George Pointing,
noted by Chailey Parish Magazine in September 1915 as serving his King and Country, was one of four brothers who served during
the First World War.
He was born at Lewes
on 29th July 1896 and by the time the 1901 census was taken, was living at Thompsetts, Chailey with his family. That family comprised James Pointing (senior) aged 44 and working as a postman, his
40 year old wife Alice (working as a laundress from home) and their four children: William Pointing (aged 13), Alice Pointing
(aged nine), James Pointing (aged six) and George Pointing (aged four). A fourth
son, 14 year old Frank Pointing, was boarding at Teague Green, Chailey.
In October 1915,
the parish magazine notes that Trooper G Pointing is (like his brother James), serving with the 2nd Sussex Yeomanry in
England. In January 1917,
the magazine notes that his rank is signaller and that he is now with the 1/2nd Sussex Yeomanry.
George then appears
to have transferred from the yeomanry to the infantry and in December 1917, the parish magazine reports that he is still a
signaller but by now serving with the 11th Royal Sussex Regiment. In May 1918
it reports that he has been wounded and the entry, Pointing, Sig G, 11th Royal Sussex. Wounded. is then repeated up to and
including the final published roll call in July 1919. The National Archives gives two army numbers for George Pointing: 2822 (his original TF number with the
Sussex Yeomanry) and 260073, the number he was allocated when the Territorial Force was re-numbered in early 1917. The latter number falls within the sequence allocated to the 5th Royal Sussex Regiment so it would
appear that George transferred from the Yeomanry to the 5th Royal Sussex Regiment and then to the 11th Battalion where
he was wounded.
In ‘Chailey
Through The Centuries’, he recalls a visit to Thompsett’s Charity in July 1967 which sheds further light on his
war service. “It was a wonderful experience for me to enter my birthplace
after a lapse of 49 years. Having been wounded on the Somme and after six months in hospital, I was able to obtain special leave to assist my parents in moving house to Setford’s
Lilac Cottage, South Street in October 1918. The changes
that have taken place at Thompsetts Charity are all so breathtaking that it is difficult to fit everything into place. Our family still affectionately refer to it as the Old Thatch, although this material
was a constant nightmare to my mother who had a dread of the place catching fire, especially during thunderstorms…” This places his date of wounding to around April/May 1918 which is consistent with
the first mention of this in the October 1918 issue of the parish magazine.
Also in ‘Chailey
Through The Centuries’ are verses from a poem, ‘Chailey Green’ in which George affectionately recalls both
the village and some of the characters he grew up with. The selection concludes
with the war to end all wars:
“One final
thought recalls those lads
Whose names are carved
in stone.
For they were some
who grew ‘not old’
When scarcely yet
full grown.
The Snellings, Turners,
Beards and Brooks,
So often here were
seen,
Before the Holocaust
broke out,
We played on Chailey
Green.”
George Pointing married
Lily Gertrude Weal at Brentford, Middlesex in about May 1924. He died on 25th April 1985 in Ealing, west London.
George’s three
brothers Frank, James and William all served during the First World War. I believe that his mother, Alice Pointing, is the same Alice Pointing noted as serving as a cook with Sussex 54 VAD. His sister, also Alice Pointing, married
Ernest Frank Stevens who is also commemorated on this site.
Sources & Acknowledgements
- 1901 Census of England & Wales
- The National Archives: Medal Index Card
- Chailey Parish Magazine
- Chailey Through the Centuries by Edwin Matthias (1996)
- www.familyworkings.com/gedcoms/keel/dat9.htm
- Lesley Hingston for information about George Pointing and his family
