George Roupell was born in Tipperary on 7 April 1892. He was commissioned into the East Surreys in 1912 and went to France and Belgium with the regiment. It was there that they fought a fierce battle on Hill 60 near Ypres on 20 April 1915. He was commanding a company as a lieutenant in a defensive position which was subjected to a heavy bombardment throughout the day. He was wounded but inspired his men to repel a strong German assault. During a lull in the fighting he was taken to a medical station to have his wounds dressed, but he returned to his trench which was again being bombarded. Later he went back and persuaded his CO to let him have reinforcements which he led back under heavy fire, and carried on fighting until they were relieved the next morning. He was recommended for the VC and awarded it, gazetted on 23 June 1915.
At the end of the war he served in North Russia with General Ironside but was captured and sent to Moscow. He was repatriated with other soldiers in 1920. Between the wars he served in Gibraltar, India and the Sudan. From 1935 to 1939 he commanded the 1st Battalion, following in his father’s footsteps; Francis Frederick Fyler Roupell commanded the 1st Bn East Surreys from 1895 to 99. In 1939 he was promoted to Brigadier and given command of 36th Infantry Brigade near Amiens. But on 20 May 1940 the Germans overran his HQ and he ordered his men to split up and find their way to any British unit. He and another officer spent a month lying low during the day and moving by night. They spent two years hiding on a farm near Rouen where they worked as labourers. They eventually made their way through Spain to Gibraltar and home by ship. In England he was put in command at Chatham.
After the war he retired from the army, but at the Coronation in 1953 he was in charge of the Home Guard, also appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey in that year. He became Colonel of his old regiment on 1 July 1954 and made a CB in 1956. He died at his home in Shalford, Surrey on 4 Mar 1974.
