Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the only son of Leabbeaus James Vials a farm shepherd, born 1871 in Clipston, Northamptonshire, and his wife Ellen Vials (nee Smith, married in the 4th quarter of 1897 in the Market Harborough, Leicestershire district), born 1878 in Peterborough, Northamptonshire. George James was born on the 30th November 1898 in Clipston, he had one sibling, a sister Efeeth Janet, born 1900 in Clipston, in March 1901 the family home was at Cank Farm Cottage, Church Brampton, Brixworth, Northamptonshire. In April 1911 George was a schoolboy and was residing in the family home at New Ingarsby Cottages, Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire, together with his father, a farm shepherd, his mother and siblings, Ethel May, a schoolgirl, born 1903 in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, and Ada, born 1902.
George enlisted into the Royal Navy to serve a 12 year engagement on the 23rd July 1915, his reckonable service to commence on the 30th November 1916, he was allocated the service number J/42428 in Portsmouth, Hants. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 8½ inches in height and he had a chest measurement of 33¼ inches, his hair colour was brown and he had grey eyes, his complexion was described as fresh, it was noted that he had a mole on his left cheek, two moles at the front of his right forearm and three moles on the back of his neck, he gave his trade or calling as railway porter. His record of service began when he joined HMS Ganges as a Boy 2nd Class on the 23/7/15 – 20/1/16, when he was promoted to Boy 1st Class. HMS Ganges, 21/1/16 – 28/1/16. HMS Victory I, 29/1/16 – 31/1/16. HMS Invincible, 1/2/16 – 31/5/16, when he was killed in action at the Battle of Jutland.
The background relating to the circumstances in which George lost his life are as follows; The fire gongs in HMS Invincible’s main turrets had sounded at about twenty minutes past six. Almost immediately the ships “A”,”Q” and “Y” mountings had shuddered as firing had been commenced. Opening the breech of the recently fired guns their crews, shrouded in anti flash gear had been enveloped in thick brown smoke reeking of cordite. Seemingly oblivious to the oppressive atmosphere inside the turrets their crews had continued their ritual of keeping their charges in action. The ammunition hoist carrying another round had arrived in the gun house with a clatter, rammed home, the projectile had soon been followed by the cordite charge, down had gone the cage for more of the same. The breech of one of the twelve-inch guns had been slammed shut and locked, “Left gun ready!” had shouted a voice in the haze. Again the gun had fired, the procedure had been the same with every round fired, alternating between the left and right guns. In order to speed up their ship’s rate of fire the crew HMS Invincible, like those in the majority of the battle cruiser’s that had been lost in the battle, had adopted the very dangerous practice of removing vital anti flash curtains which had been fitted at key points in the route from shell room to turret, these had been installed by the Admiralty to prevent the flash from an explosion in the turret travelling down the ammunition hoist to the shell rooms below. In addition, it had been common practice for the ship’s gun turrets to be stocked with charges, the turrets in effect becoming mini magazines contravening the laid down drill which stipulated that the next charge should not be in the loading cage in the turret until the previous one had been fired. Thus with the cards stacked heavily against them the gun crews of HMS Invincible had carried on with their task of feeding their charges, little knowing that they were soon to pay with their lives for their lethal short cuts. Despite being hit over twenty times by twelve inch shells in ten minutes, at around six thirty that afternoon the grievously wounded Lutzow had scored five hits on HMS Invincible, one of her twelve inch shells having wrecked the Boy Seamen’s mess deck in the forward part of the ship, whilst another had torn through HMS Invincible’s third funnel before wrecking a number of the ship’s boats and smashing into, and destroying, the nearby officers bathroom flat and ship’s chapel, which was being used at the time as a casualty station. The Lutzow’s last, and most calamitous shell had hit HMS Invincible at just after half past six in the evening of the 31st May and had blown the thinly armoured roof of “Q” turret clean off. The resultant explosion had killed almost everyone inside, a gunner from the turret, although badly burned, had survived. The flash from the explosion had travelled down the main trunk to the turret’s magazine where it had ignited over fifty tons of cordite. This initial explosion had caused a chain reaction which had ignited the explosives stored in the ships three other magazines and in less that fifteen seconds HMS Invincible had erupted in a huge fireball which had sent debris four hundred feet into the air. With her heart torn out the battle cruiser had snapped into two halves, the bow and stern sections rearing out of the sea to a height of seventy feet above the oil and wreckage strewn water. Standing some fifty feet apart, the two pieces of the ship had resembled giant tombstones standing in stark testimony for nearly a thousand souls who had perished with the ship. Witnesses to the disaster had later recalled a deathly silence following the explosion, and had never forgotten for the rest of their lives the terrible pall of smoke, some eight hundred feet high, that had hung over the scene.
On Friday June 16th 1916 The Melton Mowbray Times & Vale of Belvoir Gazette published the following article under the heading. “DISTRICT WAR ITEMS.” - HOUGHTON SAILOR KILLED. Mr. and Mrs. J. Vials, Houghton-on-the-Hill, have received official news that their only son, George J. Vials, aged 17, went down with the Invincible in the recent naval battle. Prior to joining the Navy in July last, the boy worked as a porter at Ingarsby Station, bore an excellent character, and was highly respected. Mr. Vials who has lived in Hart’s Cottages for over ten years, is shepherd for Mr. Hart.