George Greathead was born in 1891 in Uppingham, Rutland, England. He was the son of Frederick Greathead and Fanny Dyas. His father died when he was only seven years old. His mother remarried in 1899. In the census of 31 March 1901 in 3 Gladstone Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire, England, he was listed as the step son of Robert Fovargue and he was working as a grocer’s assistant.

George enlisted in Mansfield Nottinghamshire as Lance Corporal in the 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. He died on 1 May 1915 in France killed in action. His death is commemorated on the Mansfield Co-op Society War memorial and in the Mansfield Chronicle Advertiser.  George was buried in Ypres Menin Gate, Memorial Leper, Panel 21, Popperinge, West Vlaanderen, Belgium.