14th Battalion, Welsh Regiment
George Albert Sidney Godwin was born in Cheltenham in the fourth quarter of 1884 and was the son of Thomas and Ann Godwin, who lived at 39 Worcester Street, Cheltenham.
By the time of the 1911 census George was living in Wales and was a labourer. He enlisted in the Welsh Regiment at Porth early in the war, giving his home address as Pontypridd. According to his Medal Index Card (MIC) he first went to France on 2 December 1915.
He appears to have served overseas for two years before coming home on leave in March 1918, staying at the family home in Worcester Street. He had been there about a week when, in the early hours of Tuesday, 26 March 1918, Police Constable J D Jones was on duty in Worcester Street when he was approached by Miss Agnes Godwin, who came running up to him shouting that her brother had stabbed himself. On going to the house, he found that George Godwin had fallen upon a bayonet which was embedded in his chest. The constable summoned a carriage and the soldier was conveyed to hospital but was found to be dead on arrival. He was aged 33 and a single man. His MIC states that he ‘died of wounds’.
Private Godwin was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery, where a CWGC headstone marks his grave. He is commemorated on a memorial in St Peter’s Church (Tewkesbury Road).
Researched by Graham Adams 13 January 2013 with the acknowledgement that (Majority of this information taken from ‘Leaving all that was dear – Cheltenham in the Great War’ by Joe Devereux and Graham Sacker)