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The Roll of Honour (part 6)
DUVAL, GEORGE LOUIS JOSIAH, M.D., Major, Commanding No. 1 Coy., Field Ambulance, C.A.M.C., only s. of the late Louis Duval, of Grande Ligne, P. Quebec, Canada; b. Grande Ligne aforesaid, 10 March, 1876; educ. Filler’s Baptist Institute there; entered as a Medical Student at McGill University in 1894, and graduated there with honours, 17 June, 1898; practised in Waltham, Mass., U.S.A., and then in St. John’s, Quebec, later going to St. John’s, New Brunswick; joined the C.A.M.C., at St. John’s, P. Quebec, in April, 1908, being given a commission as Lieut., and was promoted Capt. June, 1911, and Major, in France, April, 1915; transferred to No. 8 Field Ambulance on going to St. John’s, N.B., and in 1914 became M.O. 28th N.B. Dragoons; volunteered for overseas service on the outbreak of war, and his own unit not going, he was given charge of the section of No. 8 F.A., leaving his home and practice at a day’s notice; left Valcartier for England with No. 1 F.A., 30 Sept. 1914; went to France, Feb. 1915, and was severely wounded in both legs during the Second Battle of Ypres, on Sunday, 25 April, 1915. At this action the Canadians suffered heavily, and No. 1 F.A. were ordered to open an advanced dressing station, which Major Duval did at St. Jean; later it had to be abandoned, and he had just succeeded in evacuating the last patient when he was hit about 8.30 p.m. by an explosive shell which burst about 20 yards from him. He was sent from Vlamertinghe to hospital at Boulogne and from there invalided to England, and died in London, 26 Aug. 1915. Col. Foster wrote: “No braver officer ever lived or would be found in our Division, and I shall always remember him for his splendid work at Ypres.” Gunner H. T. Warene, who was wounded in this action and invalided back to Canada, said: “When I was struck Doctor Duval was the first to rush to my aid. We were both exposed to the fire, but he did not seem to mind. He was a kind, gentle and capable surgeon, and the boys all liked him and admired him as a physician, a soldier, and a man. I was most sorry to learn of his death.” He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 5 April/31 May [London Gazette, 22 June], 1915. His body was being taken to Canada for burial on board the Hesperian when she was torpedoed and sunk. He m. at Montreal, 23 Oct. 1901, Maude (330, Charlotte Street, St. John’s West, New Brunswick, Canada), dau. of Andrew Byrd, of Montreal, Building and Bridge Contractor, and had two children: Charles Louis Neville, b. 18 July, 1906; and Irene Byrd, b. 9 Sept. 1902.
DWERRYHOUSE, EDWARD, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 10200), 204457, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
DWYER, EDWARD MUNDEN, Private, No. 1077, 8th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of John Thomas Dwyer, of Ignace, Ontario, Canada (originally from co. Tipperary); b. Ignace, 24 Nov. 1887; educ. there; was for some years in the Mechanical Dept. of the C.P.R., and was then transferred to the Traffic Dept., and when war broke out was a Conductor. He enlisted 20 Aug. 1914, came over with the first contingent in Oct., and after training on Salisbury Plain during the winter, went to France, and was killed in action at Festubert, 23 April, 1915; unm.
DYASON, JAMES NASH, Act.-Bombardier, No. 162, R.G.A. (T.F.), s. of James Nash Dyason, of 63, Coronation Road, Sheerness, Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, by his wife, Harriet, dau. of James Lambkin; b. Sheerness, 17 Feb. 1889; educ. Council School there; was a dockyard employee; joined the Territorials, 1910; volunteered for active service on the outbreak of war; died at Shoeburyness, 21 Nov. 1914, on active service; unm.
DYBALL, WILLIAM, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., B. 10521), 208734, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
DYER, FREDERICK GEORGE, Private, No. 10672, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, 3rd s. of James Dyer, Sergt.-at-Mace, at Poole, Dorset, by his wife, Annie Eliza, dau. of John Phillips, of Poole; b. Milton Abbas, near Blandford, co. Dorset, 15 April, 1894; educ. Branksome Heath, Poole; was an assistant for Messrs. Bacon and Curtis, of Poole, Iron-mongers; enlisted, 23 March 1914; went to France, 11 Sept. 1914; was wounded in action at Ypres, 29 Oct. 1914, and died in the German military hospital at Courtray, 22 Nov. following; unm. His brother, Private P. E. Dyer, was also killed in action. (See his notice.)
DYER, PERCIVAL ERNEST, Private, No. 9136, 2nd Battn. The Scots Guards, 4th s. of James Dyer, Sergt.-at-Mace, at Poole, Dorset, by his wife, Annie Eliza, dau. of John Phillips, of Poole; b. Milton Abbas, near Blanford, co. Dorset, 3 Dec. 1895; educ. Branksome Heath, Poole; was a Plumber and Gas Fitter in the employ of Mr. Hardy, of Poole; enlisted, 6 Aug. 1914; went to France in Oct., and was killed in action between La Bassée and Armentiéres, 18 Dec. 1914; unm.
DYER, WALTER, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 750), 135247, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
DYKE, GEORGE WALKER, Pensioner Armourer, 136000, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
DYKES, ALFRED McNAIR, Lieut.-Col., 1st Battn. The King’s Own, Royal Lancaster Regt., yst. surviving s. of the late William Alston Dykes, D.L., by his wife, Agnes Andrea (The Orchard, Hamilton), dau. of the late John Urquhart, of Fairhill, co. Lanark; b. Hamilton, 15 March, 1874; educ. Trinity College, Glenalmond, and received his first commission in a militia battn. of the Cameronians, passing in first with 2,130 marks out of a total of 2,400, 12 Dec. 1894, and a few months later joined the 2nd Battn. of the King’s Own in India. He was gazetted Lieut., 4 Nov. 1896; Capt., 24 Feb., 1900; Major, 13 Dec. 1902; and Lieut.-Col., 1 Aug. 1913; and was Adjutant at the age of 23 in 1897. On the outbreak of war in South Africa he was selected for special service duty, and having his battn. at Lichfield did Staff duty as Embarkation Officer at Port Elizabeth, Natal, till the arrival of his own regt., which he immediately rejoined, afterwards taking part in the Relief of Ladysmith, and the Battle at Spion Kop in Jan. 1900. In the course of this engagement he rallied a small party of men of another regt., from whom he learned that the enemy was in possession of a position which was believed to be held by our own troops. Calming his men with cigarettes, and leaving them to regain their nerve in the shelter of a boulder, he went forward alone to prove the truth of this assertion, which he doubted. He had almost reached the spot indicated and had satisfied himself that the fugitives were right when he fell shot through the head. Determined at all costs to carry back the news, he struggled three times to his feet and three times fell; but managed by discarding his rifle to stagger back, in a semi-conscious condition and nearly blinded by the blood in his eyes, over the crest of the hill to our own trenches, luckily without further wounds. The information was at once conveyed to the General, and offers were made to help him to the dressing station 100 yards or so in the rear; but it was only to be reached across a fireswept area, and Capt. Dykes resolutely refused all offers of help. He attained his goal in safety, when he fell unconscious. The wound, which was at first classified as serious, rapidly became dangerous; and when the over-worked army surgeons at the field hospital asked whether he could wait a little longer for attention, he cheerfully gave up his turn for others. Gangrene set in, and it was feared that his eyesight must suffer, the bullet having entered just below the right temple and passing through the mouth, blowing away the left check. Sheer determination to live helped to pull him through. In March he came home and underwent two operations, and despite his surgeon’s most emphatic advice rejoined his regt. at the Front in Sept., resuming his post as Adjutant, which he held till 31 May, 1902, a special extension of his time being granted at the request of his Colonel. In the later phases of the war he did a good deal of convoy work, as Adjutant of his regt., and distinguished himself at the defence of Vryheid 11 Dec. 1900, when the town was held by four companies of the King’s Own and a handful of mounted infantry against an attack under cover of darkness, by Louis Botha in superior numbers. For this and general good service he was mentioned twice in despatches [London Gazette, 10 Sept. 1901, and 29 July, 1902], and on being offered the choice of the D.S.O. or a Brevet Majority, chose the latter, being then (1902) barely 28 years of age: he also received the Queen’s medal with four clasps and the King’s medal with two. On relinquishing his post as Adjutant, he became Staff Officer to the Commandant of Maritzburg. From 1904–08 he held the post of Staff Capt. at the War Office. He then passed brilliantly through the Staff College, and on his return from service with his regt. in India was appointed in 1912 to the command of a company of Cadets at the R.M.C., Sandhurst. He was promoted in Aug. 1913, at the age of 39 (the youngest Lieut.-Col. of the line) to the command of the 1st Battn. of the King’s Own, then stationed at Dover. On the outbreak of the European War in Aug. 1914, he accompanied the Expeditionary Force to France, and was killed in action early in the morning of 26 Aug. 1914, at the battle of Cambray-Le Cateau, while covering the retreat of the Allied forces. He was shot through the head, and was almost the first man of his regt. to fall. Referring to his death, one of the Generals under whom he had previously served, wrote: “It was with more than ordinary feeling of sorrow that we learnt of the death of Col. Dykes at the head of his regt.... in the act of cheering on his beloved regt. against tremendous odds. Col. Dykes’ loss to the battn. is great indeed. I had a very high opinion of Col. Dykes’ capabilities as an officer, and I watched his career in the King’s Own with more than ordinary interest. After recovery from his wound in South Africa, I brought him to the War Office to assist me at a time of great pressure, and I never regretted it. The bravery and example of their Colonel will not be forgotten by the King’s Own, and it will ever act as an incentive to all ranks to do their duty to the end”; and a brother officer: “He loved his regt. with absolute devotion; and well have they repaid his love by dying with him.... He was a man far above the ordinary in ability, one of our best soldiers, a man who knew not fear, the very staunchest of comrades, and a gentleman without reproach. He never made an enemy, everyone who knew him loved him, he never spoke ill of anyone, and he never did anything that was not absolutely downright honest and good.” Singularly gifted both in mind and body, a man of unusual achievements, the keynote of his character was straightforward simplicity. His humility, his gaiety, and above all his power of self-less devotion, endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. “I am almost afraid to say how much I hope from him,” wrote the Warden of Glenalmond in one of his school reports. “He never thought of himself, only of others,” was the verdict of one of his officers after his death. Lieut.-Col. Dykes m. at Southwick Crescent, London, 21 April, 1914, Rosamund Ann, dau. of the late Frederick Willis Farrer, of 16, Devonshire Place, W., and had a dau., Andrea Mary, b. 23 Feb. 1915, exactly six months after her father’s death.
DYNES, ALBERT, Stoker, 1st Class (M.), 289177, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
DYSON, CECIL VENN, Private, Malay States Volunteers, yst. s. of the late Rev. Samuel Dyson, of Koilash, Stevenage, co. Herts, D.D., Vice-Principal Church Missionary College, Islington, by his 1st wife, Matilda Julia, dau. of the Rev. Charles Henry Blumhardt; b. Calcutta, 7 Aug. 1873; educ. Merchant Taylors’ School, and Queen’s College, Cambridge (Senior Classical Scholar, Bell’s Scholar); entered the Malay States Civil Service in 1896, and was District Judge of Singapore. He was killed while assisting to quell the riots there, 15 Feb. 1915; unm.
EADE, REGINALD JOHN, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., B. 10142), 202124, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
EADES, WILLIAM GEORGE, Private, R.M.L.I. 7291 (Ply.), H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
EADY, JOHN, Private, No. 1095, 1st Battn. Australian Imperial Force, only s. of the late John Eady, of 5, Fisher Street, Birmingham, by his wife, Emma, dau. of Joseph Sarty; b. Sheep Street, Birmingham, 6 March, 1868; served for 12 years with the South Staffordshires; then went to Canada, and to Australia, 1910. Enlisted at the end of 1914, and was killed in action at Gallipoli, 13 Aug. 1915; unm.
EAGAR, FRANCIS RUSSELL, 2nd Lieut., Royal Field Artillery, 3rd s. of the late Capt. Edward Boaz Eagar, 1st Battn. Northumberland Fusiliers (who was killed in action at Belmont, South Africa, 23 Nov. 1899), and his wife, Ada (now wife of Edward Franks, of The Priory, Bishop’s Cleeve, co. Gloucester), dau. of Col. Newman Burfoot Thoyts, of The Mythe House, Tewkesbury, J.P.; b. Fawdon House, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, 27 Sept. 1893; educ. Connaught House (J. R. Morgan), Weymouth; Sherborne, Dorset, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich (1913–14); gazetted to the Royal Field Artillery, 12 Aug. 1914, and left with his battery for active service in France in November, and was killed in action at Fleurbaix, France, 9 May, 1915, while on observation duty. He was buried in the Rue Petillon Cemetery, Fleurbaix; unm. His two brothers, Capt. E. F. Eagar, Royal Berkshire Regt., and Capt. H. St. G. Eagar, Lincolnshire Regt., are now (1916) on active service.
EAMAN, ALFRED, P.O., 192106. H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EARL, STEPHEN, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 1388), 201346, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EASON, JESSE HERBERT, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 6007), S.S. 100950, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EASON, SAMPSON, Lieut., 5th (Service) Battn. Dorsetshire Regt.; yst. s. of Robert Eason, of Crewkerne, Farmer, by his wife, Ellen, dau. of John Marks; b. Crewkerne, co. Somerset, 20 April, 1876; enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regt. 7 March, 1893; served in India, and in the South African campaign (Queen’s medal with two clasps); and was Colour-Sergt. Instructor to H Co., 4th (Territorial) Battn. Dorsetshire Regt. at Blandford, 1909–14. He obtained his discharge with the same rank, 6 March, 1914, after 21 years’ service, and received the Long Service medal, and went to live near Dorchester. On the outbreak of war he at once volunteered for active service, and after helping as Coy. Sergt.-Major to train the 5th (Service) Battn. of the Dorsets, he was offered a commission, and was gazetted Lieut. to his own battn. 8 March, 1915. He left with his regt. for the Dardanelles, 1 July, 1915, and was killed in action at the landing at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, 7 Aug. 1915, being shot through the head whilst directing the men to their companies. In the official report from Brig.-Gen. C. C. Hannay, lately commanding 5th Dorsets, he said: “Lieut. Eason was shot through the head, dying shortly after, on the 7th instant at Suvla Bay, about a quarter-of-an-hour after he landed. It was about 4 a.m. and dark at the time; I was within two yards of him at the time. He never spoke after he fell.” A Sergt. of the same company wrote: “It was the duty of Mr. Eason and myself to direct the men to their proper companies as they came ashore in the dark. About half-an-hour after landing, I was talking to Mr. Eason, and he had only left me two or three seconds when the Colonel called me to come to him and pick somebody up. I did, and when I turned him over I found it was Mr. Eason. Everything was done for him that could be done, but he did not speak. The doctor was with him almost at once. He died doing his duty, which he always did, and was always considered a good N.C.O. and afterwards a good officer, and we were very sorry to lose him.” And Colonel Woodhouse, 4th Dorsetshire Regt., declared: “I knew him very well, and always found him one of the best, he never spared himself to do his men good and was just the same in civilian life. Unfortunately, there are very few such men to be found now, and I am sure he will be greatly missed in his regt.”; a brother officer also wrote: “I always looked on him as a friend from whom I could get advice and help in my work. The last time I saw him, which was on the destroyer before we landed, he did me a good turn which I shall not forget. Earlier in the evening I, being orderly officer, had to see to the issuing out of hot coffee to the men, and it was a long job, as the space is very cramped. Later in the evening there was an issue of rum to be served out. It really fell to my lot to superintend this, but your husband, with his usual kindness of heart, relieved me of it. I am sorry to say I was not near him at the end. It was before we had got off the beach.” Lieut. Eason m. at St. Simon’s Church, Southsea, 5 Dec. 1907, Mabel Ellen (Southsea), yst. dau. of the late James Lewis Adams, C.C.S., late District Magistrate of Flat and Gabriel Islands, Mauritius; s.p.
EAST, ALFRED CHARLES, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9621), 199377, H.M.S Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EAST, GEORGE, Rifleman, No. 3098, 21st Battn. (1st Surrey Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), yst. s. of the late Joseph East, of Westminster, London, by his wife, Susan (36, Grosvenor Terrace, Camberwell, S.E.), dau. of Francis Smallcombe; b. London, 24 May, 1893; educ. L.C.C. School, Westminster; enlisted, 30 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 25 May, 1915; unm.
EASTERBROOK, WILLIAM THOMAS, A.B., 206711 (Dev.), H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EATON, ARTHUR ERNEST WILSON, Private, No. 1335, 11th (West Australian) Battn. Australian Expeditionary Force, s. of George Wilson Eaton, of Park Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gardener, by his wife, Harriett Elizabeth, dau. of Frederick Arthurs; b. Tiddington, near Stratford-on-Avon, co. Warwick, 27 March, 1892; went to Perth, Western Australia, in 1913, and was employed as a farm hand; joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, 2 Nov. 1914; left Australia with the second reinforcements; and was killed in action at the Dardanelles, 1 Aug. 1915; unm. A comrade wrote: “He was killed outright on 31 July, 1915. The sad event happened at night. Although he was wounded, he volunteered to carry ammunition for a machine gun. It was while doing this he met his death. He was buried at Anzac and a wooden cross was erected with the names of those who fell in the taking of Leans trench.”
EATON, ARTHUR THOMAS, Stoker, P.O., 302154, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EBSARY, FREDERICK ERNEST, Private, No. 1138, 1st Newfoundland Regt., 5th s. of Newman Ebsary, of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Engineer, by his wife, Sarah, dau. of the late Joseph Hinds, of Cupid, Newfoundland, and granddaughter of the late Alexander Hinds, of Whitehaven, England; b. South Side, St. John’s, Newfoundland, 30 Aug. 1898; educ. St. Mary’s C.E. School there; volunteered for Imperial Service on the outbreak of war and joined the 1st Newfoundland Regt., 19 Feb. 1915; left for England on 20 March, 1915, and died at Cairo, 23 Sept. 1915, of Tubercular Meningitis contracted while on active service. Two of his brothers, Regtl. Sergt.-Major S. J. Ebsary and Private H. Ebsary, are both now (1916) on active service with the Newfoundland Regt.
EBY, ALEXANDER RALPH, Private, No. 13627, No. 2 Coy. 5th Battn. 2nd Infantry Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force, eldest s. of the late Alexander Eby, of Berlin, Ontario, Foreman of Glove Manufactory, by his wife, Nellie, dau. of the late James Bennett Watson, of England, and gt. gt. gdson. of Bishop Benjamin Eby, of the Mennonite Connection, who was b. in Pennsylvania in 1785 and settled in Canada in 1807, and founded the town of Berlin; and 6th in descent from Christian Eby who came to Pennsylvania from Switzerland as a boy in 1715; b. Berlin, Ontario, 3 Aug. 1891; educ. Berlin Public and High Schools, matriculating at the latter in 1908, and two years later took up a homestead at Abbey, Saskatchewan. He enlisted for Overseas service at Swift Current, Saskatchewan, in Aug. 1914; left Valcartier for England with the first Contingent in Oct., and after training on Salisbury Plain during the winter of 1914–15, crossed to France in Feb., 1915, and was killed in action there, 21 March, 1915; unm. Major G. S. Pragnell wrote: “He was one of the best and most willing men of the Company and at the time that he was actually shot he was working hard helping to strengthen the trench”; and Lieut. L. F. Page: “Ever since your brother came under my commission at Valcartier I always found him most cheerful and willing. He was making a good soldier and always doing his duty well.” Three of his comrades also wrote: “Your brother’s death was severely felt by the remainder of the boys of his company as he was a general favourite with all who knew him. He was buried [at La Boutillerie Chateau, a few miles east of Laventie, France] in the evening of March 21, by the chaplain of our Battn., beside two of his comrades.”
ECCLESHARE, THOMAS BERNARD, Cook’s Mate, M. 4167, H.M.S. Hawke, s. of Thomas Eccleshare, of 10, Merchant Street, Derby; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
EDBROOKE, FRANK THOMAS, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 5159, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EDDISON, JAMES, Corpl., No. 9446, C Coy., 2nd Battn. Highland L.I., eldest s. of James Eddison, of Aberdeen, by his wife, Jemina, dau. of (—) Wilson; b. Aberdeen, ... March, 1886; educ. there; enlisted 31 May, 1904; served three years with the Colours and then passed into the Reserve and worked as a Packing Case Maker; mobilised 4 Aug. 1914; went to France and was killed in action at Loos, 25 Sept. 1915; unm. Buried in Givenchy Cemetery. Eddison was well-known in Aberdeen Football circles and played for the Regimental Football Team and the Shamrock Club. He m. 9 Oct. 1908, Jeannie (55, Gallowgate, Aberdeen), dau. of William Sutherland, of Aberdeen, Contractor, and had two children: James, b. 27 July, 1912; and Martha Sutherland, b. 23 May, 1909.
EDDISON, JOHN RADLEY, 2nd Lieut., 1/8th Battn. Sherwood Foresters (T.F.), yst. s. of Robert Eddison, of Mount Vernon, Retford, Notts; b. Woodlands, near Worksop, 6 March, 1889; educ. Stancliffe Hall, near Matlock, Giggleswick, and Pembroke College, Cambridgeshire, at which latter he was in the O.T.C. He was gazetted into the Sherwood Foresters, 14 Oct. 1914, went with his regt. to the front, served in France and Flanders, and was killed in action, being shot through the body while superintending repairs of wire entanglements, at or near Kemmel, 21 April, 1915. He was buried in the Sherwood Foresters’ Cemetery at Kemmel, Belgium; unm.
EDEN, ROBERT JAMES, Leading Stoker (R.F.R., B. 9842), 297722, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EDGE, FREDERICK CHARLES, Corpl., No. 24245, 13th Battn. (Royal Highlanders of Canada), Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of the late George Edge, of Eyton-on-Severn, Blacksmith, by his wife, Eleanor, dau. of Alfred Downes; b. Eyton-on-Severn, Wroxetter, co. Salop, 19 July, 1886; educ. Donnington School, Wroxetter; went to Canada in April, 1912, and settled at Cranbrooke, B.C., as a railway mechanic; enlisted at Cranbrooke in Aug. 1914; came over with the 1st Contingent in Oct. 1914; went to France, 26 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, 29 May, 1915, being shot by a sniper while he was leaving the trenches; unm.
EDGINTON, ROBERT WALTER LAURENCE, Lieut., 5th Battn. Royal Warwickshire Regt. (T.F.), only s. of Robert William Edginton, of 70, Portland Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, M.D.; by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of Walter Showell, of Stourton Hall; b. Edgbaston, Birmingham, 14 Sept. 1895; educ. Bradfield College and Birmingham University; received a commission in the Territorial Battn. of the Warwickshire Regt. 28 Nov. 1913, and on the outbreak of war volunteered for foreign service; went to France, 21 March, 1915; was promoted Lieut. 27 May, 1915, and was killed in action in France, 3 June, 1915. He was buried at White Gates, Petit Pont, Ploegsteert Wood; unm. Some three weeks before he was killed, on 9 May, Lieut. Edginton performed a very gallant action, and was recommended by his commanding officer for bravery. This was described in letters from his brother officers as follows: Two privates were in front of the trenches acting as snipers, when one of them was wounded, his comrade was trying to get him back to the trench when he was also wounded. Lieut. Edginton, seeing this, went out to his assistance and brought him safely into the trench, and then went back to rescue the other man, who, when he reached him, he found was dead. In order to do this Lieut. Edginton had to make a detour of 40 or 50 yards to get through the wire entanglements and during the whole time was under severe rifle and shell fire.
