George Webber

A former trainee hairdesser/barber, George Webber joined the Bedfordshire Regiment in February 1916 and the next six months proved to be very eventful. He married his girlfriend Hilda on 23 June, joined the 6th Batallion of the Bedfordshire’s on 18 July and on 9 August was wounded. He was eventually discharged on 27 November 1917 but, despite his short military service, did receive the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

After the war Webber turned to competitive running with Luton United Harriers and at Stamford Bridge in 1922 he won the 1,000 metres that helped England beat France in the international. He moved to Highgate Harriers in 1923 and was best at the 4-mile distance and after finishing third in the 1923 AAA Championships he was, a week later, the winner at the Triangular International and later in the year won the one mile at the British Games at Stamford Bridge. At 10 miles he finished fifth at the AAA Championships (1922-23) and on switching to shorter distances placed fourth in the AAA mile in 1924 and fifth in 1925. At the 1924 Olympics he was the third scoring member, in seventh place, of the British team that won the silver medals in the team race. A week after the end of the Athletics events in Paris, Webber was in the British Empire team in a match against the United States in London, and was a member of the three mile team race, one of only three events the Empire won. After his running days were over, Webber became a Bedfordshire athletics official.

Personal Bests: Mile – 4:23.5 (1924); 3 miles – 14:40.3 (1924); 4 miles – 20:03.0 (1923); 10000 – 32:21.8 (1922).