George was 20 years old when he was killed in Belgium in 1917. He was a Gunner in the Royal Horse Artillery, and was posthumously awarded the Victory and British Medals, which mean that he was not sent abroad for active service until after 1915. 

George was the fourth of 15 children born 
to Jonathan and Annie Louisa Cocksedge, and he was born in Suffolk. Although his elder brother John was old enough to fight in the war, George was the only son to lose his life.  There was a large age gap between the eldest sibling Emmie who was born in 1890 when Annie was just 17, and the youngest Harold, who was born 32 years later in 1922 when Annie was 49.

The 1911 Census shows a 14 year old George living at 13 Bentinck Street with his family, and already in employment at a local mine, working as a ‘Coupler’. The household consists of John, Annie, and their children John, George, Annie, Agnes, Frederick, Rose and Florence. The census shows that although 15 children survived, in fact the couple had 17 children; by the time the 1911 records were made, 2 children had died. George’s father John is listed as being a Coal Miner ‘at the coal face’, and his elder brother John Edward is listed as ‘Pony Driver’ at the pit. The census also shows that George’s parents John and Annie had been married for 20 years, meaning that the couple married when Annie was 16/17, and John 17/18.