George Silvester was born in Hampshire about August 1886. According to the 1891 census he was born at Hawkley and according to the 1901 census he was born at Emsworth. However, the birth was registered at Petersfield, so Hawkley would seem to be correct.

He was the eldest of six children of Joseph Stephens Silvester and Annie Phillips, Annie being the daughter of Benjamin John Phillips and granddaughter of John Phillips and Sarah Binsted of Emsworth. Straight from completing school, George began working on his father’s farm, and he continued doing this both before and after he married Lily Early in 1908. Lily came from Tiverton in Devon, and it is here where they got married, although it isn’t clear how they came to meet each other from such a distance apart. Over the following eight years they had six children, with one of them, the fifth, dying within a year of birth.

George enlisted in the Army in about March 1916, at Fleet, into F Company of the Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps, which would later become the Royal Tank Corps. Tanks had only just been invented, and were first used at the Battle of Flers Courcelette in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. As the branch had only been formed in October 1915, it was still, at that time, considered artillery, and crews received artillery pay. Initially there were six tank companies, each identified by the letters A to F, and these were grouped as the Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps (MGC). It would have been this into which George enlisted.

By November 1916 there were eight companies in existence, and these were then each expanded to form battalions, still identified by the letters A to H, and designated the Heavy Branch MGC. Another seven battalions, I to O, were formed by January 1918, and, at this point, all battalions were changed to numbered units.

On 28th July 1917, the Heavy Branch was separated from the rest of the Corps by Royal Warrant and given official status as the Tank Corps. Howard Williamson, in his "Great War Medal Collectors’ Companion Vol. 2", confirms that George’s regimental number of 201098 was one of a batch of numbers belonging to men who were transferred-in from the MGC.

The formation of new battalions continued throughout the War, and by December 1918 twenty-six had been created though only twenty-five battalions were equipped with tanks, as the seventeenth had converted to armoured cars in the previous April.

The first commander of the Tank Corps was Sir Hugh Elles. The Corps saw heavy action in a number of battles, most notably the Battle of Messines, Passchendaele, Bapaume, the Second Battle of the Somme, and Cambrai, and it is probable that, after having undergone his initial training, George would have found himself involved in several of these actions.

The first tanks, known as Mark 1, were built in two types which were essentially the same except for their armament. The ‘Male’ type carried two six-pounder guns and four machine guns while the ‘Female’ carried five machine guns. Motive power came from a 105hp Daimler engine, driving the caterpillar tracks through three independent gearboxes. Turning was a complex manoeuvre which required the tank to halt, making it an easy target. Early machines had a tail wheel, as in the foregoing photo, which was designed to aid steering and balance, but which in practice proved useless and was soon abandoned. At best, the early tanks could achieve a top speed of four miles per hour. On the battlefield this was rarely realised and, in many cases, infantry moved far faster.

The machines were crewed by a Subaltern, three Drivers and four Gunners, of which one was an NCO. Interior conditions were truly appalling, being a combination of intense heat, noise and exhaust from the engine, violent movement as the tank crossed the ground, and molten metal splash as bullets struck the plating. Men would often be violently sick or badly incapacitated by the conditions and were often in no fit state to continue after quite short journeys. It was difficult to communicate within the tank, as well as with men and other tanks outside. The tank officer often had to get out and walk, to reconnoitre his path or to work with the infantry. The tanks also proved to be mechanically unreliable and vulnerable to shellfire. Some tanks carried a wire frame on the roof, designed to deflect grenades. Nonetheless, the first appearance of the tanks caused considerable alarm to the Germans; that is until they realised their shortcomings and began to organise tactics and armament to defend against them! Several upgrades were introduced up to the Mark IV. This model carried more armour and had an external fuel tank. It weighed twenty-eight tons.

The Mark IV first saw service at The Battle of Messines in June 1917. Battlefield lessons were being applied, with many tanks now carrying something called fascines, which were huge bundles of wood that could be dropped to bridge wide trenches and ditches. By the time of the German attack in early 1918, a lighter fourteen-ton tank called the Whippet had come into service, with a top speed of eight miles per hour. It was lightly armed but highly effective, bringing a degree of mobility back to the battlefield.

The most effective variant, Mark V, was in service for the Allied attacks that began in July 1918. It was more powerful and had an improved steering and control mechanism that allowed a reduction in the crew. These could also be effectively used as supply carriers.

In the Supplement to the London Gazette, published on the 19th March 1918, it was announced that Private George Silvester had been awarded the Military Medal. This was only awarded for 'acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire’. As it was usual for these announcements to be published, on average, several months after the award was made, we may calculate that the action must have taken place sometime before the end of 1917. The fact that he was still a Private at the time of the award is a further indication that it must have been some time earlier.

As the date selected for the disengagement of Amiens, 8th August 1918, drew near, a total of 604 tanks began assembling together – the largest number of tanks ever gathered together in any one place. Amongst them most likely would have been George – by now promoted to the rank of Serjeant. However, on 1st August, something went terribly wrong and he was drowned. It would seem evident that the tank got into difficulties and sank, with George and, presumably, the other men, trapped inside, but any such incident does not seem to be documented anywhere.

 He was 32 years of age, leaving behind a widow with five young children. In his probate, dated 26th February 1919, he left an estate valued at £1,357 4s. 11d. His effects from the War were returned to Lily on 3rd April 1919, and amounted to £17 6s. 2d., and a War Gratuity of £13 10s. was paid on 25th November 1919. She was left to raise five children on her own, and there is no evidence of her marrying again.

His grave number LXVIII. F. 26. in Etaples Military Cemetery bears no inscription. Etaples is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in France, and was once the scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth army training and reinforcement camps, and an extensive complex of hospitals that continued in operation until long after Armistice. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the cemetery is the final resting place for 11,517 souls who perished in the War – including a number of civilians and Second World War casualties.

George’s parents were to suffer a second loss less than two weeks later when their youngest child, Frank, was killed in action.