Drought, GTA
(1880 - 1915)
Key Facts
DATE OF BIRTH:
2nd August 1880
YEARS ATTENDED THE COLLEGE:
1894 - 1897
HOME ADDRESS WHEN AT THE COLLEGE:
Belfield, Greystones, County Wicklow
REGIMENT
Royal Field Artillery
FINAL RANK:
Major
DATE OF DEATH:
15th June 1915
AGE AT DEATH:
34
WHERE HE DIED (or was wounded)
London
LOCATION OF GRAVE OR MEMORIAL:
Glenealy Church of Ireland Churchyard
Major George Thomas Acton Drought
Born on August 2nd 1880 in Killiskey, County Wicklow, the son of the local parson, also called George Drought, and his wife, Emily. By the 1890s the family was living in South London, and after spending a year at Westminster as a day boy, he started at Dulwich in September 1894. He was a pupil at the College for just over three years, and after leaving at Christmas 1897 took up a place at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Upon passing out in November 1899 he took a commission in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and the following February was shipped out, along with his new regiment, to South Africa, in order to take part in the ongoing Boer War. In February 1901 he was promoted to Lieutenant, and later that year was also mentioned in dispatches. In late 1904, having returned to England, he was appointed Adjutant to No. 4 Depot, N.W. Group, in Liverpool, before, in May 1906, being promoted to Captain and sent to Sierra Leone. The following year he transferred to the Royal Field Artillery, and subsequently returned to England, where he was married in 1909.
George was part of one of the first waves of British troops to be sent to the continent after War was declared, and after being in charge of an ammunition column during the retreat from Mons was promoted to Major in October 1914. The following year he was serving at Festubert on May 17th when he was severely wounded in the shoulder, and subsequently invalided back to London, where he died as a result of his injuries on June 15th. He was buried back in County Wicklow, and survived by his widow, Louise, and their five year old son, also called George.