EDLMANN, ERNEST ELLIOT, D.S.O., Major, R.A., 5th s. of the late Major Joseph Ernest Edlmann, 1st King’s Dragoon Guards, by his wife, Caroline Sim (Kent House, Leamington), dau. of William Elliot, Madras Civil Service; b. at Leamington, 24 Nov. 1868; educ. at Leamington College (1879–85) and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; gazetted 2nd Lieut. R.A., 17 Feb. 1888; and promoted Lieut. 17 Feb. 1891, Capt. 24 Oct. 1898, and Major 15 Dec. 1908; served in the Chin Hills, Burmah, 1892–3 (medal with clasp); in the Sudan; expedition to Dongola, 1890 (medal, Egyptian medal), and in the operations on the North West Frontier, India, 1897–8, first with the Mohmand Field Force, and then with the Tirah Expeditionary Force; present at the actions of Chagru-Kotal and Dargai, and the capture of Sanpagha and Arhanga Passes, the actions of 9, 16 and 24 Nov., the operations in Bara Valley, 7–14 Dec., and the affair at Shinkamar, 29 Jan.; and was mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 5 April, 1898], and received the medal with two clasps, and the D.S.O. (invested by Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace, 16 Nov. 1908. The Madras Weekly Mail of 18 Nov. 1897, in its account of the taking of the Sanpagha Pass, wrote: “Part of the 5th Bombay Mountain Battery shelled the position at 500 yards range, under a hot fire from the sungar. The only position which the battery could get was on the top of a sort of pinnacle, and two guns fell off this from their own recoil. The greatest credit is due to Lieut. Edlmann for the way he fought his guns under great difficulties, and with a fire being poured in at him from a short range,” and Capt. MacNunn, D.S.O., the Artillery expert, writing in the Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution on the same incident, said: “This was almost entirely an artillery battle, and the effect of combined fire completely drove off the enemy; heavy infantry fighting had, however, been looked for and a big casualty list. The fight ended by No. 5 Bombay Mountain Battery being pushed forward, when Capt. de Butts, R.A., was killed on rounding a bluff at the head of his battery, which suddenly came under a fire from the ridge in front. Lieut. Edlmann at once assumed command, and, taking a section, closed in to 500 yards and cleared the ridge of the enemy, a most dashing feat, for which he was commended in despatches. It is no small thing to stand to your guns at 500 yards’ range from marksmen armed with Martinis and Lee-Metfords, but so does audacity bring its own reward in war, that, wonderful to relate, there were no more casualties in the section.” In 1900, Major Edlmann was appointed to raise and command the Abbottabad Mountain Battery (now No. 30 M.B.). This he did with great success, obtaining a second class classification for shooting in the spring of 1902, and first class every subsequent year of his command. He took this battery on service in the Aden Hinterland in 1903–4. In 1902 he was selected to command the Indian Contingent of Native Mountain Artillery, which was present at the Coronation of King Edward VII., on which occasion he was described in The Times as being the best range-finder in the Royal Regt. of Artillery. He was appointed to No. 1 British Mountain Battery in 1910, subsequently transferring to No. 23 Peshawar Mountain Battery, which he was commanding in the 1914–5 operations in the Persian Gulf. In Mesopotamia he took part in the operations of 11, 15 and 17 Nov., near Mohammerah, Saihan, and Sahil respectively. The most skilful and dashing counter-attack carried out by his battery in connection with an infantry unit on the 11th and the admirably directed and highly effective artillery fire of the 15th and 17th are both mentioned in despatches. In the Turkish attack on our position at Shaiba on 11 April, Major Edlmann is mentioned in despatches for the clever handling of his battery and accuracy of fire in silencing the enemy’s guns and repelling his attack. The despatches also speak of the magnificent support given by the artillery throughout the campaign. Major Edlmann was mortally wounded at the Battle of Barjisijah on 14 April, having just taken over the duties of C.R.A., that officer having been wounded. Our troops, over open ground, were attacking a superior force of the enemy skilfully entrenched and concealed over a front of 3 miles. Major Edlmann was much beloved by officers and men alike, while in Military circles it was recognised, in the words of the obituary in the Court Journal, that “he was a fine officer and should have gone far in the service. He was certainly the first gunner in the service.” An officer wrote to his family after his death: “He was one of the bravest men I have ever met, an ideal artillery officer, always absolutely cool—quite indifferent to the heaviest fire.” The entire battery voluntarily paraded at the funeral, and his character was summed up by one of the native officers, whose grief on hearing the news was most touching: “He was such a good and brave Sahib.” Major Edlmann was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a very keen naturalist, preferring shooting in the mountains in the north of India to all other forms of sport. Except for an expedition in Burma, he always selected fresh areas in Kashmir, Ladak, Zaskar, Baltistan, and the many other districts of that part of the Himalayas between India proper and Russian and Chinese Turkestan. He knew all these districts well, and made a very good and varied collection of heads and birds. He presented a collection of rare birds to the Leamington Museum. On these expeditions he always travelled very light, and his powers of walking being almost phenomenal, he was able to cover large tracts of country. He was a keen polo player, though of recent years he had been obliged reluctantly to give this up, owing to the results of bad enteric fever. He m. at Abbottabad, 19 Sept. 1908, Evelyn, dau. of Major-Gen. Lorne Campbell, C.B., 38th Dogras, and had four children: Joseph Campbell, b. 24 Jan. 1909; Ernest Lorne Campbell, b. 28 April, 1914; Antonie Lorne Campbell, b. 13 Oct. 1910; and Adine Lorne Campbell, b. 24 Aug. 1912.
EDMOND, ALFRED THOMAS, Private, No. 11804, 1st Battn. South Wales Borderers, 4th s. of the late Seaward Richard Edmonds, Sapper R.E. (see following notice), by his wife, Esther Jane; b. Cardiff, 5 Aug. 1897; educ. Lansdown School, Cardiff; enlisted the day war was declared, 5 Aug. 1914; and was killed in action, 29 Jan. 1915; unm.
EDMOND, SEAWARD RICHARD, Sapper, No. 606, 1st Glamorganshire Fortress Coy., Royal Engineers (T.F.), s. of Seaward Richard Edmond, Brewer; b. Haverfordwest, 6 July, 1865; educ. there; and was a Commission Agent in Cardiff. He had joined the Glamorgan Garrison Artillery Volunteers, and at the time war was declared was a bandsman with the rank of Sergt.-Major. He joined the Royal Engineers as a sapper, 4 Aug. 1914; went to France, and died there of heart failure, 25 Jan. 1915. He m. at Roath Church, Cardiff, 23 Jan. 1887, Esther Jane (Kingsland Road, Cardiff), dau. of (—) and had 11 children: William Seward; Albert Ernest, Private, R.F.A., on active service; Harry Lewis; Alfred Thomas, Private, South Wales Borderers (killed); Archie Bernard; Gordon Stanley; Elise Marie: Esther Jane; Kathleen; Doris Mullar; and Irene. Sergt.-Major Edmond was well known in the Cardiff District as a musician and had the Long Service medal.
EDMONDS, JOSEPH LEONARD, Chief Petty Officer (N.S.) (R.F.R., A. 1942), 147080, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EDSELL, GEORGE ALFRED, M.D., L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., Lieut.-Col., 83rd Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C., yst. s. of the late James Edsell, of Beulah Hill, Norwood [a direct descendent of Capt. James Cook, R.N., the discoverer of Australia], by his wife, Phœbe Caroline, dau. of (..) Jones; b. Aberdovey, co. Merioneth, 18 Jan. 1859; educ. King’s College and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; qualified L.R.C.P., London, 1886; M.R.C.S. England, and L.S.A., 1886; M.D. Durham, 1902; D.P.H., R.C.P.S., London, and D.P.H. Camb., 1905; was Res. Obst. Asst. and Clin. Asst. Royal Eye Hospital, Southwark, and afterwards Hon. Surgeon Home for Cripples, Surbiton, and Clin. Asst. Samaritan Hospital for Women. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Public Health, a member of the British Medical Association, an Hon. Life Member of the St. John Ambulance Association, and Surveyor of the Medical Department at the Admiralty, and author of “Successful Reposition of a Completely Severed Finger.” He had joined the Oxfordshire L.I. in 1889 as Surgeon-Lieut., and retired 10 years later as Capt., but when the Territorial Force was organised in 1908, he joined the R.A.M.C. with his former rank. He was promoted Major shortly afterwards, and in 1911 became Lieut.-Col., and on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, volunteered for foreign service. He proceeded to Flanders with the 27th Regular Division, and was present throughout the operations round Ypres and the Battles at Hill 60 and St. Eloi. At the latter place he contracted pleurisy, but continued to do his work until he was invalided home at the end of April, and after a long illness died at Surbiton, 15 Aug. 1915. He was exceptionally good at all games, a fine shot, and for many years hunted with the Bicester and South Oxfordshire Hounds. He was exceedingly popular with the officers and men of his unit, and even after contracting his fatal illness never spared himself but worked unceasingly at his arduous duties, never giving to anyone a task which he was not prepared to perform himself. He m. at Byfleet, 14 July, 1887, Annie Isabel (The Cedars, Surbiton), eldest dau. of William Haines, of The Cedars, Byfleet, Surrey, and had six children, of whom survive: George Lynton, Capt. 1st Battn. Hampshire Regt., b. 23 April, 1888; Arthur Reginald Kepp, Capt. 6th Battn. East Surrey Regt., b. 10 July, 1889; Eric Valentine, Lieut. 6th Battn. East Surrey Regt., b. 13 Feb. 1891, all three (now 1916) on active service; Phœbe Ella, b. 8 Jan. 1893; and Kathleen Isabel, b. 8 Nov. 1895.
EDWARDS, ALBERT, Armourer, 342029, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EDWARDS, ALBERT GEORGE, Boy, 1st Class, J. 27375 (Dev.), H.M.S. Hawke, s. of Alfred Edwards, of 8, Gorton Street, Hyde Road, Ardwick, Manchester; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
EDWARDS, ERIC LEA PRIESTLEY, Capt., 1st Battn. East Yorks. Regt., eldest s. of Lea Priestley Edwards, of Warberry Court, Torquay, by his wife, Emily Gertrude, 2nd dau. of Sir Henry Edwards, 1st Bart., C.B.; b. Scarborough, 2 March, 1877; educ. Harrow and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. East Yorkshires, 20 Feb. 1897; promoted Lieut. 31 July, 1898, and Capt. 15 May, 1903; was Adjutant to a Volunteer battn. July, 1907–March, 1908, and in the Territorial Force, April, 1908–July, 1910; served with the Tirah Expedition, 1897–8, being present at the operations in the Bara Valley, 7–14 Dec. (medal with two clasps). On the outbreak of war he joined the Expeditionary Force with his regt. and was killed while leading his company near Troyon, at the Battle of the Aisne, 20 Sept. 1914; unm.
EDWARDS, ERNEST IRVING, Private, No. 130, 15th Battn. Australian Imperial Force; served in Egypt and at the Dardanelles; killed in action, 3 May, 1915.
EDWARDS, FRANK THOMAS, Private, No. 7605, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, s. of George Silas Edwards, of 342, Long Acre, Nechells, Birmingham; b. co. Warwick; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders; killed in action at Ypres, 29 Oct. 1914; unm.
EDWARDS, FREDERICK, Private, No. 1191, 4th Battn. Australian Imperial Force; served in Egypt and at the Dardanelles; killed in action, 10 June, 1915.
EDWARDS, GEORGE, A.B. (R.F.R., B 3925), S.S. 1204, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EDWARDS, GEORGE THOMAS, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch. 16518, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EDWARDS, HAROLD THORNE, Capt., 1st Battn. Monmouthshire Regt. (T.F.), elder s. of Thomas Stephen Edwards, of 24, Stow Hill, Newport, Monmouth, Solicitor, by his wife, Alice Elizabeth, dau. of Capt. Nathaniel Thorne; b. Newbridge, co. Monmouth, 9 Nov. 1883; educ. Brighton House School, Clifton, Bristol, and was admitted a solicitor in 1907. For some time he was with his father at Newport, and then took charge of the Blackwood branch. He joined the 1st Monmouthshires, then known as the 2nd South Wales Borderers, about 1905, becoming Capt. 8 April, 1911, but in 1913 went to Rhodesia to take up farming, and at the time of the declaration of war held an important appointment under the British South Africa Co. there. He returned to England at once and rejoined his old regt. on 22 Sept. 1914, and went to the Front in Feb. 1915. He was killed at Zonnebeke, 8 May, 1915, during the Battle of Ypres. The following report of his death was received: “On 8 May, 1915, at Zonnebeke, two battns. were forced to retire, a gap was created and the Germans swarmed over the trench. Capt. Edwards and most of his Coy. were surrounded, and the Germans shouted ‘Surrender!’ Capt. Edwards was heard to exclaim: ‘Surrender, be damned! Rapid fire, boys!’ and was seen by the men firing at the enemy. He was then shot.” A brother officer wrote: “He was a fine skipper, and the men worshipped him.”
EDWARDS, HARRY, A.B. (R.F.R., I.C. 695), 197733, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EDWARDS, HERBERT MARTIN CHARLES, Artificer, No. 326 E.B., E.R.A., R.N.R., H.M.S. Cressy, 4th and twin s. of the late Alexander Edwards, Chief Gunner’s Mate, R.N. (who served 22 years in the Navy, and was subsequently for 25 years, keeper of the Aberdeen Custom House), by his wife, Jessie; b. Aberdeen, 2 April, 1880; educ. Gordon’s College, Aberdeen; and was a Free Burgess of Aberdeen; joined the Navy in 1905, and was lost on H.M.S. Cressy, when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914; unm.
EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARD, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 2472), 218697, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EDWARDS, RICHARD, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 1201), 126314, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EDWARDS, ROBERT GARNET CHAWNER, Yeoman of Signals, 202620, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM, Private, No. 1963, C Coy., 3rd Battn. Monmouthshire Regt., s. of John Richard Edwards, Engine Driver, by his wife, Catherine, dau. of David Thomas, Colliery Manager; b. Cwmback, Aberdare, 17 April, 1879; educ. National School, Bassaleg, Newport, co. Monmouth; joined the 2nd Volunteer Battn. South Wales Borderers, 19 May, 1896, in which he served 12 years, retiring 31 March, 1908, but on the outbreak of the war he rejoined with the contingent from Messrs. Whitehead’s Iron and Steel Works, Tredegar, where he had been employed as an Ironworker. He went to France, 15 Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Messines Ridge, 27 March, 1915, being buried in Wulverghem Churchyard. His commanding officer, Capt. O. W. D. Steel, wrote: “Private Edwards had been in my company for some six months, and we had all come to regard him as a thoroughly reliable and excellent soldier. He was most popular with the company, and despite the fact that he had taken up soldiering somewhat late in life, had made himself most efficient in every way. I was with your husband soon after he was wounded, and was with him till his death. He lived only a few minutes and his end was quite painless.” He m. at Bassaleg, Monmouth, 29 Sept. 1906, Rose (3 Varteg Place, Sirhowy, South Wales), dau. of William Clift; s.p.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM, Acting E.R.A., 4th Class, M. 7332, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM HENRY, Leading Stoker (R.F.R., B. 10146), 298659, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM JOSEPH, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 6479), 302949, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
EGERTON, ROWLAND LE BERWARD, 2nd Lieut., 2nd. attd. 1st, Battn. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers, yr. twin s. of Sir Philip Henry Brian Grey-Egerton, 12th Bt., Major, 2nd Cheshire (Earl of Chester’s) Yeomanry, late Capt. and Hon. Major Earl of Chester’s Imperial Yeomanry, formerly Capt. 4th Battn. Cheshire Regt., by his 1st wife, Mary Carolyn Campbell, dau. of the late Major James Wayne Cuyler, U.S.A.; b. 8, Seymour Place, London, W., 4 April, 1895; educ. Evelyn’s, Wellington and Sandhurst; gazetted to the 2nd Battn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 8 Aug. 1914; went to France with the Expeditionary Force; and was killed in action near Zonnebeke, 30 Oct. 1914; unm.
EGLINGTON, ROBERT CECIL, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 1075), 171790, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELDER, CHARLES, Sergt., No. 7903, 2nd Battn. Highland L.I., s. of the late William Elder, by his wife, Frances (now wife of Robert Orr Templeton, of 93, Pitt Street, Glasgow), dau. of John Sutherland, of Nairn; b. Glasgow, 28 Jan. 1885; educ. Albany Academy there; enlisted July, 1902; went to France with the Expeditionary Force, 13 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Verneuil, 20 Sept. 1914. He was wounded in the foot, but in spite of this went on until he was killed; unm. Buried at Verneuil. A comrade wrote saying that “he died as a true British soldier, gallantly leading his section.” He was a good all-round sportsman.
ELDRIDGE, THOMAS HENRY, Seaman, R.N.R., 2410A, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELEMENT, HENRY, Stoker, 1st Class, 289064, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
ELEY, ALBERT EDWARD, A.B., 224960, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELITO, ANTOINE, Stoker (Native), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
ELKINS, WILLIAM JAMES, Petty Officer, 1st Class (O.S.), 174504, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
ELLAWAY, ALFRED HENRY, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4654), S.S. 103868, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
ELLENDER, RICHARD STANLEY, Leading Seaman, 239356, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
ELLINGHAM, WILLIAM ALBERT HENRY, Bugler, R.M.L.I., Ch./17902, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELLIOT, JAMES, Carpenter’s Mate (Pensioner, 3700), 133049, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELLIOT, JOHN AMYAND, Q.M.-Sergt., No. 162, 2nd Battn. Australian Imperial Force, 2nd s. of the late Capt. Charles Sinclair Elliot, R.N., Chief Magistrate of Norfolk Island, 1907–14 [who on the outbreak of war offered his services to the Commonwealth Government and was appointed Naval Officer in charge of Largs Bay, South Australia, where he died suddenly, 30 March, 1915, from heart failure], by his wife, Florence Louisa (Braemar, Eastwood, Sydney), dau. of Frederick Leacroft Dudley; b. Plymouth, England, 6 April, 1891; went to New South Wales with his parents in 1904; educ. The King’s School, Parramatta, Church of England Grammar School, North Sydney, and Hawkesbury Agricultural College. On leaving there he went to Gillendoon, Warren, and later to Illilliwa, Grenfell, and at the outbreak of the war was managing Grawlin, near Forbes, for Mr. J. M. Holland. He joined the 2nd Infantry Battn., and was appointed Colour-Sergt. to B Coy., commanded by the late Major C. C. Gordon, and on the re-formation of the battn. in Egypt was appointed Coy. Q.M.-Sergt. to D Coy., under the late Major D. Wallack. He was killed in action during the landing at the Dardanelles, 25 April, 1915; unm. He was a good all-round sportsman, excelling particularly at football, representing S.C.E.G.S. in the great Public Schools’ Competition, and winning his honour cap both at S.C.E.G.S. and at the Hawkesbury College, and representing Warren as a member of the team that won the District Cup in 1912. Three of his brothers are (1916) on active service, W. A. Elliot is a Sub-Lieut., R.N., Lieut. Dudley Sinclair Elliot, A.I.F., went with the Expedition to New Guinea, and was in charge of the Native Affairs Department at Rabaul, and 2nd Lieut. Alban Charles Elliot, A.I.F., is in England prior to going to France.
ELLIOT, MATTHEW TAYLOR, L.-Corpl., No. 6311, No. 3 Coy., 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, s. of John Elliot, of 19, Albert Street, Shieldfield, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Cooper; b. Tyne Dock, South Shields, 28 Feb. 1882; enlisted 21 Aug. 1905; appointed L.-Corpl. 23 Feb. 1915; served in Egypt 31 Oct. 1907 to 23 March, 1911, and with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, 12 Aug. 1914 to 8 Oct. 1915, on which day he was killed in action at Vermelles, Belgium; unm.
ELLIOT, THOMAS, Private, No. 14373, 10th (Service) Battn. Yorkshire Regt., s. of Joseph Elliot, Miner, by his wife, Edith, dau. of Thomas (and Jane) Hall; b. Frimdon Colliery, co. Durham, 20 Aug. 1886; educ. Ryhope Colliery School; was a Miner; volunteered and enlisted Sept. 1914; went to France in Sept. 1915, and was killed in action between Albert and Fricourt, 1 July, 1916. His commanding officer wrote speaking highly of him as one of the best and bravest of his men, and saying that had he lived he would have gained a D.C.M. He m. at Sunderland, 11 April, 1911, Florence, dau. of Charles (and Mary) Hindmarch, of 28, Fulwell Road, Sunderland, and had a son: Charles Hindmarsh, b. 25 Jan. 1914.
ELLIOTT, FREDERICK JOHN, Leading Stoker (R.F.R., B. 5471), 295811, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
ELLIOTT, GEORGE WILLIAM, Private, No. 16885, 7th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, 2nd s. of the Rev. William Elliott, of Jubilee, British Columbia, Methodist Minister, formerly a missionary in Japan, by his wife, Maria, dau. of George Willan Robinson; b. Toyama, Japan, 17 April, 1893; educ. various public schools of Manitoba, 1899–1902; privately, in Japan, 1902–08; and at Victoria and Vancouver (B.C.) High Schools, 1908–10; for some time worked as a house carpenter, with a view to becoming an architect; enlisted in the 88th Victoria (B.C.) Fusiliers in Nov. 1913, for special service (to assist in quelling the strike troubles at Vancouver Island) and, when, nine months later, the European War broke out, volunteered for Imperial Service; left Canada with the 1st Contingent in Oct. 1914, and, after training on Salisbury Plain during the winter, went to the Front in Feb., and was killed in action at Langemarck, 24 April, 1915, being shot through the head; unm. His brother, Lieut. F. F. Elliott, who volunteered at the same time, is now (1916) on active service with the same battn. in France.
ELLIOTT, HENRY, Stoker, 1st Class, 231737 (Ports.), H.M.S Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELLIOTT, JOHN, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 8165), S.S. 104009, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
ELLIS, BASIL HERBERT, Lieut., 5th (Service) Battn. King’s Shropshire L.I. 2nd s. of Rev. Henry Maitland Ellis, Vicar of Hedge End, co. Hants, M.A., by his wife, Ida Mary, dau. of the late Capt. Herbert Reid Lempriere; b. Exbury Rectory, co. Hants, 20 May, 1895; educ. Highfield Preparatory School, Liphook, and Shrewsbury; at which latter he won a scholarship, was subsequently head of his house. He should have gone into residence at Oxford, as a Scholar of Wadham College, in Oct. 1914, but, having been in the O.T.C. while at Shrewsbury, was given a commission in the King’s Shropshire L.I. 22 Sept. 1914, and was promoted Lieut. 1 Oct. following. He went with his regt. to the Front in May, and was killed in action at Hooge, 16 June, 1915; unm. He was buried in the garden of a Farm House, on the left side of the Ypres to Zillebeke Road. An officer wrote of him: “He was an excellent scout officer, and had done some good work since our arrival in France—absolutely fearless and perfectly calm under fire—greatly liked by the men of his platoon, which he had in excellent order”; and another, describing his death: “It was while going out across the open to get water for several men who had been badly wounded that he was killed.” Lieut. Ellis was a keen sportsman; while at Shrewsbury he was in the 1st XI. Cricket Team, and also had his Fives Colours, and was Editor of the “Salopian.”
ELLIS, EDMUND ALBERT, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./68O6, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
ELLIS, GEORGE WILLIS, A.B., J. 1773, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELLIS, JOHN THOMAS, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9481), S.S. 106864, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELLIS, JUDSON HAROLD, Private, No. 33326, 3rd Canadian Field Ambulance, eldest s. of William Sandford Ellis, of Alliston, Ontario, Canada, Grain and Seed Merchant, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of the late John Gallaugher; b. Thornbury, Grey co., Ontario, 24 March, 1891; educ. Alliston Public and High Schools; graduated (Phm. B.) from Toronto in 1913, and on the outbreak of war, in Aug. 1914, at once volunteered, and enlisted in the Canadian A.M.C. at Winnipeg on the 18th of that month. He came over with the 1st Contingent in Oct.; went to France in Feb., and died, 21 May, 1915, of wounds received while attending to the wounded at the Battle of Festubert; unm. He was buried at Hinges, France. His Lieut.-Col., Walter L. Watt, wrote: “From the very first he did his duty and did it well. He had no fear and was always a willing volunteer for anything requiring deeds and not words.”
ELLIS, LEONARD, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 8084 (Ports.), H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELLISON, REGINALD, A.B., No. Mersey Z/38, R.N.V.R., 2nd s. of James Ormrod Ellison, of Tarbock Road, Huyton, and Boundary Road, St. Helens, Lancashire, by his wife, Annie Elizabeth, dau. of William Robinson; b. at St. Ann’s, St. Helens, Lancashire, 27 Feb. 1897; educ. Ashton-in-Makerfield Grammar School, was articled as an Electrical Engineer, but on the outbreak of war enlisted (7 Sept. 1914) in the 1st Battn. 2nd Royal Naval Brigade, was transferred to the Howe Battn. and sailed from Avonmouth, 27 Feb. 1915. He was wounded in action at Gallipoli, 1 May, while advancing under heavy fire, and died in the 17th General Hospital, Alexandria, 27 May, 1915, aged 18 years.
ELLISON, ROBERT, Gunner, No. 36235., R.F.A., eldest s. of Ted Ellison, of Bishopwearmouth, Miner, by his wife, Mary, dau. of John Murphy; b. Wheatley Hill, co. Durham, 3 April, 1874; educ. St. Benett’s School, Sunderland; was a quarry worker; enlisted 6 Sept. 1914; trained at Wycombe, Bucks, and died 13 Dec. 1915, of wounds received in action at the Battle of Loos, 25 Sept. previous. He m. at Sunderland 22 May, 1896, Jane (6, Carley Place, Southwick-on-Wear), dau. of James McGreavy, and had issue: James Edward, b. 13 Oct. 1901; Thomas, b. 6 Jan. 1904; Robert, b. 22 May, 1907; John, b. 21 Feb. 1913; and Florence May, b. 29 Aug. 1910.
ELLISTON, ARTHUR EDWARD, Sailmaker’s Mate (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9489), 201530, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELLOT, WILLIAM, Sergt., No. 1517, 1st Battn. Scots Guards; b. Maidenhead, co. Berks; enlisted 30 July, 1897, aged 20; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders; reported missing after the fighting on 25 Jan. 1915. He m. at Windsor 18 Dec. 1905, Elizabeth (209, Campbell Buildings, Westminster Bridge Road, S.W.), dau. of (—) Farrell, and had six children: William, b. 7 Feb. 1907; Claude, b. 1 Feb. 1913; Harry, b. 11 April, 1914; Cicely, b. 7 April, 1908; Marterl, b. 28 Feb. 1910; and Gwendoline, b. (twin) 1 Feb. 1913.
