George Edward GODWIN

09 August 1918

MILITARY MEDAL FOR SKIPTON TERRITORIAL

Sergeant George Godwin, who lived with his sister, Mrs. Thornton, of 16 Hill Street, Skipton, is the latest Skiptonian to receive the Military Medal. As a Territorial he was mobilised on the outbreak of war, and went to the Front in the following April. A year later his time expired, but he rejoined and again went to the Front. He is 29 years of age, and formerly was a labourer for the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company. In a letter to his sister, he says that he has received the medal “for a bit of a do we had with the Bosche. It was a bit of sport, and we came off all right.”

18 October 1918

GODWIN – Killed in action in France, October 11th, 1918, Sergeant G. E. Godwin, M.M., Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, of Skipton aged 29 years.

18 October 1918

Two Skipton N.C.O.’s Fall Together

The sad news reached Skipton on Wednesday that two well-known N.C.O.’s of the local Territorials, Company-Sergeant Major Owen McDermott, and Sergeant G. E.. Godwin, M.M., had fallen together in action on October 11th.

The news come in a letter received by Mrs. Pass, of Newmarket Street (Sergeant Godwin’s sister), from her husband, Company Quarter-Master Sergeant Pass, who stated that he had just brought in the body of his brother-in-law from the battlefield, and that the two brave soldiers had fallen together and had been buried together in a nice little village. He added, “They died doing their duty: they have done it well.” Sergeant Godwin, who not long ago was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry on the field, was 29 years of age, and his home was at 16 Hill Street, Skipton. He formerly worked for the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Co. Mobilised with the Territorials, his period of service expired whilst he was abroad, but after a leave he rejoined and had been back at the Front about two years.

25 October 1918

MORE SKIPTON SACRIFICES – Sergeant G. E. Godwin, M.M.

We are also able to give a photograph of Sergeant G. E. Godwin, West Riding Regiment, of Skipton, whose death in action by the side of Company-Sergeant-Major Owen McDermott on October 1st is referred to above.

10 October 1919

GODWIN – In loving memory of our dear brother, Sergeant G. E. Godwin, M.M., 1/6th Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, who was killed inaction at Reaux on October 11th, 1918.

We cannot clasp your hand, dear brother,
Your face we cannot see;
But as long as life and memory last
We will always remember thee.
Upright and just in all his ways,
Faithful and true to the end of his days;
Forgotten to the world by some he may be,
But true to our memory he ever shall be.

From his three Sisters and Brother, also his Brothers-in-law.

15 October 1920

GODWIN – In Loving memory of our dear brother, Sgt. G. E. Godwin, M.M., 1/6th Duke of Wellington’s Regt., killed in action, October 11th, 1918.

Dearer to us than words can tell
Are the thoughts of him we loved so well.

From Sisters and Brothers-in-law.

14 October 1921

GODWIN – In loving memory of our dear brother, Sergt. G. E. Godwin, M.M., killed in action, Oct. 11th, 1918.

“He was ours; we remember though the world forgets.”

From his Sisters and Brothers.

23 February 1923

ODDFELLOWS’ WAR MEMORIAL

UNVEILING CEREMONY AT A SKIPTON LODGE

OVER 200 WHO SERVED

There was a large attendance of local members of the Independent Order of Oddfellows at the Friendly Societies’ Hall, Skipton, on Saturday afternoon, on the occasion of the unveiling of a war memorial to the members of the Loyal Traveller’s Friend Lodge, I.O.O.F, M.U., who fell in the war.

The Memorial takes the form of a beautifully designed scroll within an oak frame with a glass front, the work of Mr. H. Spencer, junr., and it bears the inscription:–

LOYAL/TRAVELLER’S FRIEND LODGE,/SKIPTON DISTRICT ./I.O.O.F. ROLL OF HONOUR M.U./OF/THOSE MEMBERS OF THIS LODGE WHO FOUGHT FOR THEIR KING AND COUNTRY TO UPHOLD THE SACRED CAUSES OF BROTHERHOOD AND HUMANITY IN THE GREAT WAR, 1914–1918.

Below the inscription are the names of 173 members who served in the war, and of the 40 members who were killed. The names of the fallen occupy a central position on the scroll, and above them are the following words:–

IN MEMORIAM
OF THOSE WHO MADE THE
SUPREME SACRIFICE.
THEIR HEARTS ARE LIFTED UP
THEIR HEARTS
THAT HAVE FOREKNOWN
THE UTTER PRICE,
THEIR HEARTS BURN
UPWARD AS A FLAME
OF SPLENDOUR AND OF
SACRIFICE

The names of the fallen are as follows:– H. Armstrong, J.J. Brown, J. Barrett, Robt. Brown, W.W. Bell, A. Clayton, W.H. Coles, T.C. Chew, Tom Downes, T.M. Drummond, Jos. Emmott, Thos. Edmondson, J. Easterby, F. Gallagher, J.W. Garwood, G.E. Godwin, S.J. Hargreaves, M. Hargreaves, A. Hebden, J. Hebden, A. Hawkswell, T.E. Inman, M. Lund, R.C. [R.G.] Metcalfe, Hbt. Maudsley, Hy. Maudsley, A.J. Pimnock [Pinnock], H.Y. [Harry] Riley, T.W. Storey, J.H. Stewart, R. Spencer, J.W. Shuttleworth, Wm. Tempest, Hbt. Thompson, Fred Thornton, J.W. Varley, John Ward, J.A. Whittaker, J.W. Whittaker, and R.D. Whittaker.

The Unveiling Ceremony

The unveiling ceremony was presided over by Bro. Thos. Bellamy, and was performed by Bro. Amos Culpan, Prov. C.S., and a simple service included the singing of the hymns, ‘O God our help’ and Kipling’s Recessional, ‘God of our fathers,’ and the reading of a portion of Scripture, and the offering of a prayer by Bro. James Greenwood, of Bradford, and formerly of Skipton.

Bro. Bellamy observed that those members of the Lodge whom they were met to honour went into battle, suffered untold privations, and, in many cases, made the supreme sacrifice. They gave their lives in defence of their homes and their country. Further than that, they gave their lives for justice and freedom, and in order that we might live. It was the duty of Oddfellows, equally as much as other sections of the community, to do everything within their power to make the country better for that sacrifice. “In the time of our prosperity,” concluded Bro. Bellamy, “never let us forget those who served us in the time of our adversity.”

A Lesson of the War

Prior to unveiling the memorial, Bro. Culpan described the ceremony he had been asked to perform as one not unattended by sorrow. It was an occasion upon which one felt a desire to make their Order better for the sacrifice of its members, and to extend the true spirit of brotherhood. In nearly 4,000 of their Lodges they would find a roll of honour. Over 22,000 of their members made the supreme sacrifice, and thousands of others were ruined and shattered in health and without prospects for the future. Each and all of them ought to perform some daily service that would make the sacrifice of those men worth while. One result of the terrible ordeal of 1914 to 1918 was the creation of a better feeling between men, and a desire to break down the class barriers that formerly existed. That was one of the great lessons of the war.