was Hayley's grandfather. Arthur was born on 7th December 1906 and died on 11th April 1963.

George's name is on the Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, which bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave.

Private Goldsack was killed during the Battle of Transloy Ridge, during the offensive known as the Battle of the Somme. The 2nd Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers was part of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division of the XIV Corps. "The Official History of the Great War" records the action on "a day of heavy showers":

"The 12th Brigade endeavoured to complete the capture of Spectrum Trench, which was bombarded by Stokes mortars; some of the 2/Duke of Wellington's, after suffering considerable loss, forced their way in and joined hands with the 2/Lancashire Fusiliers holding the northern part of the trench. An advance over the crest of the spur by men of both battalions failed before Zenith Trench." (A footnote at this point states that ""Res. Regt. No. 31" records close fighting and heavy losses on this part of the front.")

George Goldsack's name appears on the memorial at St Peter's on High Street, Newton-le-Willows. The odd thing is that all the other names are alphabetical. George's name is at the end, as if added at a later date.