ELLSWORTH, ERNEST MALVERN, Private, No. 46141, 13th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, 2nd s. of the late Alden Ellsworth, of Laconia, New Hampshire, U.S.A. (died 9 March, 1897), by his wife, Mary (now wife of Paul S. Allen, of Cobourg, Ontario), dau. of Daniel Lockhart, of Nova Scotia; b. Laconia aforesaid, 1 March, 1894; educ. Ottawa; was a farmer’s hand; joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 2 Sept. 1914; came over with the first Contingent, from Windsor, N.S.; went to the front, April 20, and was killed in action in France, 21 May, 1915; unm.
ELLSWORTH, JAMES, Private, No. 625, 1st Newfoundland Regt., s. of Henry Ellsworth, of Carmanville, Newfoundland, by his wife, Emelia; b. Carmanville afsd., 4 Jan. 1889; educ. there; volunteered for Imperial service after the outbreak of war, and joined the Newfoundland Regt.; went to the Dardanelles, and was killed in action there, 4 Nov. 1915; unm. He was buried in the Borderers Ravine (Cem. 117, J. 3, grave No. 32).
ELLWOOD, CHARLES HUGH, Lieut., 4th Battn. Lincolnshire Regt. (T.F.), yst. s. of the late Col. Arthur Ellwood, of Mareham-le-Fen, co. Lincoln, V.D. (died April, 1915), by his wife, Caroline (Manor House, Mareham-le-Fen, Boston), dau. of Robert Addison Hogsthorpe; b. Mareham-le-Fen, 2 Dec. 1887; educ. Lincoln Grammar School, and assisted his father farming. With his elder brother, now Capt. A. A. Ellwood, he joined the Horncastle Coy of the old Lincoln Volunteers in 1903, of which Company their father was Colonel Commanding, and on the organisation of the Territorial Force was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 17 June, 1911, and on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, he and his brother both volunteered for Imperial service and went to France with their regt. 28 Feb. 1915. Capt. Ellwood was appointed to the charge of a machine-gun section, and Lieut. Ellwood was given charge of a section in the trenches. He was killed in action at Wytschacte, near Messines, Belgium, 1 June, 1915, and was buried in Dranoutre Churchyard; unm. His commanding officer, the late Col. Jessop, wrote: “He was doing splendidly.... I have sent his name up more than once for good work”; and Lieut. H. B. Riggull, of the 5th Battn., in a letter dated 14 June, said: “I was very sorry about Ellwood’s brother. It was very bad luck, especially as he had been doing such good work. He often used to crawl right out to the German line at night and gave a lot of valuable information; the General sent for him, and personally congratulated him.” He was very keen on miniature shooting, and had won many prizes.
ELMER, JOSEPH HENRY, Petty Officer, 2nd Class (R.F.R.. Ch. B. 7906), 168002, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ELRINGTON, GERARD GORDON CLEMENT, 2nd Lieut., 1st Battn. East Yorkshire Regt., only s. of the late Gerard Gordon Elrington, Capt. Dorsetshire Regt., by his wife, Mary Tilly (now wife of General John Miles, of 35, Fitzroy Road, Regent’s Park, N.W.), dau. of the late Alexander Watson; b. Bruges, Belgium, 28 April, 1894; educ. Cranleigh School, Surrey; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 3rd East Yorkshires, 1 Oct. 1912, went to France with the Expeditionary Force in Aug. 1914, and was killed in action near Festubert, France, 30–31 Oct. 1914; unm. Capt. H. K. Umfreville, 2nd Battn. Duke of Wellington’s Regt., wrote: “During the time I commanded the battn., during the Aisne fighting and the later operations north of Arras, 2nd Lieut. Elrington has shown conspicuous gallantry, and his company commander repeatedly expressed to me his admiration of the cheerfulness and carelessness of danger displayed by this officer.... I may briefly add the circumstances under which 2nd Lieut. Elrington met his fate. Near Festubert, on the night of the 30th to 31st, a company of this battn. was ordered to co-operate with the Sikhs in recovering a trench captured by the Germans the previous night. 2nd Lieut. Elrington was leading his platoon in this attack, and was shot through the head within a few feet of the trench. The trench was not taken, but I assured myself later that he was quite dead, and his burial was carried out by the officers of the Sikh (58th Rifles) company in the trench later on.”
ELSON, GEORGE EDWARDS, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4845) S.S. 104229, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
ELVES, THOMAS, Leading Stoker (R.F.R.. B. 5123), 292957, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
ELWIN, FRANK HAROLD, 2nd. Lieut., 2nd Battn. Duke of Edinburgh’s Wiltshire Regt., only s. of James Elwin, Tea Planter, Manager of the Kuttal Tea Estate, Cachar, India, by his wife, Isabel Mary, dau. of John Henry Weaver; b. Darjiling, India, 22 Sept. 1895; educ. Shrewsbury School, and left there in July, 1914, with the intention of going on to King’s College, Cambridge, to study Science, a subject in which he had shown considerable ability. On the outbreak of war, the following month, however, he enlisted in the Shropshire L.I., 9 Sept. 1914. On 7 Nov. following he was given a commission as 2nd Lieut. in the 3rd (Reserve) Battn. of the Wiltshires, and was afterwards transferred to the 2nd Battn.; he went to France on 24 Feb., and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle on the early morning of 12 March, 1915. His Col. wrote very highly of him and his work.
EMERY, WILLIAM JAMES, A.B., 195662 Chatham, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EMMERSON, WALTER, Acting Leading Stoker, K. 7698, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EMMOTT, JOHN BARLOW, 2nd Lieut., 10th (Oldham) Battn. Manchester Regt. (T.F.). yr. and only surviving s. of George Henry Emmott, M.A., LLM., Barrister-at-Law of the Inner Temple, Queen Victoria Professor of Law, and Dean of the Faculty of Law, Liverpool University, by his wife, Elizabeth, 4th dau. of Joseph Bevan Braithwaite, Barrister-at-Law, and nephew of Alfred, 1st Baron Emmott of Oldham, P.C., G.C.M.G.; b. at Nantucket, Mass., U.S.A., 9 Aug. 1888; educ. Birkenhead School and Victoria University of Manchester; was studying the cotton spinning and manufacturing business in the mills of Messrs. Emmotts and Wallshaw, Ltd., Oldham; obtained a commission as 2nd Lieut. in 10th Manchester Territorials, 9 March, 1914; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war; served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at the Dardanelles from May to 4 June, 1915, on which latter date he was killed in action at Achi Baba, Gallipoli. He m. 27 Aug. 1913, Doris Lees, sister of 2nd Lieut. R. G. L. Ascroft (killed in action the same day as his brother-in-law), dau. of the late James Henry Ascroft, of Oldham, Solicitor; s.p.
EMPSON, RICHARD WILLIAM HENRY MACARTNEY, Lieut., Royal Marine L.I., elder s. of John Empson, of Knock-na-cree, Milborne Port, Somerset, M.D., late Surgeon North Somerset Yeomanry, by his wife, Esther Katherine, 2nd dau. of the Rev. Charles Morgan Watling, Rector of Upcerne, Dorset; b. Milborne Port, co. Somerset, 26 May, 1896; and was educ. at Connaught House, Weymouth, Marlborough College and Royal Naval College, Greenwich. He passed into the Royal Marines in June, 1913; served with them during the siege of Antwerp, also at Lille and Lierre, and was promoted Lieut. 17 Sept. 1914. He sailed for the Dardanelles, 27 Feb. 1915, and was killed in action, 1 May, 1915, at Gaba Tepe. He was mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton’s Despatch of 22 Sept. 1915, and his commanding officer, Col. Luard, wrote: “The young officer in command, Lieut. Empson, displayed great gallantry up to the time when he was killed”; and in a further report, stated: “Lieut. Empson was wounded on 30 April, and continued to actively direct the defence of the trench until he was killed on 1 May, while delivering fire on the enemy at close range. I beg to recommend him for a posthumous honour for his services on 29 and 30 April,” Capt. Syson also wrote: “I cannot rate Lieut. Empson’s defence of his isolated trench too highly. From the reports of those who survived him, he never let there be any doubt as to his procedure should ammunition give out and the hundreds who were attacking them reach this trench. He upheld their courage and called forth the qualities which made them stand up to attack by day and by night, exist with little or no sleep, food or water, and face the fact that their chance of relief from outside was very small.” He played for the Royal Naval College in the Kent Cup Final in March, 1914. He was only 18, and was unm.
EMPTAGE, GEORGE WILLIAM, Petty Officer, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 2960), 160112, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
ENFIELD, CHARLES JOHN, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 2781), S.S. 77, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
ENTWISTLE, BENJAMIN, Pte., No. 5791, 2nd Battn. East Lancashire Regt.; was in the employ of Proctor Bros., Cotton Manufacturers, Wheatley Lane Mills, Burnley; enlisted, went to France, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, April, 1915; unm.
EPPS, WILLIAM JOHN, Stoker, Petty Officer, 2nd Class C.G., (R.F.R., Ch. A. 1834), 154131, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
SWEET-ESCOTT, MURRAY ROBERTSON, Lieut., 1st Battn. King’s Liverpool Regt., yr. s. of the Rev. Edward Herbert Sweet-Escott, of Hartrow Manor, Taunton, a Master of Dulwich College, S.E., by his wife, Anna Frances, dau. of Henry Robertson, of Over Stowey; b. Over Stowey, Bridgewater 14 Dec. 1887; educ. Dulwich College, and Marlborough; gazetted 2nd Lieut. 3rd Battn. King’s Liverpool Regt. (Special Reserve), in Dec. 1909, and, after a year’s training with the Irish Fusiliers, was promoted Lieut. 24 Feb. 1911. Three years later he was seconded for service as A.D.C. to Sir E. B. Sweet-Escott, K.C.M.G., the Governor of the Leeward Islands, and in the same year followed him in the same position to Fiji. He returned in the autumn of 1913, and on the outbreak of war at once volunteered for foreign service, being transferred to the 1st Battn. 5 Aug. 1914. He went with his battn. to the Front, and was killed in action on the Aisne, close to Missy and near the town of Brayne, 20 Sept. 1914, and was buried where he fell; unm. His commanding officer wrote: “Your son was killed while leading his platoon to repel a very heavy attack made on my battn. by six German battns.; and it was in great part due to the gallant behaviour of his company that we were eventually able to repel the attack. I cannot speak too highly of your son’s behaviour, and, although he had been with us so short a time, he had endeared himself to both officers and men.”
ETHERTON, CHARLES EDWARD, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 5096), 199736, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
ETHERTON, HENRY JOHN, Private, R.M.L.I., Po./16052, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EVANS, ALEXANDER EASSON, C.E., Lieut., No. 2 Field Coy. Canadian R.E., s. of the Rev. Maurice John Evans; b. Stratford-on-Avon, co. Warwick, 6 Jan. 1872; educ. Herriott-Watt College, Edinburgh; went to Canada, and became a Civil Engineer; volunteered for service overseas on the outbreak of war, and enlisted in the 3rd Battn. in Oct. 1914; promoted Corpl.; left Victoria, British Columbia, for England, 14 Feb. 1915; trained at Shorncliffe, where he was drafted into the 7th Battn.; crossed to France the first week in May, and went straight up to the trenches; took part in the fighting at Festubert, 23–26 May, where he displayed great gallantry and was given a commission as Lieut. and posted to the Canadian Royal Engineers in Oct.; appointed Brigade Wiring Officer, and was shot by a sniper while attending to wire entanglements on the night of 5 Jan. 1916. His commanding officer wrote that he was mourned by all his brother officers as an efficient officer, and an unselfish comrade. Lieut. Evans m. at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1899, Ethel A. B. (d.), 6th dau. of J. G. Fenwick, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and had two children: Maurice John, b. 3 May, 1900 and Helen Margaret, b. 2 Oct. 1902.
EVANS, ARTHUR, 2nd Lieut., 18th (Service) Battn. The Welsh Regt., only surviving s. of John Evans, of Broniarth, North Road, Aberystwyth, Solicitor, Coroner for North Cardiganshire and Deputy Town Clerk of Aberystwyth, by his wife, Jane, dau. of John Jones (Ivon), of Aberystwyth; b. Aberystwyth, 26 Feb. 1892; educ. Towyn County School, and on leaving there was articled to Mr. Bassett, A.R.I.B.A., Aberystwyth. On completing his articles he entered the service of Mr. Sydney Moss, F.R.I.B.A., Manchester, and gave promise of a successful career as an architect and land surveyor, but after the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, he returned home, joined the University College of Wales (Aberystwyth) O.T.C. in Oct., and on 19 Feb. 1915, was gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 18th Welsh Regt., then in training under Col. Homfray at Porthcawl, Glamorgan. On 31 March, 1915, he was thrown off a motor cycle while out riding with some brother officers near Porthcawl, and died the same day at King Edward VII Hospital (Bedford House), Cardiff; unm. He had been very eager to get to the Front, and his commanding officer wrote that he “had proved himself to be a very capable officer.”
EVANS, EDWARD, Private, No. 1682, 2nd Battn. Monmouthshire Regt. (T.F.), elder s. of the late Edward Evans, by his wife, Abigail (2, Gibson’s Steps, High Street, Pontypool); b. Cardiff, 27 Oct. 1897; educ. National School there; enlisted early in 1912, and was killed in action in France, 30 Dec. 1914. Capt. L. P. A. Rolls wrote: “Your son had been my servant ever since the beginning of Oct., when we were in Northampton, and had been with me till he met his death. I cannot tell you what a good willing lad he was in all that he did for me. He was killed like so many other—nobly doing his duty in the trenches.”
EVANS, EDWARD FRANK, S.B.A., M. 4751, H.M.S. Hawke, s. of Edward Evans, of 2, Clisby Cottages, Iver Lane, Cowley, co. Middlesex; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
EVANS, HERBERT CLYDE, B.A., LL.B., Barrister-at-Law, Lieut.-Commander, Nelson Battn. Royal Naval Division, yst. s. of the late John Thomas Evans, of Gisborne, New Zealand, shipowner, by his wife, Emma; b. Oamaru, N.Z., 26 April, 1883; educ. Gisborne (N.Z) High School; and was apprenticed in one of his father’s ships, and served eight years in the mercantile service. He was first officer in a ship in the service of the Russians during the Russo-Japanese War, and was at the fall of Port Arthur; he was wrecked near Siberia, where his eyesight was so injured by the frost that he had to relinquish the sea. He then entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, taking a second-class B.A. and second-class LL.B., and was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple, June, 1914. On the outbreak of war he was appointed lecturer to officers by the Admiralty, and given a commission as Lieut.-Commander in the Royal Naval Division, 1 Oct. 1914. He left for the Dardanelles on 3 March, and was killed in action there, near Achi Baba, 5 June, 1915. Lieut.-Com. Evans was mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton’s Despatches [London Gazette, 5 Nov. 1915], for gallant and distinguished service in the field. He m. at Fairwarp Church, Sussex, 25 March, 1913, Constance (Clevedon, Newick, Sussex), dau. of the Rev. George Whelpton Johnson, Vicar of Fairwarp, and had two daus.: Constance Joy Nelson, b. 7 Aug. 1914; and Grace Nina Clyde, b. posthumous, 9 Aug. 1915.
EVANS, JAMES, L.-Corpl., No. 12922, 11th (Service) Battn. Royal Scots, 5th s. of William Evans, of 19, Main Street, Thornliebank, near Glasgow, employee in the Thornliebank Calico Print Works, by his wife, Mary, dau. of Robert Williamson, Fireman; b. Thornliebank, afsd., 14 July, 1888; educ. Thornliebank Public School; worked for some time in the Thornliebank Calico Print Works, and was later a warehouseman in the employ of Cerebos, Ltd., Drysalters, Glasgow; enlisted, 31 Aug. 1914; and died in Field Lazarette 9, Bauvin, 29 Sept. 1915, of wounds received in action at Loos; unm.
EVANS, JAMES, Able Seaman, Ch./167339 R.F.R.B. 3892, 2nd s. of James Evans, Coal Miner, by his wife, Annie Elizabeth; b. Ludgate, Durham, 3 Dec. 1875; educ. Sunderland; joined the Navy, 27 May, 1892; Boy, 2nd Class, H.M.S. Boscawen, 4 June, 1892–30 June, 1893; Boy, 1st Class, H.M.S. Boscawen, 1 July–2 Dec. 1893; Ordinary Seaman, H.M. Ships Pembroke, 3 Dec. 1893–8 Jan. 1894, and Sabellite, 9 Jan. 1894–30 April, 1896; A.B., H.M. ships Sabellite, 1 May, 1896–6 Aug. 1897; Pembroke, Aug. 1897–23 Feb. 1898; Wildfire, 24 Feb.–20 July, 1898; Pembroke, 21 July–9 Aug. 1898; Galatea, 10 Aug. 1898–10 April, 1899; Forte, 11 April, 1899–14 May, 1902; Pembroke, 15 May–26 Sept. 1902; Anson, 27 Sept. 1902–4, and Pembroke, 7 May–31 Dec. 1904, when he obtained his discharge with conduct “Very good.” Served in the Gambia, 1894, and through the South Africa War, 1899–25 June, 1900; landed for the protection of Durban, 24 Nov. 1899; took part in the operations with Natal Field Force, including the Battles of Botha’s Pass and Allman’s Nek and occupation of Utrecht, Volkorust and Wakestroom, and was awarded the Ashanti medal with clasp (Gambia, 1894), 21 March, 1896; the South African medal with five clasps (Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing’s Nek, Transvaal, Orange Free State), 1 Dec. 1902; and the Good Conduct medal. On leaving the Navy he entered the P. & O. service, but on mobilisation was called up, 5 Aug. 1914, and appointed to H.M.S. Cressy, in which he was lost when she was torpedoed in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. He m. at St. Luke’s Church, Tidal Basin, 6 Jan. 1906, Annie Elizabeth (113, Jersey Road, Custom House, London), dau. of Alexander James George Tyler, and had four children: James George Alexander, b. 3 March, 1909; Annie Elizabeth Lilian, b. 16 Sept. 1910; Hilda Violet, b. 15 April, 1912; and Doris Ivy, b. 8 Aug. 1914.
EVANS, JAMES WRIGHT, Stoker, 2nd Class, K. 20456, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EVANS, THOMAS HATFIELD, Lieut., 3rd Battn. Australian Imperial Forces, only s. of the late Thomas Evans, of Huyton, by his wife, Alice Stewart (Honors Mead, Bovington, Herts), dau. of John Smyth Hatfield, of Innellan, Argyleshire; b. Huyton, co. Lancaster, 18 May, 1881; educ. Sedbergh; joined the Leicestershire Imperial Yeomanry when 18 on the outbreak of the South African War, and served through that campaign, 1899–1901, receiving the Queen’s medal with four clasps (Rhodesia, Cape Colony, Transvaal, South Africa). He went to Australia about May, 1913, but when war was declared in Aug 1914, he volunteered and joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, and was given a commission as Lieut. 1 Jan. 1915. He was killed at Gaba Tepe during the landing at the Dardanelles, 26 April, 1915; unm. He was mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton’s Despatch [London Gazette, 5 Aug. 1915], for gallant and distinguished conduct in the field. His commanding officer, Col. Owen, C.M.G., wrote: “On landing at Anzac Cove he showed great energy, courage and ability in the handling of his machine gun section, and notwithstanding the difficult country and absence of day transport, he had his gun in action at an early hour in the front line of defence, where he remained till he fell. It devolved on him to stop the firing of a machine gun of another battn. which was firing too close to our troops, and the ground was swept by a heavy rifle and machine gun fire. However, he safely returned, to my great relief. Later, whilst I was temporarily at another part of the firing line, the same gun again became dangerous, and a message reached your son to that effect from Major Brown, of my battn. Lieut. Evans again went over, and when returning stopped to succour a wounded man who had been left in the open. Having bound up the man’s wound, he tried to carry him back to safety, but was hit repeatedly. Though badly wounded he still tried to save his man, to the admiration of all those who saw his gallant conduct. An attempt was made by my men to rescue them, but your son was riddled with bullets and died a hero. I may mention that I recommended your son for the V.C. on account of his distinguished valour in the field, and his name is one of three in my battn. who were specially mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton’s Despatches”; and one of his men (Private F. G. Hallett): “Your son was a man to be proud of, for he carried four wounded men to the stretcher-bearer station under heavy fire.” He also wrote: “We had to cross a deep gully which was infested with Turkish snipers. It seemed as if some of us would be killed, but we reached our destination without a single casualty, entirely owing to the cool and skilful way in which Lieut. Evans handled us. He was a fine example to us all.” Capt. White also wrote: “From all accounts by men near him he died a hero’s death. As a machine gunner himself he must have realised it was certain death that awaited him when he rushed to rescue a wounded comrade from a zone of bullets from one of the enemy’s machine guns.” Lieut. Evans was a keen sportsman and athlete, and exceptionally powerful swimmer and a first-class shot.
EVANS, WILLIAM ALFRED, Petty Officer, 199251, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EVANS, WILLIAM HERBERT, Major, 11th (Service) Battn. The Royal Scots, s. of James S. Evans, of Montreal, Canada; b. Montreal, 27 Feb. 1872; educ. there; was for some time a member of the Victoria Rifles, Montreal; afterwards served in the North-West Mounted Police for two years; on returning to Montreal joined the 5th Battn. Royal Scots of Canada, and subsequently took command of the Prince of Wales’ Fusiliers of Montreal. He served through the South African War, and on the outbreak of the European War, came over to England and was given a commission in the 11th (Service) Battn. of the Royal Scots, 22 Oct. 1914. He went to France, and was killed while in Billets, 14 Aug. 1915. He m. at Montreal, 19 Dec. 1894, May L. (791, University Street, Montreal, Canada), dau. of (—) Romeril, and had three children: William, b. 25 Dec. 1902; Enid, b. 17 Sept. 1895; and Doris, b. 17 Feb. 1898.
EVANS, WILLIAM JAMES, A.B., 221679, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.
EVASON, WILLIAM DODD, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 1131), 162903, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EVATT, GEORGE RALEIGH KERR, Capt., 1st Battn. (57th Foot) Middlesex Regt., only s. of Surgeon-General George Joseph Hamilton Evatt, of Wayside, Camberley, co. Surrey, late of the Army Medical Staff, and Hon. Colonel of the Home Counties Division Territorial R.A.M.C., M.D., C.B., by his wife, Sophie Mary Frances, dau. of William Walter Raleigh Kerr, Treasurer of Mauritius, and granddau. of Major-Gen. Lord Robert Kerr [4th s. of William John, 5th Marquis of Lothian, K.T.]; b. Royal Military Academy, at Woolwich (where Surgeon-Gen. Evatt held the post of Medical Officer in Charge), 30 Sept. 1883; educ. Cheltenham College, and afterwards prepared by private tutor for University Matriculation. He entered the Middlesex Regt. as a University candidate 12 March, 1904, having passed through the necessary studies at St. John’s College, Cambridge, where his tutor was Sir Donald MacAlister, now principal of Glasgow University; was promoted Lieut. 9 May, 1906, and Capt. Sept. 1914. He served with the West African Frontier Force from April, 1909, to Dec. 1914, when he came home and rejoined his regiment. He was killed while in the trenches only 400 yards from the German lines, near La Boutillerie, about 3¼ miles south of Armentières, by a bullet in the temple, fired by a German sharp-shooter, 13 Nov. 1914, and was buried in the grounds of a private château near the trenches; unm. At the time of his death he was in command of A Coy. of the same battn. (57th Foot) in which his great-grandfather, Capt. John Hamilton Evatt, served at the battle of Albuera, in Spain, 1811, and who was severely wounded in that desperate fight. In the 301 years that have elapsed since the Evatt family passed over to Ireland in 1613 not less than 21 members of the family have served in the British army. While several were wounded, only two, however, were actually killed in action on the field of battle, viz., Capt. George R. K. Evatt, the subject of this notice, and Capt. Henry Evatt, of the 16th Lancers, who served in the revolutionary war in America (1775–7), and was eventually shot dead on the gate of Lord Moira’s House in the battle of Ballinahinch in 1798 by the Presbyterian rebels while serving with the Monaghan militia.
