George Hume was born in Hackney, London in 1914. His mother died when he was very young and was brought up by his two older sisters. After leaving school he worked as a shoemaker.

On the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the British Army. A bombardier in the Royal Artillery S/L Regiment he took part in the D-Day landings and the liberation of Paris. He was also a member of the Allied forces that entered Germany and helped free the inmates of several Concentration Camps.

George married Stella Hughes in 1947. After the war he repaired shoes in Chingford and Walthamstow. In 1970 he started his own shoe-repairing business in Harlow. George Hume retired in 1984.