The death of Driver G Messenger, aged 20, of the 18th Divisional Ammunition Column, stationed at Heytesbury, took place at the Red Cross Military Hospital on Friday, the 11th inst. Messenger was a native of Lower Braithwaite, Carlisle, and was admitted to the hospital in the middle of May suffering from consumption. Deceased joined upon the commencement of the war.

[Salisbury and Winchester Journal: Saturday 19th June 1915]

George Messenger was born in 1895 and was the third of seven children. His parents, George and Sarah, were farmers, and the family grew up in Mealsgate, on the edge of the Lake District. Sarah died in 1901, and by the time of the 1911 census, George Jr and his siblings were helping their father on the farm.

When war broke out, George Jr was quick to enlist. Details of his military service are sparse, but what does remain confirms that he had enlisted no later than December 1914, which backs up the details in his obituary.

Driver Messenger joined the Royal Field Artillery, but it seems unlikely that he spent any time overseas. He seems to have been sent to a camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, for training and this is where he became ill. Contracting tuberculosis, probably from the cramped environment of the army barracks, George was admitted to the Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital in the town of Mere. He passed away from the lung condition on 11th June 1915: he was just 20 years of age.

Rather than being taken back to Cumbria, George Messenger was instead laid to rest in Mere Cemetery.

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