EVERALL, EDWARD HENRY, A.B., 233891, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EWELL, LESLIE, E.R.A., 1st Class, 269768, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EWEN, ERNEST CECIL, Ordinary Seaman, S.S. 4650, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EYERS, WILLIAM JAMES, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., B. 4768), 195096, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
EYKYN, GILBERT DAVIDSON PITT, Capt. Royal Scots (Lothian Regt.), attached 4th Battn. Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own Yorkshire Regt., only s. of the late Rev. Pitt Eykyn, sometime Vicar of Magor-cum-Redwick, co. Monmouth, and at the time of his death Chaplain of Parel, Bombay, India, by his wife, Charlotte Elizabeth (82, Prince of Wales Mansions, Battersea Park, S.W.), dau. of James Davidson, Bengal Civil Service; b. France Lynch Parsonage, co. Glos., 22 Aug. 1881; educ. Haileybury College and Clayesmore School. He received his first commission in the 3rd Battn. Loyal North Lancashire Regt., 1899, was gazetted 2nd Lieut., 4th Battn. Manchester Regt., 4 May, 1901; was promoted Lieut., 24 Dec. 1901; transferred to Indian Army, 12 Feb. 1904; joined the Royal Scots, 4 Feb. 1905; was appointed Adjutant to the 4th Yorkshires (T.F.), 13 Feb. 1913, and promoted Capt. Royal Scots, 26 June following. He served for 11 years in India, and in the South African Campaign, taking part in the operations in the Orange River Colony and in the Transvaal, for which latter services he received the Queen’s medal with three clasps (Cape Colony, Wittenbergen and Transvaal). Capt. Eykyn fell in the first engagement of the 4th Yorks at the Second Battle of Ypres, after only a few days at the Front, while gallantly leading his regt. into action at the storming of St. Julien, 24 April, 1915, and was buried in a wood to the left of the reserve trenches. Col. Maurice Bell wrote to his wife: “Remember this, he trained the battn. and the General (Plumer) has personally thanked us for our behaviour at a critical moment. His is the credit”; and Corpl. Wearmouth: “It is only natural we looked up to our Adjutant, as he was responsible for all our training whilst at home, and naturally he having been through the African Campaign we followed him. The Adjutant never drew his revolver, all he thought about was the regt.’s first conduct under fire, and I am glad to say that we are mentioned in the General’s despatches, and it was all due to our Adjutant. The loss is being avenged, as every shot fired by our lads, they say as they pull the trigger ‘There’s one for the Adjutant.’” The following is an extract from the “Yorkshire Evening Post,” 29 April, 1915: “Capt. Eykyn was an ardent worker on behalf of the military forces long before the war broke out, and he addressed public meetings on the advantages of joining the service. He was also an amateur actor of considerable talent, and took part in playlets given on behalf of the National Service League.” The “Green Howards” Gazette for May, 1915, said: “The splendid work that he did as Adjutant has borne fruit in the gallantry displayed by the battn. in action, and the death of this fine young officer is deplored by all.” Capt. Eykyn had passed examinations in Hindustani and Russian, also as an Instructor of Gymnasia, and had obtained a D in Musketry. He m. at Bombay Cathedral, 28 Nov. 1902, Constance (The Cottage, Northallerton, co. Yorks), elder dau. of the late Arthur Norton, of Guildford, and had one son: Duncan Arthur Davidson, b. 11 Aug. 1906.
EYRE, JOHN, 2nd Yeoman of Signals (R.F.R., B. 425), 174716, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
EYRE, WILLIAM, Capt., 12th Battn. Welsh Regt., attd. 1st Battn. Lancashire Fusiliers, only s. of William Eyre, of 21, Babworth Road, Retford, retired Miller, by his wife, Mary, dau. of the late John Pagdin, of Morton, Gainsborough, Merchant; b. Creswell, co. Derby, 25 March, 1879; educ. King Edward VI Grammar School, Retford, and Sheffield University. He took the B.Sc. degree at London University with honours in chemistry, and returned to Retford Grammar School as Science Master, where he was for several years, and, after a short period in a similar capacity at Cranbrook School, joined in 1907 the staff of Christ’s Hospital, Horsham, as Science Master and House Master of Thornton B., where he remained until the outbreak of the war. An In Memoriam notice in “The Blue” said: “As an officer in the O.T.C., as president of the Natural History Society, in the house and in the playing fields, he worked hard for the good of Christ’s Hospital. His whole-hearted interest in all that would make for the good of the boys or of his colleagues and his affection for the ‘lads’ of this House, are known to us all. He was a most valuable member of our community.” He was appointed 2nd Lieut. in the Christ’s Hospital O.T.C. (T.F.), 17 July, 1908, and volunteered on the outbreak of war, and was gazetted Capt. in the 8th (Service) Battn. of the Welch Regt. 14 Dec. 1914. He was afterwards transferred to the 12th Battn., and subsequently attached to the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers, with which he went to the Dardanelles, 17 July, 1915. He was wounded near Gully Beach, Gallipoli, 6 Aug. 1915, and died in the 19th General Hospital at Alexandria on the 19th, being buried in the English cemetery there; unm. Col. Ommanney, 12th Battn. Welch Regt., wrote: “During the five months he was with us he not only did his work well, but made himself respected and beloved by all ranks. I feel I have lost in him a real friend, and I know that this feeling is shared by very many of his brother officers.”
FADE, HAROLD, A.B., 219145, H.M.S. Liberty; killed in action in the Heligoland Bight, 28 Aug. 1914.
FAGG, ALBERT, Chief Stoker (R.F.R., Ch. A. 1846), 154116, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FAIR, ROY NICHOLS, L.-Corpl., No. 6914, 1st Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of the Rev. Hugh James Fair, of Arkona, Ontario, Methodist Minister, by his wife, Eliza, dau. of Henry Nichols; b. Londesborough, Ontario, 17 May, 1894; educ. Exeter and Watford High Schools and Albert College, Belleville; was a Bookkeeper; volunteered on the outbreak of war and joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Aug. 1914; came over with the First Contingent, Oct. 1914; went to France, Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 15 June, 1915; unm.
FAIRCHILD, EDWARD JAMES, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 5973 (Ports.), H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FAIRCLOUGH, JOHN, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 10324), 203995, 3rd s. of the late Thomas Fairclough, of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, by his wife, Sarah (20, Bearton Road, Hitchen, co. Herts), dau. of William Rawlinson; b. Holmfield, Aigburth, Liverpool, 19 Jan. 1884; educ. Beachwood, co. Herts; joined the Navy at the age of 18 in 1899, and served his full time, passing into the R.N.R. 19 Jan. 1914. On the outbreak of war he joined H.M.S. Cressy, and was lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914; unm.
FAIRES, WILLIAM, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3911), 194391, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FAIRS, ERNEST WILLIAM, Private, No. 9551, 5th Battn. (London Rifle Brigade) The London Regt. (T.F.), eldest s. of William Fairs, of 32, Beaconsfield Road, Croydon, Surrey, Joiner, by his wife, Ellen Sarah, dau. of Skillington Medwell; b. Banstead, co. Surrey, 15 Dec. 1895; educ. Sydenham Road Council Schools, Croydon, and was employed at Messrs. Giddy & Giddy, Regent Street, Auctioneers & Estate Agents; joined the London Rifle Brigade in Aug. 1913; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war, in Aug. 1914; went to France, 5 Nov. 1914, and was killed in action at Ypres, 3 May, 1915, and buried at Forturn; unm.
FAIRWEATHER, GEORGE, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 6889, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FAIRWEATHER, JOHN, 2nd Engineer, R.N.R., yst. s. of William Fairweather, Gas Engineer to the Corporation of Kilmarnock, by his wife, Marjory, dau. of Peter Young, of Glamis, Forfarshire; b. Kilmarnock, 25 Jan. 1887; educ. Kilmarnock Academy; served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Andrew, Barclay, Sons & Co., Ltd., taking his second certificate as a marine engineer, and gaining considerable experience not only in shipbuilding yards on the Clyde, but in the service of the British India Co. and the Red Star Line; he was afterwards engaged in transport service between Canada and Liverpool, and after the outbreak of war joined the Royal Naval Reserve at the end of Oct. 1914. He was posted to the Clan MacNaughton which left Birkenhead just after Christmas, 1914, on her first patrol. The last signal made by her was at an early hour on the morning of 3 Feb. following, and it is supposed, according to the Admiralty report, that she was lost during the bad weather which prevailed at that time. Fairweather was unm.
KEAY-FALCONER, WILLIAM, Jun., Lieut., 7th Battn. Princess Louise’s Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (T.F.), only s. of William Keay-Falconer, Clerk of Lieutenancy and Sheriff-Clerk and County Clerk of Kinross-shire, by his wife, Margaret More, dau. of James Thomson Morrison, of Coatbridge; b. Kinross, 29 Nov. 1894; educ. Edinburgh Academy (1907–13), where for the last two years he served in the O.T.C., and at the Institut Polyglotte, Namur; afterwards being employed in his father’s office. He was gazetted 2nd Lieut. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 20 Sept. 1913, and was promoted Lieut. 7 Sept. 1914. On the outbreak of war he immediately volunteered for service abroad, went to France with his regt. in Dec. following, and was killed while leading his men in a charge against the enemy, at Ypres, 25 April, 1915; unm. The Brigade of which his battn. was a unit had been called from a rest camp to help the Canadians whose flank was exposed through the troops acting with them having fallen back owing to gas. Col. Craig wrote: “While I was with the battn. in France I had many conversations with him on the subject of his work and have frequently remarked to Capt. Murdoch, and others who interested themselves in him, upon his coolness. He knew his work well, and was devoted to it. He didn’t know what fear was, and he seemed fully to realise the responsibility of his men’s comfort that rested upon him as a platoon commander, and the men were devoted to him.... I will never forget your son’s interest in his work, and his valuable services from the time of mobilisation in Aug. last till I left the battn. on 11 March.” Col. Carden who succeeded Col. Craig, wrote: “During the short time I have been in command of the battn. I had formed the highest opinion of your son’s military capabilities. He died bravely leading his men, and is mourned by all his brother officers”; and Capt. Murdoch: “Keay fell like a hero in front of his men.” Lieut. Keay-Falconer was a keen golfer, and a member of Edinburgh Academical Golf Club. He was also a prominent and enthusiastic member of Kinross Club, and held both the gold and silver medals for 1914. He spoke French fluently, and was consequently of much use to his comrades when abroad. Memorial brasses were erected to his memory in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Princes Street, Edinburgh, and in St. Paul’s Church, Kinross. The tablet in the former church was placed there by the children of the church to perpetuate Lieut. Keay-Falconer’s memory, as he was Warden of their special services during the greater part of his school days in Edinburgh. The last five words of the inscription on the brass sum up his character as the subscribers to the memorial knew it: “Gallant and true and tender.” The brass in St. Paul’s Church, Kinross, was dedicated by the Bishop of St. Andrews on 1 Feb. 1916.
FARDELL, HUBERT GEORGE HENRY, Lieut., 3rd, att. 2nd, Battn. East Surrey Regt., only child of Hubert Askew Fardell, of 16, Brechin Place, S.W., late Capt. 4th East Surrey Regt., by his wife, Henrietta Alice, dau. of Henry Woods, of Warnford Park, Hants; b. London, 7 July, 1895; educ. Eton (R. S. de Havilland’s House), where he was Sergt. in charge of G Coy. in the O.T.C.; left there on the outbreak of War to join the Inns of Court O.T.C., and was given a commission as 2nd Lieut. in the 3rd East Surrey Regt., 15 Aug. 1914, and promoted Lieut., 9 March, 1915; went to the Front, 23 Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Zonnebeke during the 2nd Battle of Ypres, 23 April, 1915. He was killed instantaneously, about 2.30 in the afternoon, whilst passing through a communication trench to see how one of his brother officers was faring as the shelling had been heavy. His servant wrote: “He was a very brave man, one of the bravest I’ve seen out of my seven months in the trenches.” He was buried in the graveyard by the ruined church just behind the firing lines. His C.O., Col. Shipley, wrote: “Your son showed such great promise of being a very capable officer and leader of men.” He had been intended for the Diplomatic Service, his strong intellect and quickness in acquiring foreign languages, clearly marking him out for such a career. “The Eton College Chronicle” of 20 May, 1915, said: “Mr. Fardell did well at Eton, both in school and on the river. He was in the boats, rowing in the Victory in 1914. He won Junior Sculling in 1913, and did well in School Sculling the following year. As a coach he had a wonderful power of getting the utmost out of a crew, and was an admirable captain of a football team. In fact, as a coach and as a leader he found the work that suited him. Had he lived he would undoubtedly have been a very valuable officer and a first-rate leader.”
FARMER, HORACE, Colour-Sergt., R.M.L.I., 6271A., (R.F.R., Ch. A. 640), H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FARMER, HENRY CHARLES MACLEAN, 2nd Lieut., 6th, attd. 4th, Battn. King’s Royal Rifle Corps, yr. s. of the Rev. James Edmund Gamul Farmer, Rector of Waddesdon with Upper Winchendon, Aylesbury, Bucks, by his wife, Margaret, dau. of Captain Charles Bampfield Yule, R.N.; b. Arundel Vicarage, co. Sussex, 8 Aug. 1892; educ. Summerfields, near Oxford; Eton (Mr. Ramsay’s House), and Trinity College, Cambridge; volunteered on the outbreak of war, and applied for a commission, and while waiting for it enlisted in the 3rd Dragoon Guards, 3 Sept. 1914; gazetted 2nd Lieut. 6th King’s R.R.C., 22 Sept. following; went to the Front in March, 1915, to join the 4th Battn. of his regt., and was killed in action near Ypres, 10 May, 1915. He was buried at the East Boundary of Bellewaarde Wood; unm. Col. Brownlow, K.R.R.C., wrote: “He worked hard down here (Sheerness) and was very keen to get to the Front”; and Capt. Field: “He was in my company the whole time he was at Sheerness, and King’s Ferry; a most excellent, cheery fellow, and a very conscientious, good, young officer.”
FARNDON, WILLIAM, Boy, 1st Class, J. 26735, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FARNSWORTH, JOHN, Private, No. 562, 4th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, 4th s. of Henry Farnsworth, of the Buck Hotel, High Street, Clay Cross, Wine and Spirit Merchant, by his wife, Margaret, dau. of Joseph Cutts, Builder & Contractor; b. High Street, Clay Cross, co. Derby, 3 Sept. 1880; educ. Board School, Clay Cross, and Collegiate School, Kettering; emigrated to N.S.W., Australia, 25 Sept. 1903, and worked for a year and a half in the copper mines at Cobar. He then took a position on the G.W. Ry. under his uncle, Mr. B. Farnsworth, Inspector of Permanent Way, which he held until war was declared in Aug. 1914. He immediately proceeded to Sydney, and joined the Australian Imperial Force, and was killed in action at Gaba Tepe, 2 May, 1915, while repelling an attack by the Turks on the Australian trenches; unm. Sergt.-Major E. H. Stone wrote the following description of the incident: “I daresay you read in the papers about our Coy. relieving the marines, and how our Major got his D.S.O. Well, for the next two days, the Turks were persistent in their attacks, and it was as much as we could do to beat them back. On the afternoon of 2 May, they made a very determined attack which lasted about two hours. We manned the parapet and fired into them as fast as we could load, and after we had beaten them back turned and found many of our own lads in the bottom of the trench, and among them, John, shot through the head—not a moments’ pain, thank God. We took them out to the back of the trenches and buried them and put up a large wooden cross over them. I can safely say there is not a man in the Battn. who is more regretted than John.”
FARQUHARSON, LEWIS SHAW, Capt., 1st Battn. Royal Scots, only s. of the Rev. Alexander Farquharson, of Spital, Aberdeenshire, and 41, Camden Square, London, N.W., by his wife, Mary Walker, dau. of Lewis Shaw, of Chesterfield; b. Chesterfield, co. Derby, 23 April, 1884; educ. Cottesmore, Charterhouse, and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut., 10 Oct. 1903, and promoted Lieut. 5 April, 1906, and Capt. 31 Aug. 1914; served in India successively as Station Staff Officer at Kamptee, and as A.D.C. to General Keir, and was Adjutant of the 1st Battn. from 28 Aug. 1911 to 28 Aug. 1914. He also had the honour, with Col. D. G. Wemyss, of being selected to represent the regt. as extra A.D.C. to the King in Calcutta, during the Durbar tour. On the outbreak of war Capt. Farquharson was in India, and he went to the Front with his Battn. early in 1915. He saw much fighting, went through the varying phases of the long and severely contested Second Battle of Ypres, and had different narrow escapes. On 11 May, 1915, when the British line had been broken and a trench captured, on his own initiative Capt. Farquharson led forward his company, from the reserve line, drove back the enemy, and regained and held the lost ground. For his promptness and gallantry on this occasion he received the special thanks of his C.O., and Gen. Allenby sent his congratulations for what he described as “a splendid and successful counter attack.” Early the following morning (12 May) while superintending fresh protections for the shattered trench, he was shot through the head and killed instantly. He was subsequently mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch [London Gazette, 1 Jan. 1916] for gallant and distinguished service in the field. He was buried in Valmertinghe Cemetery, near Ypres. Col. Callander wrote that the whole regt. mourned his loss and that Capt. Farquharson was in every sense, one of the best of the younger officers in the Army and the most sterling good fellow he had ever known. Gen. Sir John Keir also wrote saying that “his future as a soldier had been assured, and that his name would be honoured for all time.” At school and college he took many prizes and represented each of them at both cricket and football. He played cricket twice for All India.
FARR, JOHN, Seaman, R.N.R., 3525C, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FARRAR, SIR GEORGE HERBERT, 1st Bart., D.S.O., Col. and Assistant Q.M.-General, Central Force, Union Defence Forces, late Hon. Col. South African Light Horse, s. of the late Charles Farrar, of Chatteris, co. Cambridge, M.D., by his wife, Helen (The Crescent Lodge, Bedford), sister of Sir Frederick Howard, and dau. of John Howard; b. Chatteris, 17 June, 1859; educ. Bedford Modern School, and on leaving there entered the engineering business of his uncle Sir Frederick Howard, going in 1879 to South Africa to the Port Elizabeth and East London Branches. Eight years later he and his brothers established themselves at Johannesburg, where in a few years he became one of the leading men in the mining industry of the Witwatersrand. His chief enterprise was the formation of the East Rand Proprietary Mines, of which he was chairman from its inception to the day of his death. He was for some time a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Transvaal and Leader of the Opposition. For his share in the Jameson Raid he was tried for treason and sentenced to death, but the sentence was remitted on payment of a fine of £25,000. When the South African War broke out he raised two regts. of South African Horse, and was appointed Major, Kaffrarian Rifles, 1 Dec. 1900, and served in this campaign as Major on the Staff of the Colonial Division, 1899–1900. He took part in the operations in the Orange Free State, including the defence of Wepener; operations in the Transvaal, west of Pretoria, Aug. to Sept. 1900; operations in Orange River Colony 1900, including actions at Wittebergen (1–29 July), and in Cape Colony, south of the Orange River. His services were mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 16 April, 1901], and he was awarded the Queen’s medal with four clasps and the D.S.O. (1900). After the conclusion of peace in 1902 he took an active part in the work of re-organisation, and when Responsible Government was granted to the Transvaal, he was unanimously elected leader of the Progressive Party in the House of Assembly, in opposition to the Ministry of General Botha. In 1903 was elected President of the Witwatersrand Chamber of Mines, and took a leading part in the negotiations which led up to formation of the Union of South Africa. He had been knighted in 1902, and on 2 Feb. 1911 was created a Baronet for his services on this occasion. He was M.P. for Georgetown in the first Parliament of the Union of South Africa, 1910–11, but in Dec. 1911 business demands in connection with the East Rand Co. compelled him to retire from political work in order to devote his whole energies to the re-organisation of that enterprise. When the European War broke out he was in England on a visit and was about to join General Sir Hubert Hamilton’s Staff with the Army in Belgium, but the day before he was to have left he was ordered by the authorities to South Africa. On arrival he was appointed to General McKenzie’s Force with the rank of Col., and was despatched to German South-West Africa as Assistant Q.M.-General. Proceeding to Luderitz Bay in advance of the main force he was engaged in the organisation of the base camp, and subsequently had charge of the restoration of the railway and of providing the water supply to the force, an operation of primary importance in that country. On 19 May, 1915, he was returning from a tour of inspection when the motor trolley in which he was travelling collided with a construction train at Kuibis, near Gidson, German South-West Africa, and Sir George succumbed to his injuries early next morning. Sir George Farrar was one of the best-known men in South Africa, to whose advancement he had, by legislative work, by attention to mining progress, and to practical sympathy with agriculture, powerfully contributed. He m. at Johannesburg, 3 June, 1893, Ella Mabel (Chicheley Hall, Newport Pagnell, Bucks; Bedford Farm, near Johannesburg, Transvaal), dau. of the late Charles William Waylen, I.M.S., and had six daus.: Helen Mabel, b. 2 Oct. 1894; Muriel Frances, b. 6 April, 1896; Gwendoline, b. 14 July, 1897; Georgina Marjorie, b. 17 Aug. 1901; Kathleen Elizabeth, b. 9 May, 1907; and Ella Marguerite, b. 28 April, 1911.
FARRAR, JOHN, Private, No. 7725, 4th Battn. Durham Light Infantry, only s. of William Farrar, of Southwick-on-Wear, by his wife, Treaser, dau. of Matthew Crawford, of Sunderland; b. Southwick, co. Durham, 12 Aug. 1890; educ. St. Benett’s R.C. School, Monkwearmouth; enlisted in 1907 in the Special Reserve of the Durhams and was discharged in 1913, when he rejoined for another term and was called up on mobilisation, 5 Aug. 1914, went to France with the first Expeditionary Force, and was killed in France, 5 Dec. 1914, while on sentry duty; and was buried on a farm, Du-Bix; unm.
FARRAR, LUKE, Private, No. 10735, 2nd Battn. Durham Light Infantry, 4th s. of Luke Farrar, of Southwick-on-Wear, Shipyard Labourer, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of George Clark, of Southwick; b. Southwick, co. Durham, 25 July, 1884; was employed in Pickersgill’s Yard, Sunderland; enlisted 26 Sept., 1914; trained at South Shields; killed in action “somewhere” in France, 6 Feb. 1916, and was buried in Rotize Cemetery. He m. at Sunderland, 22 May, 1906, Mary Jane (4, Stoney Lane, Southwick-on-Wear), dau. of James Foster, of Sunderland, and had four children: Luke, Burliss, b. 8 June, 1912; James, b. 13 April, 1915; Sarah Elizabeth, b. 19 July, 1905; and Esther Jane, b. 13 Sept. 1908.
FARRER, JOHN EDWARD, Private, No. 7152, 2nd East Lancashire Regt., s. of John Edward Farrer; b. 28 Jan. 1879; educ. Brunswick Day School, Burnley; was a Weaver; enlisted after the outbreak of war, 18 Sept. 1914; went to France, 26 Dec. following, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 14 March, 1915. He was formerly a cornet player in the local Volunteers. He m. at Gannow, Burnley, 4 June, 1904, Clara (37, Haslam Street, Burnley), dau. of William Sagar, and had two children: William Edward, b. 5 Nov. 1905; and Hilda, b. 4 May, 1914.
FAUGHNAN, FRANCIS, Private, No. 2972, 2nd Battn. The Royal Scots, s. of John Faughnan, of Briskillbeg, Farmer, by his wife, Ellen, dau. of Patrick McAvey; b. Briskillbeg, Newtonforbes, co. Longford; educ. Cloonteagh National School, Newtonforbes; enlisted after the outbreak of war, and was killed in action on the Western front, 17 Nov. 1915; unm.
FAUGHNAN, PATRICK, Private, No. 2707, 1st Battn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, s. of John Faughnan, of Briskillbeg, Farmer, by his wife, Ellen, dau. of Patrick McAvey; b. Briskillbeg, Newtonforbes, co. Longford; educ. Cloonteagh National School, Newtonforbes; enlisted on the outbreak of war, and was killed in action on the Western front, 10 Oct. 1915; unm.
FAULKNER, VICTOR, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./16023, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FAULKS, PHILIP ALBERT, Boy, 1st Class, J. 27543 (Ports.), H.M.S. Hawke, s. of John Thomas Faulks, of 4, Cobden Street, Loughboro’; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FAWCETT, ROBERT HEATH, 2nd Lieut., 4th (Special Reserve), attached 1st, Battn. Bedfordshire Regt., eldest s. of Henry Heath Fawcett, of Berkhampsted, and of the War Office, by his wife, Colina, dau. of John Colin Sharp; b. Wimbledon, co. Surrey, 5 March, 1893; educ. Hillside, Godalming; Uppingham, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge (where he was an Exhibitioner, and a member of the O.T.C.); gazetted 2nd Lieut., 4th Battn. Bedfordshire Regt., 15 Aug. 1914; went to Flanders 10 April, 1915, where he was attached to the 1st Battn., and was killed in action near Ypres, 26 April, 1915; unm. He was buried at Zillebeke, near Ypres.
FAWLEY, FRANCIS HENRY BUCKLEY, Private, No. 1862, Honourable Artillery Company, s. of Henry John Buckley Fawley, of 35, Queen Elizabeth’s Walk, Stoke Newington, N., Journalist, by his wife, Emily, dau. of the late James (and Eliza) Smith, of Lordship Lane, Wood Green, N., formerly of Sittingbourne, Kent; b. Harringay, London, 16 Aug. 1895; educ. Finsbury Park College, London, was on the clerical staff of the Metropolitan Electric Tramways Company; joined the H.A.C. after the outbreak of the war in the beginning of Sept. 1914, went to France, 23 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action near Ypres, 15 May, 1915. He was buried in the grounds of the Chateau of Elzenwalle, near Voormezeele; unm. His Sergt. wrote: “He was killed on the night of the 15th inst. He lived for some hours after he was struck, and was quite conscious when I last saw him.... His pluck was wonderful; he knew he was mortally wounded yet possessed himself like the gentleman and man he was; never giving a sign of any pain—his main concern being for the safety of his comrades.... We all liked him and shall miss him greatly.”
FAY, WALTER EDWARD, Rifleman, No. 2407, 18th Battn. (London Irish Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), s. of the late James Charles Fay (died 13 Nov. 1915), by his wife, (—) (79, Limerstone Road, King’s Road, Chelsea, S.W.); b. Fulham, S.W., 24 July, 1894; educ. St. Mark’s College, Chelsea; enlisted after the outbreak of war 2 Sept. 1914, and died of wounds received in action at the Battle of Loos, 27 Sept. 1915; unm.
