Captain (Acting Major), Royal Garrison Artillery
Born: June 23rd 1878
Died: June 21st 1917
Age at Death: 38
Killed in action, France, June 21st 1917
Son of Major F.R. Harvey.
A donation to the memorial statue has been made in honour of this soldier by the Tiplady Family.
Captain George Harvey
George Harvey was born in Brighton on June 23rd 1878. The circumstances of his early life are unclear as are the reasons why he only spent one year at the school, although from later copies of the Brightonian it is clear that he was an active member of the Old Brightonians’ Association. The fact that his name features on a Catholic War Memorial in Bexhill-on-sea indicates both that, unusually for a Brightonian of this period, he had a Catholic background and, of course, that he his family lived there for a while. At some point after he left school Harvey moved from Sussex to Devon because it appears that from 1912 onwards he was resident in Seaton, Devon. In the year of his death, 1917, he married Gladys Harvey, who was originally from Wales but now also lived in Devon.
Harvey was killed on the 21st June 1917 whole serving with the 355th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. The 355th Siege Battery was an artillery battery held some distance behind the lines and was responsible for firing the very large 9.2 inch and 12 inch guns which have such a strong role in the folk memory of the War. Although responsible for inflicting great devastation on the enemy casualties among those who manned such guns were relatively rarebit they were sometimes subject to air attack and it maybe that it was in one such attack that Harvey was killed.
Harvey is buried in the Cambrin Military Cemetery, Bethune, France and is also commemorated on the war memorial at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Bexhill-on-sea.
Source: LEST WE FORGET PROJECT, Brighton College 2014/15