With gunshot wounds to the head and shoulder George was left for dead on the battlefield but miraculously found his way back to the British Lines. With his army career over, he partially recovered from his injuries at Beaufort War Hospital in Bristol and in 1920 managed to get a job as a conductor on Bristol’s Trams.

He experienced the changeover from trams to buses in the 1930s and survived several close shaves during the Blitz. He retired in 1956. At the request of his grandson, George jotted down 44,000 words of memories in the eight months before he died in 1972.

George’s story has been painstakingly researched by Clive Burlton who has uncovered hundreds of photographs and objects from family, public and private sources and added extensive author’s notes.

Trenches to Trams is an invaluable social history of a working class Bristolian who lived through two World Wars. It contains more than 200 archive images most of them never previously published. Some of George Pine’s memorabilia is on show at M Shed and the book is supported by Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Bristol in 1958, Clive Burlton’s interest in history was inspired by Anton Bantock, MBE whilst a pupil at Bedminster Down Secondary School. Although CLive had an opportunity to further his interest in history when offered a place at Teacher Training College, Clive chosr instead to pursue a career with Wessex Water whom he joined as a Business Studies Trainee in 1977.

Clive became the company’s first Investor Relations Manager when the industry was privatised in 14989 and he went on to head the Human Resources function in the mid 1990s. In 2000, he decided to pursue a consultancy career and has managed projects acoss several disciplines and business sectors in the UK and overseas. After a successful corporate and consultancy career, Clive is now re-connecting with his interest in Bristol history.

He first read George Pine’s manuscript in the 1980s and he contacted M Shed with his grandfather-in-law’s manuscript in 2007 following an appeal for Bristol stories for use within the new museum. Shortly afterwards, Clive volunteered to help the Museums Service and since 2008, he has been helping to digitise, catalogue and make available for viewing the extensive Film Archive held by Bristol Archives.

Clive is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, a member of the Friends of Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives and a Friend of the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum. He is also a Director of Bristol Books CIC and Non-Executive Director of Empica PR in Bristol.