Temple George Edward Pte 4447868
Personnel Entry
Name Temple George Edward
Army number 4447868
Rank Private.
Decorations None known, other than service medals.
Date of birth 18/6/1911 at Newton Bewley. Birth registered in Stockton on Tees, Q3 1911.
Age 94 at the time of his death.
Unit Enlisted in The Durham Light Infantry - attested 4/12/1929 at Middlesbrough - as a Regular soldier for seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve. Posted to the Regimental Depot at Fenham Barracks 5/12/1929. Posted to the 1st Battalion DLI 14/5/1930. Transferred to Section "B" Army Reserve under King's Regulations Para 382 (i) 4/12/1936. Understood to have been recalled to the Colours on the outbreak of War as a Reservist with the DLI - mobilised at Newcastle upon Tyne 2/9/1939 and posted 5/9/1939. Posted to No.4 Infantry Training Centre. Transferred to the RAOC 14/3/1942 under Army Council Instruction 626/39 in the rank of Private and posted to the Armourers Training Centre RAOC on 17/7/1942. Documents to Leicester 25/8/1942. Under Army Council Instructions he was transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 1/10/1942. Posted to 70th Brigade HQ 10/3/1943 and understood to have worked in the Brigade Workshops. Posted Western Expeditionary Force as a Staff Sergeant 6/2/1944. Returned to 70th Brigade Workshops 12/3/1944. Embarked for France 9/7/1944. Served Normandy. Struck off strength 70th Brigade 26/8/1944 on disbandment. Posted 146 Brigade HQ. Posted 803 Infantry 1/8/1945. Embarked for UK. Released to Class "Z" Reserve 30/12/1945. Discharged from Reserve commitment 10/2/1954.
Company/Battery Brigade HQ.
Platoon or other sub-unit Brigade Workshops - RAOC then REME from 1/10/1942.
Task or role Armourer.
Joined Brigade Exact date not yet known.
Promotions Unpaid L/Cpl 1/3/1932. Paid L/Cpl 15/8/1932 - 1/12/1934. Acting L/Cpl 6/6/1940. Acting Armourer Sergeant 9/4/1943. Granted War Substantive Rank of Armourer Sergeant following a period at Acting Rank. Promoted to Unpaid Acting Armourers Quarter Master Sergeant 21/6/1943. Appointed Paid WOII having held Acting Rank for 21 days. Passed Trade Test and upgraded to Class A WO II 6/4/1944.
Wounded Not as far as is known, although he had several spells in hospital.
Prisoner of War Not as far as is known.
Died/Killed in action Died in Darlington Memorial Hospital on 25/10/2005 at the age of 94.
Home address Father was James Temple and mother Ada Clark. Married Marjorie Agar in Darlington on 27/7/1938. Pre-war he worked as a machinist with Vickers at Elswick and also at Weybridge, and post-war, he worked at North Eastern Railway shops at Darlington, until their closure in 1963/64 - leading to his redundancy, and then, also as a machinist, at Richardsons until his retirement in 1976.
Source table
We are indebted to WO II Temple's grandson for much of the information on him.
To read a "People's War" entry on WOII Temple, which includes a photograph of him, please click [1] here.