FEATHERSTONE, ALFRED CHARLES, Rifleman, No. 2472, 1/8th (Leeds Rifles) Battn. West Yorkshire Regt. (T.F.), eldest s. of Alfred Charles Featherstone, of West Normans, Park Avenue, Castleford, by his wife, Jane Harriet, dau. of Alfred Watson, of East Hardwicks, Yorks; b. Castleford, co. York, 30 April, 1891; educ. King’s School, Pontefract; entered the employ of the London City and Midland Bank at Morley, Yorkshire, when 16, and at the outbreak of the war was holding the post of Assistant Cashier. He enlisted 21 Sept. 1914; sailed for France, 15 April, 1915, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 12 May, 1915, and was buried in Rue de Bacquerot, France; unm. His officer wrote: “He was one of the most popular men in the company, and we all feel his loss very keenly.”
FEATHERSTONE, CECIL FREDERICK, Lieut., 3rd, attached 2nd, Battn. East Surrey Regt., eldest s. of Frederick Featherstone, of Mount Pleasant, Plough Lane, Purley, member of London Stock Exchange, by his wife, Minnie Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas W. Dean; b. Lewisham, 13 Feb. 1897; educ. Holmwood, Bexhill-on-Sea (1906–1910), where in 1907 he joined the School Cadet Corps, which was affiliated with the 2nd Home Counties Royal Engineers (T.F.). In 1911 he went to Dover College, where he won prizes in English, Latin, and other subjects, and joined the O.T.C., in which he had reached the rank of Sergt., when gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battn. of the East Surreys, 16 Dec. 1914. Joining his regt in Jan. he left for France on 20 March, 1915, was attached for a while to C Coy. 1st Battn. Dorsetshire Regt., and later transferred for duty to the 2nd Battn. East Surrey Regt., being confirmed in his rank as 2nd Lieut. 9 April, 1915. He was killed in action, being shot through the heart while bravely leading his men in the repulse of the German attack on the British trenches near Ypres, 25 April, 1915. He was buried in the Officer’s Graveyard, 1½ miles east of Zonnebeke; unm. Sergt. Buckingham, of the East Surreys, gave the following graphic account of the incidents from 17 to 27 April: “Our headquarters were at Zonnebeke, near Ypres. About 3 p.m. on the 17th an order was given to pack up and move. There was some heavy shelling at the time, and it took about one hour to get everything on to the transport. We were then given another 150 rounds ammunition to carry and about 4.30 the order to move was given. We took a road to the left of Ypres. Our company officer, Capt. Fuller, was sick, so he was not with us, but Lieut. Rottman took charge. We had only three officers—Lieuts. Rottman, Featherstone and Ward—and we reached our destination, about a mile from Langemark, about 7 p.m. We were then under heavy shell fire. A, B and C Companies were put into position and we were to be the supports. We were in position all that night, but nothing happened. As it was getting daylight we retired a bit further back—this was the 18th—but had to stand to nearly all day as there was heavy rifle fire and shells. About 5 p.m. we pushed forward, going through the Canadians and some French infantry who had been pushed back, and we had to retake their trenches, which we did without much trouble. The French were made secure and got their trenches, and we took the Canadian’s and had orders to stop in them. We worked all night repairing the breastworks with sandbags, the officers and sergts. relieving one another for a rest. At dawn on the 19th the enemy started with their trench mortars, which were dropping just in rear of our trenches. We were expecting a big shelling then, but they must have been laying their guns or had brought more up for we were only getting a shell here and there and were pretty quiet and remained so until the afternoon of the 20th. From the 17th to the 20th we had no casualties amongst the officers and not many men. On the afternoon of the 20th the bombardment started, but they did not have a good range that day. At night the Middlesex brought our rations up and a working party, who made us a bit stronger. They left us about 3 a.m. on the 21st. Toward dawn we were bombarded again, this time a little closer. As it got lighter we saw about half a dozen German aeroplanes coming towards our trenches, they flew up and down dropping smoke bombs, and the shells were dropping all round us, so we had to lay close up to the parapets. Here we stayed all day, this night—21st, or rather early 22nd—no rations could be brought to us and no working party, so we dug ourselves right in as messages came that we were to hold on at all cost. We still had all our officers. As day dawned it was a bit quiet. That night we had our rations and hot soup brought up and were told we were going to be relieved the next night, 23rd. On the morning of the 23rd it was still quiet, but about 3 p.m. they started something terrible, only taking our regiment. They were then using gas shells and breaking our parapets and shelling the roads. Again a message came to hold on and that we would not be relieved, we then lost a few men. This lasted all day. On the early morning of the 24th Lieut. Fardell was killed, and gas was used all day. Lieut. Featherstone got some handkerchiefs and soaked them with water and handed them around and we lost about 40 men that day. As night came on, I think it was about 2 a.m. on the 25th. Mr. Featherstone, who was then taking his rest, came, and he looked very upset, and said to me: ‘Poor Mr. Rottman is killed.’ I said: ‘I am very sorry to hear that,’ and went and had a look at him. I came back and he was still standing, and I and Sergt. Lower said: ‘Why don’t you go and finish your rest, we will come and let you know if anything is wrong.’ So he went, but he did not stop long as it was getting on time to stand to arms, so we stood, and when it was light they sent shells in front of our trench and smashed the barbed wire, therefore we knew that they were going to attack, and while we were getting ready a shell struck the parapet, and me and Mr. Featherstone had the sandbags over us. We got out of that and laughed at one another. As it went on the parapets were being blown to bits, so an order came to get the men to the right and at some parts we had to crawl. Sergt. Lower led the way and Mr. Featherstone and I saw every man safe. It was while we were crawling past a gap in the parapet a piece of shell struck me, I did not stop, but he saw I was hit and said: ‘Are you all right? I said: ‘Yes, come on.’ We got past the gap and he said: ‘Where are you hit?’ I thought it was my arm and dropped my rifle. He picked it up and said: ‘We must get out of this,’ and we went on a bit and found we were in the Northumberlands and stayed there, and then the enemy were in our trenches. I had had my shoulder dressed and the order to spread out came. I then saw Mr Featherstone had lost his hat and getting close up to him I said, ‘the supports are driving them out so they were all shouting hurrah.’ Mr. Featherstone was then firing out of my rifle and I gave him another clip. I then saw him go up a little way further and fall. He was struck by a bullet and we sent for the stretcher bearers. He was then dead.” The Adjutant of his Battn. wrote to his father: “Like all our young officers he carried out his duty to the end and by his example the men remained steadfast and the trenches were held in spite of poisonous gases and rifle and shell fire. We have been so fortunate in having such good officers that the battn. has earned special praise from all, and General French thanked us yesterday for the work of 25 April, during which your son fell”; and a subaltern: “2nd Lieut. Featherstone was killed during the German attack on 25 April under circumstances which proved him a very brave officer. The enemy having got all round us our men were firing in all directions, generally at no particular object as often happens in times of excitement. It was in trying to stop the men wasting their munitions that Lieut. Featherstone was twice wounded. He still continued, however, to calm his men till he was shot in the heart by a stray bullet.” While at Holmwood School, Lieut. Featherstone was a sapper and shot in the School XI, winning the Sheffield Trophy on outdoor competition, at 200 and 500 yards with the service rifle; he also shot in the team for the Holman Cup, an indoor competition at 20 yards. At Dover College he was in the 1st Football XI, as well as playing cricket; and shot for his school at Bisley in 1913 in the Cadet pairs, likewise in the Team of the Ashburton Shield in 1914. Lieut. Featherstone was promoted Lieut. subsequent to his death.
FEE, SAMUEL, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 7543), S.S. 102801, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
FEE, SAMUEL, Corpl., No. 12808, 10th (Service) Battn. Highland L.I., 3rd s. of Robert Fee, of 33, Muslin Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow, Slater’s Labourer, by his wife, Lily, dau. of (—) Arnell; b. Bridgeton, Glasgow, 19 June, 1892; educ. Hozier Street Public School there; was a Miner, Old Farm Colliery, Rutherglen; enlisted 17 Aug. 1914; went to France in May, 1915, and was killed in front of the parapet during the advance at Loos, 25 Sept. 1915; unm. The Coy. Sergt.-Major wrote that “he was a good soldier and N.C.O.”
FEE, WILLIAM JOHN, Bugler. R.M.A., 11537, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FEENEY, THOMAS, Leading Signaller, 220726, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FEGAN, WILLIAM PATRICK, Sergt., No. 26519, 14th Battn. (Royal Montreal), Canadian Expeditionary Force, yst. s. of Francis Fegan, of Waggarandall, near Melbourne, Australia, Landowner, by his wife, Mary, dau. of (—) Homer; b. Major Plains, Melbourne, 29 Jan. 1877, and was educ. at Dookie College, near Melbourne. He was surveying in South Africa when the Boer War began; he immediately joined the Victorians, and served through that campaign, 1899–1902, being wounded twice and receiving the Queen’s and King’s medals. He then became an expert for the International Co., of Buenos Ayres, and went round the world eight times for them, and after some seven years at Buenos Ayres went to Canada where he was in Aug. 1914, when the European War was declared. He at once volunteered; enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force; came over with the first contingent in Oct. 1914; went to France Feb. 1915, and was killed in action near Wulverghem, 27 Nov. 1915. His company officer, Capt. Whitehead, wrote: “Your husband was one of the finest men I ever met, and one of my most reliable N.C.O.’s, and his loss will be felt very heavily: he was killed almost instantly, the bullet entering the base of the neck, and passing through the body”; and Lieut. Gordon Leighton: “I can bear a few words of testimony of his courage and worth, having been associated with him since his arrival in France. He was a brave and soldierly man. He had been through some very trying times with us, but never lost his coolness and courage in the face of the gravest danger and difficult situations. Moreover he had voluntarily undertaken work he knew was of a dangerous character. I personally, and I think all the officers of the company, regret exceedingly the loss of Sergt. Fegan, as we feel we have lost a man who was far above the average and whose soldierly worth was invaluable.” He m. at St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church, Fitzroy, Melbourne, 10 June, 1911, Kathleen, sister of Private Arthur Moore, 5th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, who died of wounds received in action at the Dardanelles, 29 Feb. 1916 (see his notice), and dau. of Henry Albert Moore, of Park House, Whatley, near Frome, Somerset, and had two children: William Ernest Patrick, b. 10 Jan. 1913; and Kathleen Joan Florence, b. 5 Oct. 1915.
FEILDEN, GRANVILLE JOHN HENRY, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Seaforth Highlanders, only s. of Major Granville Cholmondeley Feilden, D.S.O., late Seaforth Highlanders, now commanding the London Division of the Corps of Commissionaires (who served through the South African War, wounded at Paardeberg, 18 Feb. 1900, Queen’s medal three clasps, King’s medal two clasps), and his wife, Edith Margaret, 2nd dau. of the late Sir Henry Cockburn MacAndrew, of Aisthorpe, Inverness; b. Drummuie House, Golspie, co. Sutherland, 27 Aug. 1895; educ. the New Beacon, Sevenoaks, Wellington College (“Blucher”), and Sandhurst (Prize Cadet) and on passing out from the last was gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders, 12 Aug. 1914, and was ordered to join the 3rd Battn. at Cromarty on the 25 Aug. On 12 Sept. he went to France with a draft joining the 2nd Battn. on the Aisne. He moved from there with the 4th Division in the middle of Oct. to the Belgian frontier, and took part in the severe fighting around Frehlingham and Messines during the end of October and beginning of November, and spent five months with his regt. in the trenches near Messines. He came home on a week’s leave in Feb., returning to his regt. on the 10th of that month, and was killed in action on Sunday, 25 April, 1915, during the attack on St. Julien, in the second Battle of Ypres. His C.O. wrote: “You know how your son was loved by us all, he was so brave, so gallant, so cheery, and beloved by his men.... On the morning of 25 April I reached the right of the line about 9 a.m., and was close to your son when he was killed.... We have lost many gallant officers, but none more gallant than your son”; and the second in Command: “We advanced at dawn on Sunday, 25 April. The old Corps were as steady as ever.... our losses were very severe. Your son was killed instantaneously while doing his duty most well and gallantly.... We were all so fond of him, he was an absolutely first-class officer with any amount of initiative and ‘go’.” A fellow subaltern also wrote: “I was with John most of the night of the 24th and 25th, and he was very cheery then and full of spirits. I did not see him in the actual attack until we were about 40 yards from the German trenches, when he helped me to straighten out the company behind a defensive position. I was hit then, so did not see him again.” He was buried at Burnt Farm on the left of the St. Jean-St. Julien Road, with four of his brother officers, including the Capt. of his company.
FELLOWES. ARTHUR ROSS, Private, No. 6/226, 12th Nelson Regt., Canterbury Battn., New Zealand Expeditionary Force, s. of Robert Ross Fellowes, of Stoke, Nelson, New Zealand; b. Takaku, Nelson, 14 Sept. 18..; educ. at Wakefield, Nelson; volunteered on the outbreak of war, leaving home to join up 12 Aug. 1914; left for Egypt with the Main Force in Oct., took part in the repulse of the Turkish attack on the Suez Canal in Feb. 1915, and in the landing at the Dardanelles, 25 April, and was killed in action near Gabe Tepe, between 25 April and 1 May, 1915, being shot by a sniper; unm. As a school cadet and in Egypt he proved himself a remarkably good shot, winning several prizes. He was the first Wakefield man to fall in action.
FELLOWES, WILLIAM JOHN, Sick Berth Steward, 350884, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
FELTHAM, ARTHUR, Signalman, J. 14117, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.
FENDLEY, JOHN ROBERT, Leading Stoker (R.F.R., B. 5634), 284849, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FENERAN, FRANK EDWARD, Capt., 1st Battn. King’s Liverpool Regt., 2nd s. of the late Lieut.-Col. Edward Feneran, 1st Northamptonshire Regt, (who served in the Crimea), by his wife, Caroline Elizabeth, dau. of the late Charles Herring-Cooper, and gdson. of Col. Francis Feneran, Derbyshire Regt. (who served at Waterloo); b. Kensington, 23 April, 1881; educ. privately and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted to the King’s Liverpool Regt., 12 Aug. 1899, and was promoted Lieut. 21 July, 1900, and Capt. 18 Sept. 1909. From April 1904 to April 1907, he was Ordnance Officer (4th class) and in 1911 was appointed Adjutant to the Special Reserve. He passed the school of signalling and in 1914 the examination for the Staff College. On the outbreak of the European War, he went to France with his regiment, Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 10 Mar. 1915, while leading his men; unm. A brother officer, writing to Lord Derby, graphically described the heroism of the Liverpool Regt. at Neuve Chapelle, stating A Coy. was commanded by Capt. Feneran, who was killed leading his men, adding that he was a very sad loss indeed to the Regt. in which he had spent his life, but that his was a gallant end. Capt. Feneran was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 31 May [London Gazette, 22 June], 1915.
FENN, DAVID, Private, 10906, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, s. of Harry Fenn, of 36, Leader Road, Hillsboro’, Sheffield; b. co. York; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action at Richebourg, 2 April, 1915. Buried Rue des Berreaux, Bethune.
FENNELL, JOHN, Chief Petty Officer (R.F.R., A. 907), 121737, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FENNESY, RICHARD, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R., B. 603), H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914].
FENWICK, BASIL MIDDLETON, Sergt., No. 109, A Squadron, 10th West Australian Light Horse, only s. of Charles Richard Fenwick, of Ben Rhydding, Yorks, and 26, Park Row, Leeds, M. Inst. C.E., F.S.I., by his wife, Margaret, dau. of William Middleton, Solicitor; b. Pool, co. York, 3 Sept. 1885; educ. Haileybury College; went to West Australia in 1909 to the Murchison Goldfield; volunteered on the outbreak of War in Aug. 1914, and joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force; left for Egypt in Feb. 1915, went to the Dardanelles; volunteered for special duty on 30 May, 1915, in the counter attack at Quinn’s Post, was there wounded and invalided into Hospital at Alexandria, being mentioned by his C.O., Maj. Thomas J. Todd, in his report; was promoted Sergt. June or July; returned to duty at Anzac in Aug. and was killed in action there a few days later, 7 Aug. 1915, on Russell’s Top, in the attack on the Turkish position at Walker’s Ridge. In this terrible charge some 700 men were killed in the course of a few minutes. Major Todd wrote, 22 Oct. 1915: “It may be a consolation to know that your son was specially mentioned for conspicuous bravery and I had him picked out for a commission, he was indeed a fine soldier.” Sergt. Arundel in hospital told a friend: “Sergt. Fenwick was one of the bravest, finest men on the Peninsula, a born soldier—a hero—he first distinguished himself at Quinn’s Post, bomb throwing in the most extraordinary brave way. He picked up and returned live bombs thrown by the Turks.” Trooper Sydney G. E. Robson wrote, 2 Oct. 1915: “In the charge at Quinn’s Post (30 May) we were side by side. Here your son showed great courage, he was first over the parapet, his coolness and initiative in the captured Turks’ trench undoubtedly saved our lives.” Major Love asked for names to be mentioned for distinction, a memorial was signed by the survivors, unanimously Basil Fenwick’s was voted. Lieut.-Gen. Sir Alexander Godley, C.B., K.C.M.G., also wrote: “I understand that he was looked upon by his comrades and officers as a particularly fine soldier and an exceptionally brave man.”
FENWICK, FREDERICK RICHARD WILLIAM, L.-Corpl., No. 11044, s. of John Fenwick, of 85, Oriel Street, Hirst Ashington, Northumberland; b. Durham; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action at Givenchy, 22 Dec. 1914, aged 22.
FEREDAY, THOMAS HAROLD, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 10391), 108085, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FERG, EDWARD CHARLES, Private, No. 840, 8th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, 2nd s. of Fannin Ferg (born in Germany, went to Canada at the age of five), by his wife Sarah (Monkton, Ontario, Canada), dau. of William Blighton, of Newark, England; b. Elma Township, Perth co., P. Ontario, 23 July, 1887; educ. local Public School; was a Locomotive Engineer; joined 90th Winnipeg Rifles, in Aug. 1914, after the outbreak of War; left Canada with the 1st Contingent, and was killed in action at Langemarck, 22 April, 1915; unm. He was buried at St. Julien, near Ypres.
FERGUSON, JAMES, Private, No. 10202, 2nd Battn. Scots Guards, s. of James Ferguson, of 43, Lorburn Street, Dumfries; enlisted 4 Sept. 1914, aged 19; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action, 16 May, 1915; unm.
FERGUSON, JOHN, Private, No. 3361, 2nd Battn. The Royal Scots. 2nd s. of the late Thomas Ferguson, Wool Factory Worker, by his wife, Mary (16, Lothian Street, Hawick), dau. of John Watts; b. Weensland, Hawick, co. Roxburgh, 20 Sept. 1879; educ. Trinity School there; worked on North British Railway, enlisted 10 Sept., 1914, went to the front 10 Oct. 1914, and was killed in action at Petite La Bloise, near Kemmel, Belgium, 14 Dec. 1914; unm.
FERGUSON, MATTHEW, Private, No. 11699, 1st Battn. Highland L.I.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action at Neuve Chapelle 11–18 March, 1915.
FERGUSON, PETER, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 10201), 298040, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
FERGUSON, ROBERT, Private, No. 7060, 1st Battn. Highland L.I.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action at Richebourg, 17–23 May, 1915; m.
FERGUSON, WILLIAM, Private, No. 13355, 11th (Service) Battn. Royal Scots (Lothian Regt.); served with the Expeditionary Force in France; killed in action, 27 Sept. 1915.
FERGUSON, WILLIAM, Private, No. 1799, 10th (Service) Battn. Highland Light Infantry, eldest s. of the late Archibald Ferguson, Electric Crane Driver, by his wife, Helen (106, Green Street, Calton, Glasgow), dau. of the late William Thompson; b. Calton, 26 Nov. 1894; educ. Campbellfield Public School, Glasgow; was employed as machine man with Singers, Clydebank; enlisted 15 Dec. 1914; went to France in May, 1915; volunteered as a bomb thrower, and was killed at the Battle of Loos, 25 Sept. 1915, when in advance with a bombing party; unm. He is believed to have been buried at Cambrin.
FERGUSSON, JAMES ADAM HAMILTON, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Highland L.I., 4th s. of Sir James Ranken Fergusson, of Spitalhaugh, co. Peebles, 2nd Bt., J.P., by his wife, Alice Fanny, dau. of the late John Price Simpson; b. London, 22 March, 1892; educ. Ardvreck, Crieff, Winchester College, and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Highland L.I., 14 Feb. 1912, was promoted Lieut. June or July, 1914, went to France with his regt., Aug. 1914, and was killed at the Battle of the Aisne, 20 Sept. 1914, being shot through the forehead after rising from assisting a wounded man; unm. He was a good golfer, a keen sportsman, and a most dutiful son.
FERGUSSON, ROBERT FRANK, Lieut., 1/5th Battn. Royal Scots Fusiliers (T.F.), elder s. of David Fergusson, of 7, Park Terrace, Ayr, Scotland, Bachelor of Laws, Solicitor, by his wife, Mary K., dau. of the late Andrew Galloway, of Ayr; b. Ayr, 6 April, 1893; educ. Ayr Academy, and Glasgow University; served his apprenticeship with his father, and afterwards completed it in the office of Messrs. Russell & Duncan, Solicitors, 105, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, with whom he was when the war broke out. During the two years he was in Glasgow he completed his law course for the B.L. degree and had passed three of his examinations. He received his commission, 1 Sept. 1914; was promoted Lieut. on the 30th of that month; left with his regt. for the Dardanelles on 20 May, 1915, and was killed in action there, 12 July, 1915; unm. Lieut.-Col. J. B. Pollok M’Call, Commanding the 5th Battn., wrote: “Whilst leading his men about 4 p.m. on 12th July he was struck in the heart. He was immediately carried down and at once attended to by our doctor. The doctor told me he was afraid he had no chance, as he feared a large blood-vessel was severed. Your son was sent on to try and get him to hospital, but he died on the way down, three hours after he was hit. He was partly conscious, but I do not think he suffered. He had been in the thick of the fight since early morning, and had done splendidly. I feel his loss to the 1/5th greatly. We buried him next day, and put a cross on his grave.” Capt. Cook also wrote: “He was killed on the 12th inst., in an action lasting from the 11th to the 15th. He did his part right nobly, leading his men across an open space of 200 yards amidst shell, rifle, and machine-gun fire. He reached his objective with few losses owing to his vigour and determination and the inspiring example he set his men. But unfortunately while busy with the work of reversing and consolidating the captured trench, he was struck down with shrapnel which at this stage was continuous. All was done that could be to make him comfortable and when night began to fall we had him taken back over the open to a dressing station where he received skilled aid, but he died the same evening. He was a gallant officer and a fine comrade and his loss is greatly deplored by all ranks.”
FERNS, HAROLD JOHNSON, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3516), 196242, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FERRAND, HERBERT HAROLD, Coy. Sergt.-Major, No. 6, 4th Battn. East Yorkshire Regt. (T.F.), only s. of Thomas Watson Ferrand, of 6, West View, Grove Street, Beverley Road, Hull, Plumber, by his wife, Sarah Nicholls, dau. of the late John Fayers, of Hull; b. Hull, co. York, 15 May, 1876; educ. St Paul’s School, Hull, and on leaving there entered the employ of the Yorkshire Fire and Life Insurance Co., Lowgate, in which he held a responsible post at the time of his death. He joined the 1st V.B. East Yorkshire Regt. April, 1894; volunteered for service in South Africa, 8 March, 1900, and served there for one year and 92 days, receiving the Queen’s medal with four clasps, and after his return was for a long time Signal Instructor (Aldershot certificate, 31 Aug. 1903). On the outbreak of the European War, his regiment were at Camp at Deganway, they were ordered home, and went straight into training at Darlington and later at Newcastle, and from there went to the Front, 18 April, 1915. He came safely through the night attack at Ypres, on Saturday the 25th, and was killed by shrapnel on Sunday, 26 April, 1915; unm. He had the King’s T.F. medal for efficiency.
FERRIS, CORNELIUS PERCY SPARLING, Petty Officer, Tel. 178611, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
MOCKLER-FERRYMAN, HUGH, Lieut., 2nd Battn. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire L.I., elder s. of Lieut.-Col. Augustus Ferryman Mockler-Ferryman, of St. John’s House, Tavistock, Devon, late Oxfordshire L.I., by his wife, Evelyn, dau. of the late Sir Charles Whitehead; b. Maidstone, co. Kent, 3 May, 1892; educ. St. Neots, Eversley, Wellington College, and Sandhurst; received his commission as 2nd Lieut., 20 Sept. 1911, and was promoted Lieut., 27 April, 1914; went to France with his regt., on the outbreak of war; took part in the retreat from Mons, the Battles of the Marne and the Aisne, and was killed in action near La Soupir, 16 Sept. 1914, by a shell which burst in the middle of his company, killing and wounding several officers and men. He and two of his brother officers were buried that night in the churchyard of La Soupir; unm. A senior officer wrote: “The whole regt. mourns the loss of one of its best and most popular officers. You would be proud if you could hear the way in which the N.C.O.’s and men speak of him”; while a Corpl. in his company described him in a letter home as “a thorough sportsman, liked by everyone, and loved by his company.” Lieut. Mockler-Ferryman, who was a good cricketer and an excellent bowler, played for Berkshire County, Wellington College, and the Aldershot Command. In Switzerland, where he spent his winter leave, he came rapidly to the front as a curler, and in his last season as the youngest “skip” he contributed largely to Villars victories. He was a good shot and a keen fisherman.
