Bemand, GEK

2nd Lieutenant George Edward Kingsley Bemand

George was born in Jamaica on March 19^th 1892, the eldest of four children born to a white father, George, and a black mother, Minnie. He spent the early years of his life in Jamaica before, in 1908 Minnie and the children came, via New York, to England, where George Sr. was already working. During his time at Dulwich he was a boarder in Ivyholme, and in his final year he was a member of the 2^nd XI cricket team. From the College he went on to University College London, where he studied engineering.

Shortly after War began he joined the London University O.T.C., and in May 1915 he was granted a commission in the Royal Field Artillery – making him very possibly the first person of colour, outside of India, ever to be granted such a position in the modern British Army. After finishing his training, he went out to France in November of 1915, and spent a year serving with the Ammunition Column, 148 Brigade. In October 1916 he was transferred to the Trench Mortar Battery, 5^th Division, and was still serving with them when he was killed by a shell hitting his dugout on Boxing Day 1916. His younger brother Harold, not only a fellow OA but also a fellow member of the R.F.A., also fell.