LIEUT. ATHELSTAN KEY DURANCE GEORGE, 1ST BATTN. DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT. DIED SEPTEMBER 14TH, 1914, FROM WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION ON SEPTEMBER 9TH, AT BEZU, IN THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE. AGED 27. At the School 1900—5 (Ferox Hall). Lieut. A. K. D. George was the younger son of Arthur Durance George, of Aldersholt, Clarendon Road, Bournemouth. He entered the School in 1900 at the age of 12½, and in 1905 represented the School at Aldershot in fencing and with the sabre. He also won the Headmaster's Drawing Prize. On leaving School he went to Caius College, Cambridge, where be rowed in the College Eight and was prominent in other branches of College life. He had gone to Cambridge with the intention of studying medicine ; but, finding the work involved uncongenial as time went on, he decided to enter the Army, and with that intention left the University without taking a degree, to work for the Army Examination. He was gazetted on February 1st, 1907, as 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battn. King's Liverpool Regiment, and his Colonel later described him as the best subaltern he had ever had. In June, 1909, he was gazetted to the 2nd Battn. of the Dorset. Regiment, then quartered in India, and was promoted to full Lieutenant a year later. Whilst in India he served as A.D.C. to Sir Maurice Hammick, Governor of Madras, and afterwards as A.D.C. to Lord Sydenham. His irrepressible good humour, tact, and power of organisation, together with his versatile abilities, made him exceedingly useful and popular in such a capacity. He was, moreover, a good shot, an accomplished swordsman, and very useful with the gloves. On his return from India he was transferred to the 1st Battn., quartered at Belfast, and during his home service he gained a certificate in Aviation and passed through a course of Signalling with distinction. On August 14th, 1914, he left for the Front with his Regiment, which suffered greatly during the Battles of Mons, Le Cateau, and the Marne. On September 9th he was fatally wounded at Bezu in the Battle of the Marne. A brother officer, after writing of his splendid coolness in the firing line, tells how he was found wounded and unconscious after an attack and died five days later without recovering consciousness, adding, " His loss is deeply deplored, as he was immensely popular." He was buried in the cemetery at Coulommiers. The Adjutant wrote : " I knew Lieut. George well and am only too conscious of what a loss he is to the Battalion. He was an exceptionally good officer, one of those whose influence did much towards bringing the Dorsets to the standard they have reached during the War." His Colonel, in writing to Lieut. George's father in March, 1915, said :— " I am glad that you have written to me as I have often wished to tell his friends anl relatives how deeply every officer and man of the Dorsets grieved with you at the loss of your dear son. " During the period which followed our fights on the Marne there was, however, little time to write or even to think. Then came the rush northwards and the great fight of the Battalion at Givenchy, when we lost three-quarters of our men and all but four of our original officers, and then I had to spend ten weeks in England, recovering from wounds. " I first met your son about last May, when he returned to Belfast after going through a course of flying, and I think that a month later he returned to England to begin a course of signalling, from which he returned just before mobilisation, so that I did not get to know him well till the beginning of the war. " During those first six weeks he was—I think there is only one word to describe him—magnificent. Always cheerful; always caring for others; watching over his men no matter how weary; never sparing himself. To my mind he was the ideal of a British officer—gallant and brave, of course, but in addition, tireless in helping others who did not possess his powers of mind and body. " I fear that this is but a poor sketch to give you of one who earned our love and esteem to so great a degree. I know his memory will live long in the Dorsets."