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Following the outbreak of War in 1914, towards the end of August he attempted to enlist at
Mitcham Road Barracks in Croydon. After telling a recruiting sergeant his real age he was told to clear off and "come back tomorrow and see if you're nineteen". He returned the next day and lied about his age,
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for gallantry before
Cambrai. On the day that he was wounded his promotion to sergeant was to have been recorded in company orders, but this did not happen due to his wound. He was invalided to England, to Birkenhead Borough Hospital, where he remained until June 1918. He was discharged to the
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having brought an end to hostilities, Coppard was discharged in 1919. Following a period of unemployment, he sought employment as an assistant steward at a golf club and thereafter in various sundry appointments. He retired in 1962, having worked at the
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teams. He fought in the front line almost continuously through the campaigns of 1916 and 1917 with the exception of a period of convalescence after he was accidentally shot by a colleague on 17 October 1916. This included most of the
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stating that he was nineteen, and was enlisted. It was 27 August 1914 and he was sixteen years and seven months old. He joined the 6th
Battalion
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Machine Gun Corps convalescent camp at
Harrowby in Yorkshire, where he was still recovering when the Armistice was signed.
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proved an instant success, prompting his contemporaries to publish their own wartime accounts.
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George
Coppard was born on 26 January 1898 and left school to work for a
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During retirement
Coppard sought and received encouragement from the
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With a
Machine Gun to Cambrai – A Story of the First World War
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to have his wartime diaries published. Published in 1969,
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in 1915, where they soon found themselves involved in the
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He was wounded again on 22 November 1917 during the
188:(26 January 1898 – 17 February 1985) was a British
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305:He was married and had two daughters.
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432:Military personnel from Brighton
427:Recipients of the Military Medal
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417:Queen's Royal Regiment soldiers
407:20th-century English memoirists
300:Ministry of National Insurance
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314:With a Machine Gun to Cambrai
236:Having completed training in
202:With A Machine Gun to Cambrai
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442:Machine Gun Corps soldiers
259:battle of the Somme (1916)
227:Royal West Surrey Regiment
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339:Coppard, George (1999).
216:firm at the age of 13.
263:battle of Arras (1917)
183:George Alfred Coppard
412:Writers from Brighton
382:Spartacus Educational
108:Years of service
43:George Alfred Coppard
231:The Queen's Regiment
192:who served with the
16:British Army soldier
310:Imperial War Museum
25:George Coppard, MM
373:FirstWorldWar.com
270:Battle of Cambrai
194:Machine Gun Corps
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136:Battles/wars
102:British Army
66:(1985-02-17)
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402:1985 deaths
397:1898 births
289:Later years
254:machine gun
220:World War I
208:Early years
198:World War I
391:Categories
320:References
278:tourniquet
78:Allegiance
40:Birth name
295:armistice
293:With the
242:Battalion
238:Guildford
214:taxidermy
204:in 1969.
111:1914–1919
73:, England
56:, England
261:and the
180:Corporal
120:Corporal
96:Service/
54:Brighton
196:during
190:soldier
152:Cambrai
71:Bexhill
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246:France
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158:Awards
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148:Arras
144:Somme
347:ISBN
140:Loos
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116:Rank
61:Died
48:Born
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185:MM
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