- George Coppard
Infobox Military Person
name= George Coppard
lived=26 January 1898 – ? 1984
placeofbirth=Brighton
placeofdeath=United Kingdom
caption=
nickname=
allegiance=
serviceyears=4
rank=Corporal
commands=
unit=Machine Gun Corps
battles=Loos, Somme, Arras, Cambrai
awards=Military Medal
laterwork=Civil Servant
portrayedby=Corporal George Coppard (1898 – 1984) was a Britishsoldier who served with theMachine Gun Corps duringWorld War I . Following his retirement he published his memoirs entitled "With A Machine Gun to Cambrai" in 1969.cite book
last = Coppard
first = George
year = 1999
title = With a Machine Gun to Cambrai - A Story of the First World War
publisher = Cassell Military Paperbooks
location = London
id = 0-304-35258-6]
Early years
George Coppard was born on
26 January 1898 and left school to work for ataxidermy firm at the age of 13.World War One
Following the outbreak of War in 1914 he lied about his age and joined the 6th Battalion
Royal West Surrey Regiment (now part ofThe Queen's Regiment ). Having completed training inGuildford , theBattalion was posted toFrance in 1915, where they soon found themselves involved in thebattle of Loos . At this stage Coppard had become a member of one of themachine gun teams. He fought in the front line almost continuously through the campaigns of 1916 and 1917 with the exception of a period of convalescence after he was accidentally shot by a colleague on17 October 1916 . This included most of thebattle of the Somme (1916) and thebattle of Arras (1917) .He was wounded again in October 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai and was nearly killed after his
femoral artery was severed. Fortunately his life was saved by his colleagues rapidly applying atourniquet . By this stage Coppard had been promoted to Corporal and awarded theMilitary Medal for his gallantry at Cambrai.Later years
With the
armistice Coppard was discharged in 1919 and, following a period of unemployment, sought employment as an assistant steward at a golf club and thereafter in various sundry appointments. He retired in 1962 having worked at theMinistry of National Insurance since 1946.He was married and had two daughters.
During retirement Coppard sought and received encouragement from the
Imperial War Museum to have his wartime diaries published. Published in 1969, "With a Machine Gun to Cambrai" proved an instant success, prompting his contemporaries to publish their own wartime accounts.References
External links
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/coppard.htm Coppard's page] on
FirstWorldWar.com
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWcoppard.htm Coppard's page] onSpartacus Schoolnet
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