Roll of Honour
2nd Lieutenant
George Brown Service
Student
George Service, born in Glasgow on 2nd July 1886 at 5 Westbourne Gardens, was the second son of Maysie and William Service. His father was a shipowner and manager, who was a member of a shipping family which was well-known in Scotland and Northern Ireland. He was a director of Workman, Clark and Company and a partner in Clark and Service. George was a pupil at Kelvinside Academy. The family home was at Queens Gate, Dowanhill. Little is known of his career before the war began though his association with Glasgow University may offer a clue, if an insubstantial one. George matriculated in 1908, aged 22, enrolling in the class of Mercantile Law. He may have been an apprentice or planned further education in law or accountancy. He may also have attended one or two science classes in previous years, though the record is short on detail or evidence of completion.
George joined the Machine Gun Corps, gazetted second lieutenant, and served with the 16th battalion. The soldiers who, like him, had the skills to operate the Vickers guns, were highly prized and played an important part in the actions around the Somme when the Germans launched the Spring Offensive in March 1918. Lieutenant Service was killed on the 30th March. He was buried at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery near Amiens. A few years later, on the 25th April 1925, his father died. His widowed mother lived at the family home to which they had moved in Bridge of Allan, where George is remembered on the War Memorial.
Comments and Citations
University of Glasgow Registry
University of Glasgow ROH Ch4/4/2/3/878