George Groom was born in Great Gaddesden, Hertfordshire in January 1885 and baptised a month later at St John the Baptist Church in the village, on Sunday, 22nd February 1885. He was the 3rd son and child of Thomas Groom and Mary Ann Mortimer who had seven children together. George’s siblings were, James and Frank both older and Frederick, Bertie, Ernest and Emma who were younger. When George was born his family lived on a road known locally as “The Barracks” in the small rural community of Great Gaddesden. His parents, Thomas and Mary Ann, were working as an “Agricultural Labourer” and a “Straw Plaiter” respectively, and the 1891 census recorded that almost everyone of working age in their close vicinity was engaged in the same occupations. George initially attended the local school, which was only a step or two away from his front door but may not have completed his education there as his family moved to Hemel Hempstead, sometime in the 1890s. By the time of the next census in 1901, George was living at 29 Cherry Bounce at the northern end of the High Street and he was working as an “Iron Foundry Hand”. He worked at the “Boxmoor Iron Works”, owned by Davis & Bailey on the Marlowes, where Bank Court is situated today.

In 1905, just after his twentieth birthday, George joined the Militia when he enlisted with the 4th Bedfordshire Regiment on the 17th February. By this time, he was working as a “Farm Labourer” and he was a tall man at “5 feet 9 inches” and well-nourished weighing nine and a half stones. He was described as having a fresh complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair and was declared “Fit for service Militia”. Over the next four years he attended the annual Summer Camps and in June 1908 he signed on for a further two years. His service in the 4th Bedfordshires expired on the 26th February 1911 and George was transferred to the Army Reserve. By this time, he was back living in Great Gaddesden with his Uncle and Aunt, Thomas and Sarah Spurr and working nearby as a “Farm Labourer”.

On the outbreak of war, as a member of the Army Reserve, George was called up almost immediately and he attested at Watford on the 20th October 1914 and re-enlisted with the Bedfordshire Regiment. He was immediately posted to the 9th Battalion at Felixstowe in Suffolk to refresh his knowledge, before being sent to France on the 27th December posted to the 2nd Battalion. He spent time in the trenches in January 1915, but his time at the Front was brief and, on the 10th January 1915, he was posted back to Depot and returned to England. The reason for his return was illness as revealed in his Army Medical Board report later in the year. It describes how in January 1915, George began to suffer heart problems not long after joining his unit, initially falling out of line after six miles of a route march, and later experiencing “chest pains and palpitations” whilst carrying out his duties.

Following his return, he was posted to the 3rd Battalion at Landguard Fort in Felixstowe on coastal defence duties. However, his health deteriorated and by late May he was examined by the Medical Unit to determine his fitness to serve. The result was that George was categorised “…no longer physically fit for war service” and his condition was deemed to have been aggravated by active service. He was honourably discharged due to “Disordered action of heart” on the 8th June 1915 with an Army pension and a Silver War Badge, and he returned to Hemel Hempstead.

The Silver War Badge was introduced as an award of "King's Silver" for having received wounds or injury during loyal war service to the Crown's authority. A secondary reason for its introduction was due to a practice which had developed in the early years of the war, where some women took it upon themselves to confront and publicly embarrass men of fighting age, they saw in public places who were not in military uniform. They would ostentatiously present these men with white feathers, as a suggestion of cowardice. As the war developed, substantial numbers of servicemen who had been discharged from service with wounds that rendered them unfit, but which were not obvious from outward appearances, found themselves being harassed in such a manner. The badge, to be worn on the right breast while in civilian dress, was a means of discouraging such incidents. It was forbidden to wear the badge on a military uniform.

Little is known about George’s life after he returned home until in November 1918 when he succumbed to his illness and died of heart failure.

He passed away in West Herts Hospital on Sunday, 24th November 1918.

George was commemorated on the War Memorial plaque in St Mary’s Church on the High Street where he worshipped.

George is Remembered with Honour in Hemel Hempstead (Heath Lane) Cemetery, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.

He was 33 years old when he died.

George is entitled to the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.