PRIVATE GEORGE BELCHER
LONDON REGIMENT
5TH AUGUST 1917 AGE 23
BURIED: LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, BELGIUM
George Belcher's sister chose his inscription, she was his next-of-kin since their father and mother had died in 1901 and 1903 respectively. George was her only sibling. The inscription comes from a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley called "To ...", published in 1824.
Music when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heap'd for the beloved's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou at gone,
Love itself shall linger on.
George and Louisa Belcher were brought up by an uncle and aunt. Before joining the army in October 1915, George worked as a clerk at the Railway Passengers Assurance Company, and his sister as an elementary school teacher. He served initially with the 13th Battalion the London Regiment but at the time of his death he was attached to the 8th Battalion the Royal Irish Rifles. The regiment was part of the 36th Ulster Division, which went into action outside Ypres on 2 August 1917. Belcher died of wounds in a Casualty Clearing Station at Lijssenthoek on the 5th.