Second Lieutenant, Royal Berkshire Regiment
Born: August 14th 1896
Died: April 30th 1917
Age at Death: 20
Died of Wounds, France, April 30th 1917
Son of Audley Mervyn Archdale and Mary Scott Archdale, originally of Bexhill On Sea and latterly of 3, Cranbrook Rd., Wimbledon, London.
Grave reference VI.E.8 Aubigney Cemetery, Pas De Calais, France.
Caius College, Cambridge.
A donation to the memorial statue has been made in honour of this soldier by the Family of Holly Inkpen (Ch. 2008-15).
During his childhood George lived at 62 Cambridge Terrace, Paddington, London where the household comprised George, his parents and two sisters Margaret and Beatrice. Prior to Brighton College George attended Belvedere Prep School in Upper Drive, Hove, Sussex, which closed in 1936.
George Archdale joined the school in 1910 aged 14 and was a member of Chichester House as well the OTC. He was evidently on the scholarly end of the school because when he left in 1915 he won a scholarship to Caius College Cambridge to read Medicine. However, he deferred entry to join the army.
In July 1915 he enlisted in the Royal Berkshire Regiment and on 13 August was granted a probationary commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. It is unclear what he did during the next year, it is possible that he went up to Cambridge for a couple of terms pending being actually posted abroad as such temporary furloughs were not uncommon. However, in December 1916 he was sent to France as part of the 1st battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment. He fought, like a number of his fellow Brightonians, in the Battle of Arras and was wounded on 29 April 1917. On 30 April 1917 he died of his wounds at the No 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station and his grave lies in the British Military Cemetery at Aubigny, France.
Source: LEST WE FORGET PROJECT, Brighton College 2014/15