FESTER, WILLIAM ERNEST, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 7345), 224906, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FETHERSTONE, ROSS LEA, Private, No. 108219, 3rd Canadian Mounted Rifles, s. of Walter Fetherstone; b. North Bay, Ontario, Canada, 25 Nov. 1890; educ. Calgary, Alberta; joined the C.E.F. March, 1915, and died at Etaples, 30 Nov. 1915, of pneumonia, contracted while on active service. He m. at Akotoks, Alberta, 18 March, 1911, Kathleen (2060, Hamilton Street, Regina, Sask.), dau. of (—) Tabor, and had two children: Ernest Joseph, b. 18 Dec. 1913; and Sylvia Ethel, b. 3 Dec. 1911.
FFIELD, BERNARD OSBORNE, Flight Sub-Lieut., R.N., eldest s. of Bernard Ffield, of the Old Bank House, Coleshill, Warwickshire, Manufacturer, by his wife, Beatrice, elder dau. of the late William Hays, of Nevern Square, S.W., and Kilcraggan, co. Kilkenny; b. London, 17 Aug. 1894; educ. Wimbledon College; gazetted Sub-Lieut. R.N.A.S., 9 Sept. 1914, and received his brevet from the Royal Aero Club on 10 Dec. following. On 24 Dec. 1914 he was coming down from a height of about 2,000 ft. after a good flight, at the Royal Naval Air Station, Hendon, when, at about 200 ft. from the ground, the machine was seen to take a sudden vertical dive to earth, and was so smashed that it was impossible to ascertain what had gone wrong. He died the same evening, Christmas Eve, after receiving the last rites of his Church; unm. A senior brother officer wrote of him: “He was quite the best of all the others who had gained their certificates some three weeks before him. I watched most of his flights as I had to look after the flying. He was one of the neatest men I have seen; he was so beautifully gentle with his hands, and that is one of the secrets of a good pilot.”
FFITCH, HARRY HERBERT, Lieut., 1st Canterbury Regt., New Zealand Expeditionary Force, s. of Henry Ffitch, of 34, Glandovey Road, Fendaton, New Zealand, Farmer, by his wife, Florence, dau. of George Dunnage; b. Springfield, New Zealand, 28 July, 1888; educ. High School, Christchurch; was a Lieut. in the New Zealand Territorial Force; passed his examination for Capt. 6 Oct. 1913, and on the outbreak of war volunteered for foreign service, and was gazetted Lieut. 14 Sept. 1914. He was killed in action at the landing at Gabe Tepe, 26 April, 1915. Sergt.-Major F. G. Hall-Jones, in describing the action in which Lieut. Ffitch met his death, wrote: “You will have read how we landed in the morning of 25 April, and advancing over a shrapnel-swept hill, were split up into small groups of tens and twenties. I took a small party to where reinforcements appeared to be urgently needed, and this locality appeared to be the apex of the triangle (based on the beach) which formed our front. It was, I think, a little to the right of what subsequently became Quinn’s Post, and I understand that the exact position subsequently became a ‘no man’s land,’ untenable by either friend or foe. The fire all the afternoon was very hot, the Turks having been reinforced, and the Australian officer (Capt. Leer) withdrew us from the scrub-covered open to the crest a few yards back, and met his death in so doing. At dusk, the fire ceasing somewhat, we again advanced, brought in the wounded, and endeavoured to keep the Turks from advancing up the other side of the hill; but eventually they outflanked us, and we again sought the crest and dug in. It was then that I first saw your son, although he was probably there all the afternoon, and gave him a message that our Major Dawson (3rd Auckland Coy.) wished to confer with him. The plans hastily improvised by these two undoubtedly saved the situation, and incidentally prevented the Turks from piercing our lines and firing down the big gully (Shrapnel Gully) behind us. The tactics adopted were: Dig in, send forward occasional scouts and organise small flanking parties. You will understand that our small party, consisting of 50 to 80 men, drawn from various Australian and New Zealand battns., was quite ‘in the air’ at the apex of the triangle, and the Turks were able to fire at us from three directions. Your son organised a party on our right flank in such a way that they not only prevented the enemy from troubling us from that quarter, but also enfiladed a body of Turks attacking our men 500 yards away. Let the facts speak their own tribute. The Turks advanced to the crest—they must have been at least 300 strong—and dug in only 20 yards away. Their jabbering was consistent throughout the night; they even talked to isolated units of our men, said they were Indians, and passed us false words of command. We fired rapidly the whole night through, and deceiving them as to our numbers prevented them from charging. I cannot even now remember with equanimity our condition—exhausted, cold, and over-strained—desirous only of hurling ourselves at the enemy and ending the tension one way or another. Mr. Dawson and Mr. Ffitch passed along frequently during the night with words of advice, encouragement and restraint, and I realised later their good sense in preventing us from charging. Had we gone forward we should have been wiped out. At dawn the Turks sent small parties creeping forward in the scrub, and we continually jumped up and took a pot shot at them. In this your son excelled, and the word was occasionally whispered near me, ‘Ffitch has got another one.’ I understand that he accounted for six that morning. Then, after another shot, he ejaculated, ‘Missed him,’ re-loaded, and jumped up to fire again. But the enemy was waiting, and even as he took aim a bullet cut through the belt of his wrist-watch, entered his cheek and killed him instantaneously. But his example and the spirit he had inspired in us did not pass with him, and by adopting his tactics we succeeded in beating back wave after wave of the enemy during that exhausting morning until a large party of Australians relieved us.”
FIDDES, JAMES WILLIAM DICK, Private, No. 8/783, 10th North Otago Coy. Otago Infantry Battn. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 2nd s. of J. Fiddes, of Duntroon, Otago, New Zealand, by his wife, Margaret; volunteered for Imperial Service on the outbreak of war; left for Egypt in Oct.; took part in the landing at the Dardanelles, 25 April, 1915, and died of wounds received in action there, 8 May, following; unm.
FIELD, EDWARD WILLIAM, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4765), 293724, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FIELD, FRANCIS HENRY, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 1629), 198808, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FIELD, STEPHEN, Capt., Royal Army Medical Corps, only surviving s. of the late George Purdey Field, M.R.C.S., Aural Surgeon to St. Mary’s Hospital, London, and for 15 years Dean of the Medical School, by his wife, Pauline (By-the-Brook, Mortimer West End), dau. of Robert Faulder White; b. London, W., 16 April, 1880; educ. Mr. Hall’s School, Potters Bar, co. Herts; Framlingham, and Harrow, and St. Mary’s Medical School; gazetted Lieut. R.A.M.C., 28 Jan. 1907, and was promoted Capt. 28 July, 1910; served in Jamaica, Somaliland (medal), and with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders; was taken prisoner during the retreat from Mons, and died at the Prisoners’ Camp, Wittenberg, Saxony, 10 April, 1915, from typhus fever, contracted while tending soldiers ill of the disease. He m. in London, Margaret, dau. of (—) Price, and had a son and a dau.: Stephen, b. 15 Aug. 1906; and Stephanie Margaret, b. 15 Aug. 1904.
FIELDER, ALBERT EDWARD, Leading Stoker, Coastguard, 299691 (Po.), H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FIELDER, GEORGE WILLIAM, Private, No. 2197, 1/5th Battn. King’s Own Yorkshire L.I. (T.F.), eldest s. of George William Fielder, now serving as Mate in the Navy on H.M. Patrol Ships; b. Goole, co. York, 15 April, 1895; educ. Alexander Street Council School there; enlisted March, 1914; went to France, and was killed in action in Flanders, 9 July, 1915. Buried in Poperinghe; unm. His comrade spoke of him as “the Little man with the Big heart.”
FILLEUL, LEONARD AMAURI, B.A. Oxon., 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. Somerset L.I., attd. to the Oxford and Bucks L.I., 2nd s. of the Rev. Philip William Girdlestone Filleul, Rector of Alfold, Billingshurst, Sussex, late Rector of Devizes, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of (—) Rodway and niece of Rowland Rodway, Adcroft, Trowbridge; b. Bath, 6 Feb. 1888, and was educ. Cleveland House, Weymouth; Trent College, Derbyshire; and Lincoln College, Oxford. He was in the University O.T.C., and rowed four years in his College Eight, and the last year in the winning trial Eight, and on leaving Oxford in 1911, became a master at Monkton Combe School, Bath. The same year he became attached to the 3rd Battn. Somerset L.I. as supplementary officer, and on the outbreak of war volunteered for foreign service, and after a short period of training with the Somerset Special Reserve Battn., Plymouth, was sent to the Front, 25 Sept., with a draft of the Oxford and Bucks. L.I. He was killed in action near St. Julien during the first Battle of Ypres, 21 Oct. 1914, and was buried midway between St. Julien and Poelcappelle, on the Ypres-St. Jean-Poelcappelle Road; unm. The Colonel of his own regt. wrote: “It was a great disappointment to learn on my arrival here that Filleul had been appointed to another regt., and was not coming out to join us at the Front, for he was a most capable officer, and very popular with his brother officers.” The former Colonel of his battn. wrote: “Filleul was my subaltern in two separate years, and of all the young fellows who were attached to the battn. he was far and away the best soldier. And not only the best soldier but one of the pleasantest and most delightful companions I have ever met. Always willing, keen and cheery, I loved having him with me, and I placed more reliance upon his judgment and ability than on many a more experienced man”; and the editor of the “Oxford Magazine” wrote: “He was one of the very best of his time, an inspiring leader, devoted to the College, and enthusiastically beloved.” At Trent College he won the Gold Medal of the National Service League for military proficiency, and at the same time received a book prize from Earl Roberts.
FINCH, EDWARD TERENCE DOYNE, Torpedo Lieut., Royal Navy, elder s. of Arthur Edward Finch, by his wife, Charlotte, dau. of the Rev. Philip Walter Doyne; b. Madras, India, 6 Nov. 1887; educ. Connaught House, Weymouth, and H.M.S. Britannia (1902–3); entered the Navy as a cadet, 15 Sept. 1903; became Midshipman, 15 Oct. following; Sub-Lieut., 15 Dec. 1906; Lieut., 15 June, 1908, and served in H.M. ships Hannibal, Prince George, Cornwall and Suffolk. He then commanded in turn H.M.T.B. 85 and H.M.T.B. 078, and afterwards H.M.T.B.D. Dasher and H.M.T.B.D. Brazen. He left this last destroyer in order to qualify as a Torpedo Lieut. in H.M.S. Vernon, and on obtaining this qualification he was appointed to the Bulwark, 13 Aug 1913, and was killed when that ship was blown up off Sheerness, 26 Nov. 1914; unm.
FINCH, LEONARD EDWARD, Quarter-master-Sergt., No. 3793, 9th Lancers, s. of the late Alfred John Finch, of Brockley, Kent; b. St. John’s, co. Kent, 27 June, 1874; educ. there; enlisted 2 March, 1895; served through the South African War, 1899–1902 (Queen’s medal with five clasps and King’s medal), and with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, Aug.-Sept. 1914, and died at the Military Hospital, Colchester, 17 Oct. 1914, of wounds received in action in France, 29 Sept. 1914. He m. at St. Thomas’ Cathedral, Bombay, 1 Oct. 1904, his cousin Ethel (3, Norham Villas, Hillingdon Heath, near Uxbridge, Middlesex), dau. of James Finch, of Greenwich, and had two sons and a dau.: Kenneth Leonard, b. 12 April, 1908; Edwin George, b. 3 Aug. 1909; and Eileen Margaret, b. 15 April, 1906. Quartermaster-Sergt. Finch had the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
FINCH, SYDNEY GEORGE, Stoker P.O. (R.F.R., B. 4716), 280524, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FINDLAY, GEORGE HALLIDAY, W.T. Operator, 2nd Class, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FINDLAY, NEIL DOUGLAS, C.B., Brig.-Gen., Commanding Royal Artillery, 1st Division, Expeditionary Force, 2nd s. of Thomas Dunlop Findlay, of Easterhill, co. Lanark; b. Easterhill, co. Lanark, 7 May, 1859; entered Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, 19 Jan. 1877; gazetted Lieut., 18 Dec. 1878, and promoted Capt., 28 April, 1887; Major, 21 Dec. 1896; Brevet Lieut.-Col., 29 Nov. 1900; Lieut.-Col., 1 Sept. 1904; Brevet Col., 15 Oct. 1905; Col., 2 March, 1908; and Temp. Brig.-Gen., 14 July, 1910; and was Adjutant R.A., 1 March, 1894, to 14 Jan. 1896. He served with the Hazara Expedition in 1888, being mentioned in the despatches, and receiving the Medal and Clasp; and in the South African War, 1899–1900. He took part in the operations in Natal in Dec. 1899; the relief of Ladysmith; operations in Natal, March-June, 1900; and in the Transvaal, East of Pretoria, July to Nov. 1900. For his services in this campaign he was twice mentioned in despatches [London Gazette, 8 Feb. and 22 Feb. 1901], and twice by General Sir R. H. Buller (30 March and 9 Nov. 1900), and received the brevet of Lieut.-Col. and the Queen’s medal with six clasps. On his return from the Cape he was immediately (5 March, 1901) appointed Brigade Major, Royal Artillery, Aldershot, 1st Army Corps, which post he held till 14 April, 1904. He was A.A.G. at the War Office, 2 March, 1908 to 1910, and on 14 July, 1910, was appointed to the command of R.A. 1st Div. Aldershot Command, consisting of the 25th, 26th, 39th and 43rd Field Artillery Brigades. Brig.-Gen. Findlay took the Royal Artillery (1st Division) to France with the Expeditionary Force, 15 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action, near Courchamp, 10 Sept. 1914, while directing the fire of the batteries. He was made a C.B. in 1905. He m. at St. Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, 17 Feb. 1892, Alma (Alphington, Frimley, Surrey), dau. of Thomas Lloyd, of Minard, co. Argyle, and had two daus.: Anne, b. 18 Dec. 1892; and Constance, b. 3 Dec. 1894.
FINES, GEORGE WILLIAM, Private, No. 47995, 15th Battn. (48th Highlanders), Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of Charles Fines, of Spaldington Howden, by his wife, Jane, dau. of the late George Danby Cottingham; b. Blacktoft, near Howden, co. York, 16 July, 1889; educ. Little Weighton Church of England School; emigrated to Canada along with a brother in 1911, and was engaged on farm work. On the outbreak of war he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and was wounded in the trenches in France while on night duty, and died while being conveyed to the hospital, 23 Nov. 1915; unm. He was the first Spaldington man to fall.
FINK, GORDON, Private, No. 674, A Coy., 16th Battn. 4th Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, s. of Hon. Theodore Fink, of Melbourne, Barrister and Solicitor, ex-Minister of the Crown, Member of the University Council, etc., by his wife, Kate, dau. of the late George Isaacs; b. Broceliande, South Yarra, Melbourne, 21 Nov. 1884; educ. Ormond College, Melbourne University; Bachelor of Laws, 1907; admitted a Barrister, Victoria, 1908; served in the Australian Field Artillery, 1907–9, being promoted 2nd Lieut. in the later year; went to the Malay States in 1910, but returned in 1911 and settled in Western Australia; called to the Bar there 1913. On the outbreak of war he enlisted at Perth, left for Egypt with the second Expeditionary Force, and was killed in action near Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli, while gallantly carrying ammunition to the firing line, 2 May, 1915; unm. A comrade (Private Harry W. Leake) wrote: “On the evening of 2 May our battn. made an advance forward to take up a new position, and Gordon, who was Major Mansbridge’s observer, left the Major to assist the ammunition carriers get the boxes of ammunition up to our new trenches. There was one place where they had to go through a perfect hail of bullets, and Gordon was the only one who would face it. He got across safely with two or three boxes, and was then unfortunately shot through the head. Death was evidently instantaneous.” Major Mansbridge, in a letter to the “Perth Daily News,” said: “Gordon Fink, who was my observer and always at my side, asked if he could give a hand carrying ammunition up the side of a hill we call ‘Bloody Angle.’ I reluctantly gave permission, and that was the last I saw of him. His body was found 14 days later shot through the head.”
FINLAY, FREDERICK, Private, No. 5492, 1st Battn. East Yorkshire Regt., s. of Edward Finlay, of Swalwell, Durham, by his wife; b. Scotswood, co. Northumberland, about 1890; enlisted 10 Aug. 1909, and was killed in action at Ypres, 18 Oct. 1914. He m. at Gateshead, 7 Feb. 1914, Elizabeth, dau. of Robert Somerville, and had one child, John Somerville, b. Blaydon, 19 Feb. 1913.
FINLAY, ROBERT CHRISTIE, Private, No. 8353, 2nd Battn. The Royal Scots, 3rd s. of Thomas Finlay, of 233, Morningside Road, Edinburgh, by his wife, Helen, dau. of Peter Heatly; b. Edinburgh, 21 Dec. 1887; educ. South Morningside Board School there; enlisted 4 Dec. 1902, and served three years with the Colours, and was at the time of the outbreak of war a Bricklayer in the employ of Colin McAndrew, of Lauriston Gardens. He went to the Front, 11 Nov. 1914, and was killed in action in a bayonet charge at Petit Bois, near Kemmel, 14 Dec. 1914. He was a member of St. Matthew’s Parish Church, Edinburgh. He m. at Edinburgh, 18 June, 1909, Jane Johnstone (22, Wardlaw Place, Edinburgh), yst. dau. of David Purves Hall, and had a dau., Margaret Johnstone Hall, b. 11 May, 1914. His brother, Lieut. James Heatly Finlay, 9th Battn., 3rd Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, is now (1916) on active service.
FINLAYSON, CHARLES TULLOCK, Seaman, R.N.R., No. 1757C, H.M.S. Aboukir, 7th s. of Donald Finlayson, of Lossiemouth, Morayshire, by his wife, Catherine; b. Lossiemouth, 21 May, 1878; educ. there; joined the R.N.R. about 1900; called up on mobilisation, 5 Aug. 1914, and was lost in H.M.S. Aboukir, 22 Sept. 1914. He m. at Aberdeen, 18 Aug. 1908, Maggie Taylor (30, Gladstone Street, Blyth), dau. of William Black; s.p.
FINLAYSON, GEORGE RUSSELL, L.-Sergt., No. 9864, 2nd Battn. The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), yst. s. of the late Alexander Finlayson, Railway Goods Checker, by his wife, Jemima, dau. of George Russell, Coal Agent, Edinburgh; b. Edinburgh, 7 Dec. 1888; educ. Grammar School, Dunkeld, Perth; enlisted in the Black Watch at Perth, 25 April, 1904; and joined the 1st Battn. at Edinburgh Castle; went to India with a draft, and joined the 2nd Battn. in Dec. 1906; formed one of His Majesty’s Bodyguard at the Delhi Durbar (medal), 1911; left for France with the Indian Expeditionary Force after the outbreak of war, and was killed in action at Festubert, 12 Nov. 1914; unm.
FINNETT, HENRY CHARLES, Private, No. 1217, 3rd Battn. (Royal Fusiliers) The City of London Regt. (T.F.), s. of William Finnett, of 76, Jersey Road, Custom House, E., Labourer, by his wife, Mary Ann Amelia, dau. of James Pleasant; b. London, E., 25 April, 1892; educ. Russell Road School, Custom House; and joined the Royal Fusiliers in 1912. At the time of the outbreak of war he was employed as an electrician at the India Rubber Works, Silvertown, but immediately volunteered for foreign service. He was sent first to Southampton, afterwards to Alresford for a time, being finally despatched with a draft to Malta. From there he proceeded to France, where he was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 10 March, 1915; unm.
FINNIGAN, JAMES, Corpl., No. 3293, 2nd Battn. The Royal Scots, s. of the late Thomas Finnigan, for 20 years an employee of the Edinburgh Tramway Co., by his wife, Robina, dau. of James Tague; b. Edinburgh, 9 July, 1883; educ. St. Mary’s R.C. School, York Lane; joined the 11th Hussars, 8 Oct. 1900; served through the South African War, receiving the Queen’s medal, with three clasps, and obtained his discharge on 8 Oct. 1908. On the outbreak of the European War he re-enlisted in the 2nd Royal Scots, 20 Aug. 1914; went to France, 19 Dec. 1914, and was killed in action there, 20 June, 1915, by the bursting of a shell. Lieut. R. C. Blackwood, of the 2nd Royal Scots, wrote: “He had gone to act as a guide to the men who were to relieve us after a long time in the trenches. He was waiting for the new troops to arrive when a shell burst near him. His death happened in the night and as we had to hurry off I regret that we were unable to bury him, but this duty would be carried out by the troops who relieved us. I am exceedingly sorry to lose such a good corpl. His section was always the smartest on parade, and he kept them all up to the scratch. Only the day before his death he had been very active in carrying wounded soldiers into the trench, and in so doing must have brought comfort to many.” Corpl. Finnigan m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, 30 June, 1911, Helen Brodie (31, Eyre Place, Edinburgh), dau. of the late William (and Janet Knowles) Brodie, and had two children: James, b. 22 Sept. 1912; and May Helen, b. 19 May, 1914.
FINNIGAN, WILLIAM, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 5192), 208508, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FINNIS, STEPHEN, Stoker P.O., 174441, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FIPPARD, HERBERT JOHN, Corpl. No. 2087, 9th Battn. (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), elder s. of Herbert Samuel Bradshaw Fippard, of 11, Oakington Road, Maida Hill, W., by his wife, Anne Stephens, dau. of John Thomas Clift; b. Oakington Road aforesaid, 14 Aug. 1885; educ. Regent Street Polytechnic; joined Queen Victoria’s Rifles shortly after the outbreak of war, 20 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action near Ypres while attending a wounded comrade (the same day as his younger brother, see following notice), 4 June, 1915; unm. Capt. R. H. Lindsay Renton wrote: “He met his death while helping a wounded comrade, an act characteristic of his life out here. He was a man who always did his duty, a man respected by his comrades and trusted by his officers. I feel that his death is a great loss to my company, and I shall find his place difficult to fill”; and a comrade testified that: “In the recent trying experiences the company has gone through at Ypres, Hill 60, and with the Canadians his coolness was remarkable and gave confidence to every one around him.” He was mentioned in Orders, 1 May, by Lieut.-Col. R. B. Shipley, commanding 9th London Regt., who said: “In such operations as these it is difficult to pick out individuals who particularly distinguish themselves. All have done their duty so nobly and without the slightest hesitation. I, however, wish to call attention to the services of the undermentioned, and to thank them in the name of their battn. for the invaluable services on Hill 60 and during the operations east of the Yser Canal: Capt. W. F. Roe, R.A.M.C., and all stretcher-bearers; Lieut. G. H. Woolley, Sergt.-Major E. W. Andrews, Sergts. G. R. Warrington, F. Hooper and E. H. Pulleyn, Corpl. H. D. Peabody, L.-Corpls. F. A. Swoffer, P. G. Clarke and G. F. Selfer, and Rifleman A. B. Ashford, A Coy.; Sergts. M. Brown, S. D. Ramus, R. Browett and H. J. How, B Coy.; Coy.-Sergt.-Major Sherriff, Sergt. C. Arnold, L.-Corpl. Bell, and Rifleman A. Payne, C Coy.; Coy.-Sergt.-Major F. T. A. Brehant, Sergt. H. E. Soundy, L.-Corpls. C. H. Rose and H. J. Fippard, and Rifleman J. Darrell and C. A. Spooner, D Coy.”
FIPPARD, RICHARD CLIFT, F.I.A., Capt., 14th (Service) Battn. West Yorkshire Regt. (The Prince of Wales’s Own), attd. Lancashire Fusiliers, yr. s. of Herbert Samuel Bradshaw Fippard, of 11, Oakington Road, Maida Hill, W., and yr. brother of the preceding; b. Oakington Road afsd., 30 Dec. 1887; educ. Regent Street Polytechnic; matriculated at London University; admitted a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, 14 June, 1910, and was Assistant Treasurer of the Prudential Approved Society, and joint author of a Primer on the Construction of Mortality and Sickness Tables. After the outbreak of war he was gazetted 2nd Lieut., 14th West Yorkshire Regt., 14 Dec. 1914 and promoted Capt. 30 March, 1914. He was attached to the Lancashire Fusiliers, drafted to them at the Dardanelles, and was killed in action at Achi Baba, 4 June, 1915; unm. He was at first reported missing, but on 21 Nov. 1915, was officially reported to have been killed on the former date, the two brothers thus being killed the same day—the one in Flanders, the other in Gallipoli.
