Geoffrey William Broadbent Moore, born on 28th July 1898, was admitted to King Edward’s School in September 1912, having previously attended Greenhill School, Moseley. He was awarded a Foundation Scholarship a year later. He lived with his parents, Constance and Frederick, manager of a leather manufacturing business, and his two younger brothers, at 79, Clarence Road, Kings Heath.
At School, Geoffrey was an active debate; in 1915, he argued against the introduction of compulsory National Service, suggesting that Britain should make a stand among the Great Powers in continuing a voluntary system. He was a solid performer academically, and held the rank of Lance-Corporal in the School Officer Training Corps, along with three other Edwardians who would also lose their lives in the war: TE Mitton, FC Franklin and PHB Fitch. Geoffrey was also a cricketer, captaining Richards’ House and playing for the 1st XI, and the Chronicle of 1915 described him as “a good slow bowler with an effective break…has made some good scores, though occasionally lucky.”
In 1915, Geoffrey left School and immediately enrolled at Sandhurst along with his KES contemporary HW Cottrell, who died on the Somme in the following year. Geoffrey gained a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 2nd Leinster Regiment, and in 1918 was sent to France as a full Lieutenant. After sustaining a serious wound and convalescing at home, he returned to active service. He was killed at Ledeghem in Belgium on 14th October 1918, aged twenty, during the final advance to Allied victory. He was originally buried in Ledeghem Communal Cemetery, but was subsequently moved to Dadizeele New British Cemetery, Flanders. His father applied for his medals in 1922, and requested that his headstone should read: “Joy Cometh In The Morning PS.30.5.”