Description
(British Army) First Day of the Somme 1 July 1916 – Victory medal.
Named to Serjeant George Beecroft Airton, service number 16/1343, 16th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own).
Died 01 July 1916 at the First Day of the Somme.
George Beecroft Airton is buried at the Thiepval cemetary/Thiepval Memorial cemetary.
Burried at section Pier and Face 2 A 2 C and 2 D. -> https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/772905/george-beecroft-airton/
The Victory medal is engraved with George Beecroft Airton’s name and service number on the rim.
The medal comes with several pages of research.
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Background:
The First Day of the Battle of the Somme was to be the first mass offensive mounted by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the first battle to involve a large number of New Army divisions, many composed of Pals battalions that had formed after Kitchener’s call for volunteers in August 1914. In total this day 57,470 casualties suffered by the British, including 19,240 killed, which were the worst in the history of the British Army.
More background:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_day_on_the_Somme
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme
