George Colling
Paul Heatherington has submitted the following:-
George was born in December 1880 in Guisborough. His father was Henry Colling, born in Weardale, and his mother, Mary Colling, a native of Guisborough. He was the second child in a family of eight children. His brothers were Cuthbert, James, Frank and John. His sisters were named Hannah, Beatrice and Mabel. The family lived in Guisborough until about 1883 and then in Stockton and Marske.
They moved to the Consett area in about 1891/2 and, later, to Shotley Bridge.
In 1901, the family were living at 7 Messenger Street. At that time, both George and his father were working in the paper mill.
In 1905, George married Mary Agnes Matthews, who was born in Brampton, Cumberland. They had three children: Mabel (1908), Dorothy (1910) and Henry (1911). In 1911, they were living at 20 Front Street, Shotley Bridge. George Colling was very well respected in the village because of his capacity for hard work. He was employed at the Derwent Flour Mill as a 'purifierman', as he was skilled in this aspect of the milling process. He loved sport and played for Shotley Bridge United. He took an active part in the varied social life the village offered. In 1912, the house at 20, Front Street was destroyed by fire and the family were rehoused in Co-operative Terrace.
When war was declared in 1914, George was one of the first to volunteer, along with Tommy Henderson, who drove one of the Yorkshire steam wagons operated by the Flour Mill. Theyenlisted in the 15th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry. By the time the 15th DLI lined up to be part of the first wave 'over the top', on the 1st July 1916, both men had been in France for 10 months. They were given the task of assaulting the German line about a mile North of Fricourt, in the Somme valley in Northern France. The 15th DLI suffered enormous casualties from the time they left their front-line trench, George and Tommy being 2 of them. Their bodies were neverfound.
George's name is inscribed on the Thiepval Memorial, near Albert, on the Somme, along with more than 70,000 other men who have no known grave.
In September 1921 his widow, Mary and her 5 children were given one of the three Memorial Cottages which were built to provide homes for men of the village who had been wounded in the Great War, or the families of men who had been killed. (Electoral Rolls 1925 states 2 Memorial Cottages)
George's only son, Henry Colling, Sergeant Air Gunner 1378989 148 Squadron RAFVR, flying in a Wellington Mark 2, was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea on the 12th November 1941 aged 30. His body was recovered and he is buried in Nicosia Military Cemetery, Cyprus.
George Colling is remembered at Shotley Bridge on S27.01 and S27.03
He is also remembered in The DLI Book of Remembrance page 168
