Lieutenant and Adjutant, Royal West Surrey Regiment
Born: December 9th 1897
Died: August 1st 1917
Age at Death: 19
Killed in action, France, August 1st 1917
Son of R.C. Hamilton, Harrogate.
A donation to the memorial statue has been made in honour of this solider by the Hall family.
Obituary Brightonian XV December, 1917
G.S.G. Hamilton entered the School House in September, 1912. He was a Lance-Corporal in the O.T.C., and he left at Christmas, 1913. He joined the Inns of Court O.T.C., and he left in December, 1914, and was gazetted to the Royal West Surrey Regiment in April, 1915. Shortly afterwards he went to France, where he was attached to the Bedfords. Invalided home in 1916, he returned to France in September, and was sent to his own regiment. He was wounded on April 9th, 1917, but re-joined his battalion in France on July 11th. He was in the Push on July 31st and August 1st. On the evening of the latter date he was standing outside the Head-quarters dug-out while his battalion was being relieved, when he was killed instantaneously by a stray shell. A senior officer writes: "His loss is most severely felt both by myself and all ranks in the battalion. He made an ideal adjutant, being fearless, hardworking, quick and most conscientious, besides having a very high sense of duty."
Guy Stanley Gerald Hamilton
Guy Hamilton was born on December 9th 1897 in Sydenham, Kent. He elder child and only son of Robert Hamilton, who owned a Linoleum business, and his wife Lilian; the family later lived in Harrogate, Yorkshire. At school he was a Lance-Corporal in the OTC. After leaving the school he entered the legal profession and joined the Inns of Court O.T.C.
In 1915, despite being only 17, he was commissioned into the Royal West Surrey Regiment and was later attached to the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, with whom he went to France in 1916. After being wounded he was briefly invalided home and returned to France later in 1916 with the 3rd Battalion, Royal West Surrey Regiment. He was wounded again on April 9th, 1917 during the Battle of Arras but re-joined his battalion in France as an Adjutant on July 11th. He then took part in the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) on July 31st 1917. On the evening of the following day he was standing outside the Head-quarters dug-out while his battalion was being relieved, when he was killed instantaneously by a stray shell. He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.
Source: LEST WE FORGET PROJECT, Brighton College 2014/15