11th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment
George Edward Excell was born at Wotton-under-Edge in 1896 and after leaving school found employment with a local boot maker. He enlisted soon after the outbreak of war and was posted to the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment.
After spending almost a year in training in Wiltshire, the battalion landed at Boulogne on 21 September 1915. Over the next two years George was constantly in action and was wounded twice; once being hit above the knee by shrapnel when carrying rations up to the line.
He recovered from these wounds and continued to serve with the battalion into 1918. In September 1918 the battalion transferred to the Salonika Front, arriving on 30 September 1918, as part of 78th Brigade, 26th Division. Salonika was noted for being a particularly unhealthy front and George fell ill with pneumonia and died in a military hospital on 12 October 1918, aged 22.
Private George Edward Excell is buried in the Doiran Military Cemetery and commemorated on the Wotton-under-Edge War Memorial.
Taken from ‘First World War Heroes of Wotton-under-Edge’ by Bill Griffiths