George Purvis
Location address : Bridlington Priory Church, The Rectory, Church Green, Bridlington, YO16 7JX
Details on cross (Text content of cross):
Capt G B Purvis
8.6.17
56 M G C
Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): GRU
Cross dimensions (millimetres please) N/A (Appears to be a standard British Army Cross)
Other information
Finish (varnish, paint, oiled, unfinished etc): Stained black probably quite recently.
Condition (cracked, paint peeling, woodwork, damage etc): Snapped off at the bottom of the shaft
Notes and observations: (optional)
There is a plaque attached to the cross which reads “ To the glory of god and in memory of Capt Geo. B Purvis 5th Batt. Green Howards and 56th COY MGC Killed in action on Messines Ridge June 8th 1917 Interred at Klein Vierstraat Belgium Per Voas Rectas”
Captain Purvis was 24 when he was killed. Mentioned in Despatches
Son of John Bowlt Purvis, and Charlotte Annie Purvis, of 6, Princess Terrace, Bridlington, Yorks.
Survey and Photographs courtesy of: Steve Barber
Date of survey: August 2017
My father, Charles Ware Marshall, like Capt. Purvis, was in the Green Howards and the Machine Gun Corps in WWI—both of them, I assume, seconded to the MGC when the use of machine guns escalated. Also like Purvis, he had family links to Bridlington and the Priory church there. His mother, Annie Marshall, my grandmother, lived on Milner Road and was for some years the lead soprano in the Priory choir.
Charlie Marshall, a WWI private, rarely, almost never, spoke of his wartime experience. He died in 1973 after a successful business career. I’d appreciate knowing more about him and the Green Howards wartime history. During WWII he served in the Home Guard. As a child I saw in his clothing drawers a set of pips; it seems that he served sometimes as a private, sometimes as a commissioned officer—whatever was needed.