FISH, FRANCIS EDWARD, of Winterslow, Salisbury, Capt., 3rd (attd. 2nd) Battn. (Alexandra, Princess of Wales’ Own) Yorkshire Regt., s. of the late Ralph Fish, of Manchester and Blackburn, by his wife, Elizabeth Margaret, dau. of H. Loxon, of Leeds; b. Heaton Chapel, Manchester, 24 March, 1876; educ. King Edward’s School, Birmingham, and Askern College, Doncaster; joined the old 2nd Volunteer Battn. of the Yorkshire Regt. (The Green Howards) in 1901, and was transferred to the 3rd Battn. (Knaresborough Militia) in May, 1904, getting his company in 1909, in which year he retired. On the outbreak of war he rejoined, was gazetted Capt., 3rd Yorkshire Regt., Sept. 1914, and was for some time employed on Coast Defence, being blown off his feet during the bombardment of Hartlepool by a shell which burst some yards away; embarked for France with a draft of 350 men of the 2nd Battn. on 19 March, 1915, and was killed in action by a shell near Festubert, 17 May, 1915. He m. at Southport, March, 1912, Elizabeth, dau. of Edward Ackroyd, of Southport. She died s.p. June, 1914.
FISHBOURNE, CHARLES EUSTACE, Capt., Royal Engineers, eldest surviving s. of the Rev. Edward Alexander Fishbourne, Vicar of Gresford, by his wife, Harriet, dau. of the Venerable William Crawley, Archdeacon of Monmouth, and Rector of Bryngwyn, Mon.; b. Llandyssil Rectory, co. Montgomery, 15 Jan. 1885; was educ. St. George’s, Windsor; and Malvern College; and after passing through Woolwich and Chatham, obtained his commission in the R.E., 21 Dec. 1904, and was promoted Lieut. 23 June, 1907. Subsequently he was employed under the Colonial Office from June, 1907 to 1908 in Uganda upon survey work, for which he was highly commended, and the Royal Geographical Society awarded him the Cuthbert Peek grant. In Oct. 1909, he was appointed under the Board of Trade upon the London Traffic Commission, and on 4 Jan. 1913 retired into the Special Reserve R.E. on taking up a post as Assistant General Manager to the London General Omnibus Company. On the outbreak of the war he rejoined, went to the Front with the 9th Field Company R.E., 21 Aug. 1914, and served till 18 Nov. 1914, when he was wounded at Ploegsteert Wood, and invalided home. On his recovery he was appointed Adjutant to the R.E. Reserves at Chatham. He died at Field House, Beaconsfield, 10 June, 1915, of spotted fever contracted at Chatham. He m. at Llanbedr, 8 June, 1911, Mary Elizabeth (89, Overstrand Mansions, Battersea, S.W.), dau. of William Gaskell Holland, and left two sons: Patrick Alexander, b. 10 Feb. 1913; and Charles Michael Eustace, b. 2 Nov. 1915. He was mentioned in F.M. Sir J. French’s Despatch of 14 Jan. [London Gazette, 17 Feb.] 1915.
FISHER, ALBERT WILLIAM, Gunner, Immed. Class (R.F.R., 90), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FISHER, ALFRED, Engine Room Artificer, No. 1523, Royal Naval Reserve, 3rd s. of Robert Fisher, Master Mariner, by his wife, Henrietta, dau. of John Myers; b. Boston, co. Lincoln, 15 April, 1888; educ. Hull Technical College; served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Earle & Co., Shipbuilders, Hull, and then went to sea. After obtaining his 1st Class certificate, he was appointed Resident Engineer at the Robert College, Constantinople, for three years, and on the outbreak of war returned to Hull; joined the R.N.R., and was appointed to H.M. auxiliary cruiser Viknor. He was drowned when this ship was lost off the North Coast of Ireland, 13 Jan. 1915. His body was recovered and buried in the island of Aronsay, Argyle. He m. at the British Consulate, Constantinople, 7 Oct. 1912, Elsie (10, Myrtle Avenue, Williamson Street, Hull), dau. of George Sloper, and had two sons: Alfred, b. 16 Dec. 1913; and Frank, b. 1 Aug. 1915.
FISHER, ARTHUR ERNEST, A.B., 205321, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FISHER, CHARLES, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3992), 197064, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FISHER, EDWARD, Stoker (R.F.R., B. 7255), S.S. 102176, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FISHER, EDWARD HERBERT, Private, No. 10/1166, Wellington Infantry Battn., New Zealand Expeditionary Force, s. of Edward Herbert Fisher, of Wellington, New Zealand, Clerk in Valuation Department, by his wife, Margaret, dau. of the late Ralph Milligan, of Drumderryglass, co. Cavan, and gdson. of the late James Temple Fisher, Postmaster-General in Sir George Grey’s Government; b. Ingham, Herbert River, North Queensland, 13 Oct. 1891; educ. Townsville, North Queensland, and at Wellington, New Zealand; was in the Telegraph Department, Wellington, but after the outbreak of war left 13 Oct. 1914; joined the Wellington Infantry Battn. the following day, and sailed for Egypt in the Arawa (Transport No. 10) two days later. On the voyage to Egypt was transferred to the Limerick (No. 7) as Wireless Operator, and was on duty during the engagement between H.M.A. Cruiser Sydney and the German Cruiser Emden, near Cocos Island; also on duty in Telephone Bureau on the banks of the Suez Canal during the Turkish attack; after being on the Canal for about a month he returned to Zeitoun Camp and from thence to Gallipoli, where he was killed a few days after landing, 29 April, 1915; unm. Fisher was an enthusiastic Rugby footballer, and was one of the team that won the Ranfurly Shield in Taranaki in 1914. It was reported that he was shot through the head while helping a wounded Australian.
FISHER, HENRY RAYMOND, Corpl., No. 25710, 14th Battn. (1st Royal Montreal Regt.), Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of Charles Frederic Fisher, of Rollingdam, New Brunswick, Farmer, by his wife, Mary Ellen, dau. of Henry Johnston, of Rollingdam; b. Rollingdam, 1 April, 1883; educ. Rollingdam School; was for 15 years with the Canadian Pacific Railway as a fireman and engineer; volunteered on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, and enlisted at Montreal; came over with the first Canadian Contingent in Oct.; trained on Salisbury Plain during the winter; went to France on 15 Feb.; took part in the Battle of Ypres, where the 14th Battn. is said to have saved the day, and died 2 May, 1915, from shrapnel wounds in the head, received in action in the reserve trenches. He was buried in Poperinghe Cemetery. His brother, L.-Corpl. Charles D. Fisher, 15th Battn. (48th Highlanders of Canada) is now (1916) on active service in France.
FISHER, JOHN EDMUND, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R., B. 341), late Ch./6698, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FISHER, LESLIE BENITO, Lieut., 12th (Service) Battn. King’s Royal Rifles, only s. of the late William Edgar Fisher, Accountant, by his wife, Emma Louisa (Brampton Park, Brampton, Huntingdonshire), dau. of Benjamin Beasley; b. Fulham, S.W., 25 June, 1885; educ. privately; went to the Federated Malay States (Klang) in 1910 to take up a post with the North Hummock Rubber Co. Here his promotion was rapid, and at the time of his return home on leave in 1914 he was making an excellent position for himself. He arrived in England in August of that year, and three weeks later joined the Royal Fusiliers (Empire Battn.). In Nov. he was offered a commission in the 12th Service Battn. of the King’s Royal Rifles, which he accepted, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 17 Nov. 1914, and promoted Lieut. and machine gun officer in April, 1915. He was killed instantaneously by a shell in action at Bois Grenier, France, 14 Aug. 1915. As a schoolboy his great hobby was physical culture, and he was an ardent follower of Sandow, being remarkable for his splendid athletic physique and physical fitness. In 1909 he competed in a Marathon race at Bapton, Wiltshire, the course being 20 miles, and out of 32 entries only three ran the whole course, Lieut. Fisher being one of them. He was a brilliant hockey player, playing for Sussex and Dorset, and obtaining his colours for the latter county. In 1908 he joined as a trooper the Dorsetshire Yeomanry, and was offered a commission, which, however, he declined. His grandfather, the late Mr. Benjamin Beasley, was a noted shot, and in 1862 competed at Wimbledon for the Elcho Challenge Shield, becoming one of the first famous “English Eight.” Lieut. Fisher was unm., and was buried at Bois Grenier, France. A monument was erected to his memory in the chancel of St. Mary’s Church, Brampton, Huntingdonshire, Brampton being the village in which a great part of his life was spent.
FISHER, ROBERT, Leading Car. Crew, 344814, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.
FISHER, WILLIAM HENRY, Bandsman, No. 2710, 6th Battn. Welsh Regt. (T.F.), only s. of Ebenezer Fisher, of Cockett Farm, Cockett, labourer, by his wife Ann, dau. of William (and Rachel) Richards; b. Swansea, 2 April, 1888; educ. Plasmarsh Council School; was a brickmaker; joined the Army, 17 Nov. 1914; went to France, 7 March, 1915, and was killed in a motor lorry collision at Calais, 30 May, 1915, while on active service; unm.
FISK, ALBERT ARTHUR, Boy, 1st Class, J. 26689, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FITZCLARENCE, ARTHUR AUGUSTUS CORNWALLIS, Capt., 2nd Battn. Royal Fusiliers, and Adjutant, 15th Battn. (Civil Service Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), only s. of Henry Edward FitzClarence, of 41, Ovington Square, S.W., by his wife, Mary Isabel, only dau. of John Parsons, and gdson. of the Rev. Lord Augustus FitzClarence, Chaplain to Queen Victoria [4th s. of King William IV]; b. Ceylon, 16 March, 1880; educ. Radley College; enlisted in the City of London Imperial Volunteers on the outbreak of the South African War, and served in that campaign 1900; took part in the operations in the Orange River Colony, Feb. to March and May, 1900, and in Cape Colony, Feb. to March, 1900, and operations in the Transvaal, May, 1900, to Aug. 1901 (Queen’s medal with four clasps); recommended for a commission by Col. (now Gen. Sir) W. H. Mackinnon; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Royal Fusiliers, 4 Aug. 1900, and promoted Lieut. 11 Feb. 1904, and Capt. 22 Nov. 1909; was employed with West African Frontier Force, 12 Sept. 1903 to 29 July, 1908; served in South Nigeria, 1904–5, where he patrolled the unsettled portions of the Ibibio and Kwa country (medal with clasp), and in Northern Nigeria, 1906 (clasp); Adjutant Civil Service Rifles (15th London Regt., T.F.), 22 Nov. 1909 to 21 Nov. 1913; left for the Dardanelles, 4 June, 1915, and was killed there, 29 June, 1915. He was mentioned in despatches for conspicuous gallantry, in reorganising the defence, and keeping the Turks at bay until he was shot [London Gazette, 5 Nov. 1915]. He received his certificate for signalling in 1902; that for musketry on passing his examination at Hythe in the following year, and in 1909 he obtained one for gymnastics at the Aldershot Gymnasium. At Radley he rowed in the college boat at Henley, in 1896–7–8, being Capt. of the boats in 1898. He was also in the school football eleven. He rowed for Kingston both in the Eights and Fours, and he won the Wyfolds in 1902. He was a fine athlete— a good boxer and long-distance runner. In latter years he went in for fencing and sabre play, competing at the Royal Naval and Military Tournament and winning the second prize in the epee in 1913, and second prize in the sabre v. sabre in 1914. He m. at St. Paul’s, Knightsbridge, 7 April, 1910, Lady Susan, née Yorke, only dau. of John Manners, 7th Earl of Hardwicke; s.p. His cousin, Brig.-Gen. C. FitzClarence, V.C., was killed in action, 11 Nov. 1914.
FITZCLARENCE, CHARLES, V.C., Brig.-Gen., formerly Lieut.-Col., Commanding Irish Guards, eldest s. of the late Hon. George FitzClarence, Capt., R.N., by his wife, Lady Maria Henriette, née Scott, eldest dau. of John Henry, 3rd Earl of Clonmell, and gdson. of George, 1st Earl of Munster [eldest s. of King William IV]; b. Bishop’s Court, co. Kildare, 8 May, 1865; educ. Eton and Wellington; gazetted Lieut. from the Militia to the Royal Fusiliers, 10 Nov. 1886; promoted Capt. 6 April, 1898; transferred to Irish Guards, 6 Oct. 1900; and became Brevet Major, 29 Nov. following; Major, 2 May, 1904; Lieut.-Col. 14 July, 1909; Col. 6 March, 1913; and Brig.-Gen. 5 Aug. 1914; served in South African War, 1899–1900; was Special Service officer with Protectorate Regt., 15 July, 1899, to 28 Aug. 1900, and Brigade Major, on Staff, 29 Aug. 1900 to 4 Feb. 1901; took part in defence of Mafeking (twice wounded; mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 8 Feb. 1901]; Brevet of Major; Queen’s medal with three clasps; decorated with the Victoria Cross for three specific acts of bravery [London Gazette, 6 July, 1900], viz.: on 16 Oct. 1899, taking with him about 50 unseasoned men of the Protectorate Regt., he went to the relief of an armoured train which was in difficulties. Capt. FitzClarence advanced his men under a furious fire. At one time the squadron was nearly surrounded but it was saved with few casualties through coolness and clever handling on the part of its leader. About a fortnight later he led a night sortie of 60 men and drove the Boers from their trenches at the point of the bayonet. On that night Capt. FitzClarence was the first to leap into the trenches sword in hand, and it is said that he himself killed four of the enemy and was wounded. On Dec. 26 he again distinguished himself in the action at Game Tree, where he was shot through the legs); Brigade Major, 5th Brigade, Aldershot Army Corps, 22 April, 1903 to 31 March, 1906; Brigade Commander, 5th London Infantry Brigade, and Mil. Member London Territorial Force Association; Lieut.-Col. Commanding Irish Guards, 14 July, 1913 to Aug. 1914; commanded 29th Brigade, 10th Division at Curragh from 23 Aug. to 22 Sept.; went to France, 23 Sept. and took over command of the First Guards Brigade, 27 Sept.; killed in action leading his Brigade in the night attack at Ypres, 11–12 Nov. 1914. He was specially mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 20 Nov. [London Gazette, 30 Nov.] 1914, where he said: “His loss will be severely felt.” He m. at The Citadel Church, Cairo, 20 April, 1898, Violet (12, Lowndes Street, S.W.), 4th and yst. dau. of the late Lord Alfred Spencer Churchill, M.P., and granddau. of John, 6th Duke of Marlborough, and had two children: Edward Charles, b. 3 Oct. 1899; and Joan Harriet, b. 23 Dec. 1901. His twin brother, Edward, Capt., 1st Dorsetshire Regt. attached Egyptian Army, was killed in action at Abu-Hamed, 7 Aug. 1897, and his cousin, Capt. A. A. C. FitzClarence, was killed in action in Gallipoli, 29 June, 1915.
FITZGERALD, EDWARD THOMAS, Private, R.M.L.I., Po./12363, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FITZGERALD, GERALD HUGH, Capt., 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, only s. of the late Lord Maurice FitzGerald, of Johnstowne Castle, co. Wexford, by his wife, Lady Adelaide, dau. of George Arthur Hastings Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard, K.P., and grandson of Charles William, 4th Duke of Leinster, P.C.; b. Johnstowne Castle, 11 April, 1886; educ. Eton; joined the Royal North Devon Hussars (Yeomanry) in Nov. 1904; gazetted from them to the 4th Dragoon Guards, 11 Dec. 1907; promoted Lieut. 17 Nov. 1908, and Capt. 25 Nov. 1913; accompanied the Expeditionary Force to France; was slightly wounded during the first week in Sept., and fell shot through the head in the Battle of the Aisne when in charge of the machine gun section of his battn. 13 Sept. 1914; buried in the cemetery at Bourg. Col. R. L. Mullens, his commanding officer, wrote: “It happened early in the morning of the 13th. We were fighting in the village of Bourg-et-Comin, about 17 miles east of Soissons, which is about 63 miles north-east of Paris. Gerald was as always, working hard and doing good work with his maxims. Some Germans were on the canal bank about 500 yards away, and I had warned him and his men to keep their heads down. Some little time after I had to leave him to attend to other matters he was hit. Major Bridges was close to him at the time, but there was nothing to be done—the end was instantaneous.... His loss to the regt. is immense. He was universally popular and loved by his brother officers and men.” Capt. FitzGerald was a keen sportsman, a fine rider, and took great interest in polo. He m. at South Tidworth, 5 Aug. 1914, Dorothy Violet, yst. dau. of Spencer Charrington, of Winchfield Lodge, Winchfield, Hants; s.p.
FITZGERALD, JAMES, Chief Yeoman of Signals (R.F.R., A. 1818), 147643, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
FITZGERALD, JOHN MARTIN, Private, No. 295, A Coy., 1st Newfoundland Regt., 2nd s. of the late John Fitzgerald, of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Cooper (died 24 Aug 1886), by his wife, Mary Ann (20 Carter’s Hill, St. John’s, Newfoundland), dau. of John Patrick Crowdell; b. St. John’s aforesaid, 19 Sept. 1884; educ. Convent of Mercy (1892–93), and St. Bonaventure’s College (1893–1901; Scholarship 1899; Graduate Druggist 1901) there; entered the employ of Mr. J. J. Canning, Druggist, 1 March, 1901, and on the latter’s death in April, 1913, became Manager of the business and so continued until 30 June, 1914, when he started a business of his own at 90, New Gower Street; volunteered for Imperial service on the outbreak of war, and joined the 1st Newfoundland Regt., 8 Sept. 1914, sacrificing his newly started business; left for England, 3 Oct. 1914; went to the Dardanelles, leaving Aldershot, 19 Aug. 1915, and arrived in Egypt 19–20 Sept.; was attached to the Ambulance Section of the Regt., and acted as dispenser and dresser with Dr. Frew, R.A.M.C.; killed in action there 1 Dec. 1915, while binding up the wounds of a comrade. Buried in No. 52 Borderers Ravine 117. J.S. Surgeon-Capt. Frew wrote: “I feel I must tell you of the noble death he died this morning. Some men were shot by snipers behind our lines this morning, and though, as dispenser, he might have sat still and let the stretcher bearers bring in the wounded, he was on his feet at once and rushed out to render first aid services. In so doing he fell a prey to the deadly snipers. While he was dressing Sergt. McLeod, he was wounded, but still went on with his work, receiving, unfortunately, three or four more wounds, one of which proved fatal.”
FITZGIBBON, RICHARD APJOHN, Lieut., 128th Pioneers Indian Army, only s. of Harry Macaulay FitzGibbon, of Greystones, co. Wicklow, Barrister-at-Law, formerly Capt. and Instructor of Musketry in the 4th (late 5th) Battn. Connaught Rangers, and now serving on the Musketry Staff as Capt. and Brigade Musketry Officer, by his wife, Helen Rebecca, dau. of John Kellock Barton, Surgeon; b. Dublin, 5 July, 1889; educ. Strangway’s School, Dublin, Lickey Hills Preparatory School, Barnt Green, and Radley College, from which latter he entered Christ Church, Oxford, taking his B.A. degree in 1911. On 6 Jan. 1912, he was appointed to the Unattached List for the Indian Army, and—after serving for a year with the 3rd Battn. of the Royal Fusiliers in India—he was appointed a double company officer in the 128th Pioneers, 5 Jan. 1913, and later went through a course of engineering with the Sappers and Miners at Rurkee, India, becoming Lieut. 17 April, 1913. He was in charge of the escort to the Artillery Regt. near Tussoum, on the Suez Canal, and was attacked at about 3.30 a.m. 3 Feb. 1915, when the Turks attempted to cross the Canal. His men sank the first pontoon boat, but the second got across. Though wounded quite early in the fight, after a short retirement to the rear to bind up his wound he returned and continued to direct his men. Some two hours or so later it became necessary to transmit an important message to the commander of the artillery. Lieut. FitzGibbon undertook to take it himself, and crossing an open space of about a quarter of a mile—all the while exposed to heavy fire—he delivered the message. Not till then did he mention that he was wounded. His wound on receiving attention was found to be serious, and he was removed to the Signal House at Tussoum Ferry, where, after being bright and cheerful all day, he succumbed early next morning, 4 Feb. 1915. He was buried with full military honours in the Ismalia Cemetery, the New Zealanders furnishing the firing party (as his own regt. was at Serapeum). He was especially mentioned in Gen. Sir John Maxwell’s Despatch, dated 16 Feb. 1915 [London Gazette, 21 June, 1916], as follows: “128th Pioneers, Lieut. R. A. Fitzgibbon behaved with conspicuous gallantry. When severely wounded he ran a considerable distance under fire with a message to the 5th Egyptian Battery. He has since died of his wounds.” He was also mentioned in the second list of recommendations, dated Army Headquarters, Cairo, 19 Aug. 1915. Lieut. FitzGibbon, who was unm., was a keen sportsman, and twice coxed the Radley boat at Henley Regatta; he was also for a time cox of Christ Church, Oxford, and subsequently stroke of their second eight. He was a member of the Leander Rowing Club.
FITZHERBERT, CHARLES EDWARD, Private, No. 1496. 15th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, 2nd s. of Archibald Malcolm Fitzherbert, of St. George Maranoa, Queensland, by his wife, Bridget Agnes, dau. of Michael Lacken; b. Charleville, Queensland, 14 Feb. 1888; educ. Brisbane; enlisted in the Australian Expeditionary Force in Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Gallipoli, 4 May, 1915; unm.
FITZMAURICE, MAURICE ALEXANDER ROSS GERALDINE, Lieut., R.E. 21st Field Coy., 3rd Sappers and Miners, Lahore Division, elder s. of the late John Day Stokes Fitzmaurice, Judge of Dharwar, Bombay Presidency, Indian Civil Service, by his wife, Emily Grace Ellen (The Haven, Haslemere), dau. of the late Professor Samuel Cooke, M.A., etc., Principal Coll. of Science, Poona, India; b. Satara, India, 9 June, 1892; educ. South Lodge, Lowestoft, Felsted School, Essex (where he gained entrance and leaving scholarships), and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; gazetted 2nd Lieut., R.E., 23 Dec. 1911; joined the School of Military Engineering, Chatham, 1 April, 1912, and on passing out in Dec. 1913, elected to go to India. He was promoted Lieut. 31 Jan 1914, and was attached to the 3rd Sappers and Miners, Kirkee, in March following. When war broke out he was employed as Garrison Engineer at Bareilly, and was recalled to the 3rd Sappers and Miners, Lahore Division, joining the 21st Field Company. He went to France with the Indian Expeditionary Force in Sept. 1914; was severely wounded in the fighting at Neuve Chapelle on 28 Oct. 1914, and was invalided home, the 20th and 21st Field Cos., 3rd S. and M., being specially mentioned in the despatch of 20 Nov. 1914. He returned to the Front on 19 Feb. 1915; took part in the storming of Neuve Chapelle Village on 10 to 15 March, and was with the Lahore Division in the fighting for Ypres at the end of April, 1915, being for a time in command of his company, all the other officers being wounded. He was killed when on night duty at an outpost near Neuve Chapelle, 6 Aug. 1915, by a stray bullet: unm. He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 14 Jan. 1915, for gallant and distinguished service in the field, and his commanding officer. Col. Coffin, R.E. said of him: “His loss to us is very great; always devoted to his work and cheery, he was a great favourite with all with whom he came in contact.” His company commander, Capt. Rawlence, R.E., also wrote; “His loss will be deeply felt in the company in which he has always set such an example of hard work and cheery endurance. He was shot between the shoulders whilst supervising the construction of loopholes in a post just behind the firing line at 2 a.m. on 6 Aug.” He was buried in the Cemetery at Vieille Chapelle, side by side with Capt. Glenday, R.E., of the same company, who was killed two nights later, at the same spot.
FITZPATRICK, WILFRED, Lieut., 5th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of the Rev. Henry Fitzpatrick, of Hyderabad, Deccan, India, Chaplain of St. George’s Church there; b. Hyderabad aforesaid, ... March, 1877; educ. in England and India; settled in Canada; served through the South African War as a trooper, and on the outbreak of the European War in Aug. 1914, joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and was killed in action during the Second Battle of Ypres, 24 April, 1915, being buried near where he fell; unm.
FITZROY, EDWARD, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 2509), 194087, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FLACK, FREDERICK JAMES, Gunner (R.F.R., B. 368), late R.M.A., 6403 H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FLAHERTY, ROY LESLEY, Private, No. 18495, 1st (Western Ontario) Battn., Canadian Expeditionary Force, 3rd s. of the late John Edward Flaherty, of St. John’s, New Brunswick, Canada, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of Patrick McGrath, of Cork, Ireland; b. St. Stephens aforesaid, 24 Dec. 1879; educ. St. Malachi’s School, St. John’s, N.B.; went West about 1907, and finally settled at Grouard, Alberta, and had a homestead of 160 acres at Dunvegan in that province, and land in Price River Crossing, Alberta. When war broke out in Aug. 1914, he was with a Dominion survey party in the Peace River district, 200 miles north of Edmonton, and, with eight of his comrades, he set out at once for Edmonton and joined the 9th (101st Edmonton Fusiliers) Battn. After training at Valcartier he was transferred to the 1st Battn., left with the first contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Oct., and after spending the winter on Salisbury Plain, went to the Front on 4 Feb. 1915. He took part in the actions at Neuve Chapelle, Hill 60, Langemarck, and was wounded in the thigh at the Battle of Festubert, 24 May, 1915, and died at Rawal Pindi, British General Hospital, Wimereux, two days later; unm. He once rode 700 miles from Missoula, Mont., over the mountains to Calgary, in 17 days, a feat which attracted some attention in the West. One of his brothers, Private Fred E. Flaherty, No. 111175, is now (1916) on active service in France, with the Hospital Staff, D Coy., 4th Battn., C.M.R., 8th Brigade.
FLAXMAN, CHARLES, ALBERT, Stoker, 1st Class, 11031, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FLAXMAN, WILLIAM, Corpl., No. 2666, 1st Life Guards, eldest s. of Arthur Charles Flaxman, of Burgh Castle, Suffolk, Thatcher and Reed-layer, by his wife, Eliza, dau. of Sergt. John Ellis, 52nd Oxford L.I. (who served in the Crimean War and lost his right arm in the Indian Mutiny); b. Bradwell, co. Suffolk, 26 Sept. 1888; educ. there; enlisted in the 1st Life Guards, 9th March, 1908, promoted Corp., 14 Oct. 1913; went to France, Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Ypres, 13 May, 1915, by a shell; unm. His commanding officer wrote that he was “a real good soldier, and a great loss to B Squadron.”
FLEMING, GEOFFREY MONTAGUE MASON, M.B., T.C.D., Lieut., Royal Army Medical Corps, only s. of Alfred George Fleming, of Beechfield, Blackrock, co. Dublin, Deputy Cashier, Bank of Ireland; b. Wilton Lodge, Blackrock, co. Dublin, 8 Feb. 1890; and was educ. Avoca School, Blackrock, and Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated with a Moderatorship in 1911, and subsequently obtained the degrees of M.B. and B.Ch. with honours. At the outbreak of the war he was House Surgeon of the Meath Hospital and Co. Dublin Infirmary, and volunteering was gazetted Lieut. R.A.M.C. 16 Aug. 1914. He was sent to Egypt to meet the Indian Troops, and was attached to the Lahore Indian General Hospital at Marseilles, Boulogne and Montreuil. Subsequently he joined the 26th Field Ambulance, was in the attack on Fromelles 9–10 May, 1915, and was killed in action near Givenchy, 16 June, 1915, while attending to the wounded. He was buried in the Guards Cemetery there; unm. His Col. wrote: “He was loyal and devoted to his profession and gallantly performed his duties with us. He had endeared himself to all of us, and we all deplore his loss most sincerely.”
FLEMING, GEORGE JAMES, Officers’ Steward, 1st Class, L. 4352, Chatham, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FLEMING, MALCOLM JAMES HENDERSON, Lieut., 1/5th Battn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (T.F.), only s. of James Fleming, of Kilmory, Skelmorlie, co. Ayr, J.P., by his wife, Jane, dau. of Andrew Henderson, of Glasgow, merchant, and grandson of James Fleming, of Newlandsfield, co. Renfrew, J.P.; b. Kilmory, 27 April, 1883; educ. Boutenburn Raspur School, Largs; and Fettes College, Edinburgh; afterwards going to Hanover for six months, and then to Lausanne for a like period, to perfect his German and French. He served his apprenticeship as an engineer with engineering firms in Paisley, and with Siemens, Berlin, and on returning home was offered a post with Messrs. Fleming, Reid & Co., Worsted Spinners, Greenock, and at the time of the outbreak of the war had become a sub-manager with them. He had joined the 5th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 11 June, 1911, and obtained his commission as Lieut., 30 Oct. 1912, and on the outbreak of war volunteered for Imperial service. He left Dunfermline with his regt. for Egypt, 31 May, 1915; went to the Dardanelles at the end of June; was wounded at Achi Baba on 12 July, and died on board the hospital ship Asturias, 14 July, 1915. He had volunteered to lead a bombing party, and it was while doing that that he was hit. He was unm., and was buried at sea. His Commanding Officer wrote that “he went forth to the arduous work full of courage and determination and was an inspiration to his men.” After he was wounded he greatly lessened his chance of recovery by insisting on giving up his place to others at the dressing station. One of his men who met him being carried to the surgeon spoke to him saying: “Sir, I am sorry you have been hit.” Lieut. Fleming replied: “Marvellous charge. Glorious death.” Another wrote: “He was a splendid officer. He was daring, and feared not death. He was most thoughtful of his men.”
FLETCHER, EDWARD, Private, R.M.L.I., Po./8922, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FLETCHER, FREDERICK GEORGE, Private, No. 1014, 8th Battn. (90th Winnipeg Rifles) Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of Richard Fletcher, of Hill Farm, Steventon, co. Berks, Labourer, by his wife, Sarah, dau. of William Denton, of Steventon; b. Hill Farm, Steventon, 4 April, 1891; educ. there; went to Canada in July, 1913, and settled at Portage La Prairie as a mill hand; enlisted on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914; came over with the first contingent in Oct. 1914, and trained on Salisbury Plain. He went to France, 17 Feb. 1915; served through the Battles of Ypres and Langemarck, when the Canadians, to use Lord French’s words, “saved the situation,” and was killed in action at Langemarck, 24 April, 1915, while returning from binding up a comrade’s wounds; unm.
FLETCHER, JOHN, Stoker, 1st Class, S.S. 110730 (Ports.), H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FLETCHER, REGINALD WILLIAM, 2nd Lieut., Royal Field Artillery, yst. s. of Charles Robert Leslie Fletcher, of Norham End, Oxford, formerly Fellow of All Souls’ and Magdalen Colleges; b. Oxford, 19 March, 1892; educ. Eton, and Balliol College, Oxford, and was gazetted, with a University Commission, to the 8th Brigade, R.F.A., on the day war was declared; went to France, 20 Aug., and was killed in action at Veldhoek, Belgium, 31 Oct. 1914, while serving with the 118th Battery. He was stroke of a Trial Eight at Oxford in three successive years, 1911–12–13, and also for four years stroke of his college boat; he rowed in the Leander Four at Henley Regatta in 1913, and in the Oxford University Eight in March, 1914.
FLETCHER, WALTER BELL, Private, No. 445, 4th Platoon Coy., 14th Battn. 4th Infantry Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, s. of James Fletcher, of 2, Fletcher Street, Cockermouth, by his wife, Isabella, dau. of John (and Elizabeth) Atkins; b. Cockermouth, co. Cumberland, 11 April, 1879; educ. Board School, Cockermouth, afterwards joining the Cockermouth Volunteers when 18 years of age. He went to Australia in 1911, and settled at Traralgon, Victoria, and on the outbreak of war he joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force; left for Egypt with the main force, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles, 5 May, 1915. He had been 10 days in the trenches at Gaba Tepe, and was shot by a sniper when going for water. He m. in Edinburgh 15 years ago, (—) (Ethel Street, Lock Park, Traralgon, Victoria, Australia), dau. of John Walker, of Portobello, and had three sons and two daus.: James, b. 1902; John William, b. 1906; Walter, b. 1908; Winifred, b. 1904; and Emily Isabel, b. 1913.
FLETCHER, WALTER GEORGE, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 2nd s. of Charles Robert Leslie Fletcher, of Norham End, Oxford, formerly Fellow of All Souls’ and Magdalen Colleges; b. Oxford, 7 Jan. 1888; educ. Eton (1901–6, rowed No. 7 in the Eton VIII. at Henley in 1906, and was Capt. of the School, 1906, and won the Jelf Verse Prize); and Balliol College, Oxford (1907–10, rowed in the Balliol College VIII. in 1907); was for six months in 1910–11 teacher of English in the Real-Gymnasium at Schleswig, and in the autumn of the latter year went as a classical master to Shrewsbury School. In September, 1913, he became an assistant classical master at Eton College, and on 22 Oct. 1913, was gazetted a 2nd Lieut. in the Eton O.T.C. On the outbreak of war he was selected as an interpreter in the Intelligence Corps (6 Aug. 1914). He went to the Front with the first contingent on Aug. 12, served through the retreat from Mons, and in the subsequent advance to the Aisne. In Sept. he was attached to the 2nd Battn. of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, in which regt. he was constantly employed on patrol work, his accurate knowledge of German proving of great service. He was twice mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatches, those of 14 Jan. and 31 May, and was killed in action near Bois Grenier, France, 20 March, 1915; unm. His yst. brother, 2nd Lieut. R. W. Fletcher, was killed 31 Oct. (see his notice).
FLEURY, LEOPOLD M’CLINTOCK, A.B., No. T.Z./359, C Coy., Hood Battn., R.N.V.R. (2nd R.N. Brigade), 5th s. of the Rev. Louis Richard Fleury, of 4, Seafield Terrace, Castle Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin, M.A., late Rector of Kilworth Parish and Chaplain to the Forces at Kilworth Camp and Moore Park, by his wife, Alice Dora, dau. of the late Rev. Canon Robert Gilbert Eccles, and grandson of Capt. John Franquefort Fleury, 36th Regt.; b. The Glebe, Kilworth, co. Cork, 25 Feb. 1892; educated privately, Elphin Grammar School, and Dublin, and having just completed his course of Marine Engineering on the Tyne when war broke out, volunteered in the Hood Battn., R.N.V.R., in Oct. 1914. He left England with that corps for the Dardanelles in March, 1915, and was killed in action there, 6 May, 1915, being shot through the brain; unm. A comrade wrote: “He is deeply missed, as he was such a fine fellow, and he was very much liked both by officers and men.” An elder brother, Assistant Paymaster Richard Chenevix Fleury, is (1916) on the Staff of Vice-Admiral Sir F. D. Sturdee, on board his Flagship in one of the Squadrons of the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, while his two yst. brothers, John Charles, 4th Battn. New Zealand Rifle Brigade, and Hugo Valentine, 95th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, are, respectively on active service in France and at Shorncliffe Camp, Kent.
FLINTOFF, ARTHUR JOHN, Private, No. 1121, 4th Battn. Australian Contingent, 5th s. of the late Churchill Flintoff, of Hill House, Alnwick, Dentist, by his wife, Susan H. (West House Haighington, Darlington), dau. of the Rev. Francis P. Gladwin Miss; b. Alnwick, co. Northumberland, 17 March, 1886; educ. Grammar School there, and Padcroft School, West Drayton; went to Australia in 1909, and on the outbreak of war joined the Australian Imperial Force, going to Egypt with the 4th Battn. in April, 1915, and shortly afterwards to the Dardanelles, where he was killed in action 1 May, 1915. He m. at Sydney, Australia, 13 June, 1913, Ida, dau. of the late (—) Reid; s.p.
FLINTOFT, JOHN WILLIAM, Private, No. 11658, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, eldest s. of John Flintoft, of Lastingham, Sinnington, Hull, Stonemason, by his wife Mary Jane, dau. of Charles Ward; b. Lastingham, co. York, 26 Nov. 1891; educ. Darley Memorial School; was an Asylum Attendant; enlisted, 7 Sept. 1914; went to France, 22 Jan. 1915, and died in No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station, Choques, 6 Feb. 1915, of wounds received in action. Buried in Choques Cemetery.
FLIPP, CHARLES COLLINS, S.P.O. (R.F.R., B. 3465), 294461, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FLITTER, JESSE, Private, No. 10056, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, s. of David Flitter, of Drury Lane, Mortimer, Reading, Labourer, by his wife, Ellen, dau. of James Bushnell, late 33rd Regt. of Foot (with 21 years 7 months service); b. Mortimer, co. Berks; educ. there; enlisted 31 March, 1913; went to the Front with his regt. in Aug. 1914; was wounded while assisting some wounded comrades 7 Sept., and died at No. 10, Station Hospital, Orleans, 4 Oct. 1914, of wounds received in action at the Marne; unm. He was buried in the Grand Cemetière, Orleans.
FLOCKHART, ADAM, Boy, 1st Class, J. 27403 (Ports.), H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FLOOD, ARTHUR HENRY, Corpl., No. 25671, 14th Battn. (1st Grenadier Guards of Montreal), Canadian Expeditionary Force, 5th s. of Samuel Flood, late of Balham, Carpenter and Joiner; by his wife, Sophia; b. Balham, London,] 7 Jan. 1891; educ. there; went to Canada in June, 1911, and was an engineer with the Marconi Wireless Co. in Montreal, and gained his N.C.O. certificate; volunteered after the outbreak of war, left Canada with the first contingent in Oct. 1914; trained on Salisbury Plain during the winter; went to France, 10 Feb. 1915, and was killed in action in the attack on Hill 60, 29 April, 1915. He m. at Montreal, 15 Aug. 1914, Jennie Bowes (Delorimier Avenue, Montreal), dau. of the late William Brown, of Auldtree, Townend, Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, Hairdresser; s.p. Two of his brothers—Leonard John and Charles Percy—are now (1916) serving in the Royal Navy, and a third brother, Walter Christopher, is in the Grenadier Guards of Montreal.
FLOOK, THOMAS EDWARD, Private, No. 3119, 15th Battn. (Civil Service Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), s. of Joseph Thomas Flook, of 56, Crooke Road, Deptford, S.E., Paperhanger (for 22 years a member of the 3rd Vol. Battn. Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regt.), by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of the late Thomas Lowe, Watchmaker and Jeweller, Citizen and Freeman of London; b. Rotherhithe, 2 June, 1893; educ. Deptford Park School and Christ’s Hospital, Horsham; and on leaving there became articled to Mr. William Strachan, F.S.A.A., of Messrs. Martin, Farlow & Co. He passed the preliminary examination in May, 1911, and took the first place and prize. At the intermediate examination in May, 1914, he was placed third, but was awarded the 1st prize, the first and second candidates being over age. After the outbreak of the war he joined the Civil Service Rifles in Sept. 1914, went to France, 17 March, 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, 24 May, 1915; unm. He went out with a party of about 60 at 2 o’clock in the morning to carry some trench mortar bombs up to the breastworks. The last piece of road was under frequent shell fire, and the party sustained several casualties, Flook and two others being killed. His body was subsequently recovered, and buried at Festubert by two of his old schoolfellows, and a cross, with an inscription, was erected over his grave. His Platoon Sergt. (W. B. Lambert) wrote: “He was one of my best men, keen, willing and coolly bold.” Two of his brothers are (1916) on active service.
FLOWER, WILLIAM EVELYN FRANCIS DI DELLE, Lieut., 6th Hauraki Regt., Auckland Battn., New Zealand Expeditionary Force, s. of the late George Flower, by his wife, Annie (Heatherleigh, Alexandra Road, Parkstone, Dorset); b. Maida Vale, London, 26 Jan. 1885; educ. Winchester College, joined the New Zealand Territorials in Oct. 1912; was appointed 2nd Lieut. 24 Feb. 1913; volunteered for Imperial service on the outbreak of war; left for Egypt in Oct.; was promoted Lieut. there and was killed in action during the landing at the Dardanelles, 25 April, 1915. He m. at Renwicktown, Marlborough, New Zealand, 12 May, 1913, Margaret Isobel (Gray Street, Shortland, Thames, New Zealand), dau. of James Brydon, and had issue a son, Richard Evelyn, b. Oamaru, New Zealand, 22 Feb. 1914.
FLOWERDAY, SAMUEL, A.B., 219736, H.M.S. Liberty; died of wounds received in the Heligoland Bight, 28 Aug. 1914.
FLOWERS, GEORGE, Joiner, 341781, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FLOYD, WILLIAM, Colour-Sergt., No 6350, Royal Marine L.I., Marine Brigade, Portsmouth Battn., only s. of the late William Floyd, of 25, Haymarket, London, and York Road, Weybridge, for over 30 years with Messrs. Garrads & Co., Crown Jewellers, by his wife, Martha (Yarborough Villa, Sandown, Isle of Wight), dau. of Henry Jones, of Westbury Leigh, Wilts; b. Pimlico, London, 1 Sept. 1873; educ. Weybridge, Surrey, and after working for a few years with a firm of Goldsmiths in London, joined the Royal Marines, 23 April, 1894. He became Colour-Sergt. 1909, left England for France with Marine Brigade in the early days of the war, and returned to Dover after the fall of Antwerp; went to the Dardanelles the following March, took part in the landing there 25–26 April, and was killed in action, 10 June, 1915; unm. An officer wrote that “he felt he had lost a brother, let alone a comrade, as they had been together since the formation of the Battn.”; and another officer wrote of him as “a gallant and well-beloved old soldier whom the whole Battn. mourned.”
FLUCKER, THOMAS, A.B., 213727, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.
FLUKE, ARTHUR CHARLES, Lieut., 116th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, elder s. of Arthur John Fluke, of Nunnery Road, Canterbury, by his wife, Sarah; b. Nasirabad, India, 9 Sept. 1891; educ. King’s School, Canterbury, and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; gazetted 2nd Lieut., 19 July, 1912, and promoted Lieut. shortly before his death; went to France, 14 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Cuinchy, 10 Jan. 1915; unm. He met his death while rallying some men of another regt., their own officers having all been killed or wounded. Lieut. Fluke, with one N.C.O., stuck to his mortar, and continued to work it till it was put out of action, although he himself was wounded in four places, and then, unarmed and wounded as he was, he rallied the men who had been driven out of their trenches and led them back to the attack, only to fall himself by the fifth and fatal wound at the moment of success. Capt. Guy B. Oliver wrote: “I felt I must write you a few lines to tell how very greatly I feel for you in the terrible loss you have sustained. I am the only representative now in the Battery who has been with it since the beginning of the war, and before that at Aldershot, and the loss of your brave son has been a great personal loss to me, and as I know to all ranks in the Battery, for his presence had helped to reduce the various trials of this campaign. Much as we deplore his loss, the Battery is proud in the knowledge of the very gallant way your son conducted himself, and it is very sad indeed to think that he has not been spared to enjoy the honour he so richly deserved. Major Charlton has, I know, written to you and given you details. I am so sorry that none of us were with him at the last, but, as you know, the particular work he was on took him right away from the Battery. From what I can gather, he cannot have suffered much, and his death must have been almost instantaneous.” He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 31 May, 1915, and Major C. A. Graham Charlton, Commanding 116th Battery, wrote he “was killed yesterday evening in rallying some men of the 60th Rifles, who were driven out of their trenches after all their officers had been killed or wounded. I have not heard many details yet, but, from what I hear, your son behaved in a very gallant manner, and, had he been spared, I am sure his heroism would have been rewarded. Many artillery officers have been trained in the use of trench mortars, and yesterday afternoon an order came for your son to proceed to the front trenches, occupied by the 60th Rifles, with one of these mortars. He had an artillery non-commissioned officer with him. There had been an attack earlier in the day, when this particular trench had been taken from the Germans. After dark the latter counter-attacked, and the 60th were driven out of their forward trenches after all their officers had been killed or wounded. Your son, however, with his N.C.O., stuck to his mortar and continued to work it, although he was wounded in four places. The mortar was then put out of action, and he then, wounded as he was, rallied some men of the 60th and led them back to the attack. He died, being wounded in five places. I cannot tell you how much all his brother officers feel his loss, and on behalf of them I send you our deepest sympathy. The only consolation I can offer you in your great sorrow is that he died a noble and gallant death, a credit to his Battery and his regt.” He was in the XI and XV at King’s School, Canterbury. He was third in the batting averages in 1908 with 38·23, second in 1909 with 30·11. and first in 1910 with 39·40. He was also in the XI at Woolwich, and was a member of the famous Woolwich Rugby XV in 1911, which K. F. Q. Perkins, of the Engineers, captained.
FLUX, HENRY JOHN, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9068), S.S. 2129, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FLUX, HENRY JOHN, Leading Cook’s Mate, M. 65, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FLYNN, JAMES, Stoker, R.N.R., 1894T, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FOLEY, MARTIN, Private, No. 19717, 10th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of James Foley, of Kilmurry, Kenmare, co. Kerry, Shoemaker, by his wife, Margaret; b. Killarney, co. Kerry, 15 June, 1874; educ. there; went to Canada, 10 May, 1911, settled at Brandon, Manitoba, was a Butcher; enlisted, 4 Sept. 1914; went to France, 1 Feb. 1915, and was killed in action there, 21 May, 1915. He m. at Kenmare, 2 Sept. 1902, Elizabeth, dau. of Timothy Callaghan, and had five children: James, b. 8 Sept. 1903; Timothy, b. 20 Sept. 1904; Mary Angela, b. 15 Sept. 1906; Margaret, b. 20 June, 1908; and Elizabeth, b. 10 April, 1911.
FOLEY, THOMAS ALGERNON FITZGERALD, Lieut., 1st Battn. The Norfolk Regt., only s. of the late Vice-Admiral Francis John Foley, by his wife, Frances Jane (The Moat, Britford, Salisbury), dau. of De La Bère P. Blayne, and gdson. of Admiral the Hon. Fitzgerald Algernon Charles Foley [4th s. of Thomas, 3rd Baron Foley, P.C.]; b. Egerton Gardens, London, S.W., 29 Dec. 1889; and went to Eton (Mr. F. H. Rawlins’ and Mr. H. de Havilland’s Houses) in 1904. There he was in the Army Class, took prizes for history, mathematics, etc., and was in the O.T.C. From Eton he passed direct into the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1908, passing first in order of merit in the Junior Trials; he was in the revolver team in 1909 which won many competitions, and he himself made the highest score against Woolwich. He passed sixth out of Sandhurst and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. in The Norfolk Regt. 18 Sept. 1909, joining the 1st Battn. at Brentwood, from which it went to Aldershot; there he shot successfully in several of the Aldershot rifle meetings, and was in the company’s team for the Inter-Regimental Grand Challenge Shield, which they retained, and was promoted Lieut. 14 Oct. 1911. On 3 Aug. 1914, his battn. being then at Holywood, Belfast, he was sent to take charge of Grey Point Fort; on the 6th he was recalled for mobilisation to his battn., and sailed with it for the Front, 14 Aug. 1914, landing at Havre. The battn. almost immediately proceeded to Dour in Belgium and was in action there. He took part in the retreat from Mons, and was in every action after proceeding to Dour, including Le Cateau, the Marne and the Aisne, till he fell at Festubert on 25 Oct. 1914. The following account of the circumstances of his death was given by the Colonel and others: “He had just made a most gallant advance to the trenches with his men under a very heavy fire, and had reached there safely. He was in the very foremost of the British lines when he fell, and he died at the head of his men, driving back a most desperate attack by overwhelming numbers of the enemy. He was buried, like a soldier, where he fell. The actual place where he was laid to rest is close to the most advanced trenches, as our line in that part of the battlefield has not advanced a yard since the day when he fell gallantly defending it.” Lieut. Foley was a keen soldier, an excellent shot and horseman. He was unm.
FOLEY, THOMAS FRANCIS, Sick Berth Attendant, M. 5213, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FOLJAMBE, HUBERT FRANCIS FITZWILLIAM BRABAZON, Major, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 3rd s. of the Right Hon. Francis John Savile Foljambe, P.C., by his wife, Lady Gertrude Emily, née Acheson. eldest dau. of Archibald, 3rd Earl of Gosford, K.P.; b. in London, 16 Nov. 1872; educ. Eton; gazetted to the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 6 March, 1895, and promoted Lieut., 18 Feb. 1898, Captain, 20 July, 1901, and Major, 17 July, 1912. He served in the South African War, 1900–2; took part in the operations in Natal, May, 1900, also in those in the Transvaal, 30 Nov. 1900, to 31 May, 1902, and was for some time Commandant at Helvetia. For his services he was awarded the Queen’s medal with two clasps and the King’s medal with two clasps. When the European War broke out, Major Foljambe went out with the first Expeditionary Force in Aug. 1914; served through the retreat from Mons, and was killed in action on the Aisne, 14 Sept. 1914. Our troops had crossed the river and he was leading his men in a flanking movement when he fell. Major Foljambe was a typical regimental officer and Company Commander, sincerely attached to his men and by them deeply loved and implicitly trusted. His Colour-Sergt. wrote: “He was killed instantly. He was brave and I miss him. The men all loved him.” He was a good shot and rider, and a very keen cricketer, and played for the Eton Ramblers, Free Foresters and “Greenjackets.” He m. at Sprotborough, co. York, 16 Nov. 1909, Gladys, dau. of Gen. Robert Calverley Alington Bewicke-Copley, of Sprotborough Hall, co. York, C.B., J.P., D.L., and had a son, John Savile, b. 6 Oct. 1911.
FOLLOWS, ARTHUR, Private, No. 11742, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, s. of Richard Follows, of Sunny Bank, Ansley Village, near Atherstone, Miner; b. Norton Canes, co. Stafford; educ. Church Schools there; enlisted 9 Sept. 1914, and was killed in action at Guinchy, 25 Jan. 1915, the same day as his brother Richard, who had enlisted with him; unm.
FOLLOWS, RICHARD, Private, No. 11743, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, s. of Richard Follows, of Sunny Bank, Ansley Village, near Atherstone, Miner; b. Norton Canes, co. Stafford; educ. King Edward’s Grammar School, Nuneaton; enlisted 9 Sept. 1914, and was killed in action at Guinchy, 25 Jan. 1915, the same day as his brother Arthur, who had enlisted with him; unm.
FOOT, THOMAS, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4259), S.S. 102948, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FOOTITT, JACK FREDERICK LIONEL, Boy, 1st Class, J. 27414, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FORBES, DUNCAN, Corpl., No. 1003, D Coy., 12th Battn. 3rd Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, 5th s. of Roderick Forbes, of Muirton Cottage, Fairburn, Muir of Ord, Ross-shire, Gamekeeper, by his wife, Jessie, dau. of the late Duncan McKay, of Knockfarrel, Dingwall; b. Fairburn, aforesaid, 6 Jan. 1892; educ. Marybank School, Urray, Ross-shire; went to Western Australia in Oct. 1910, and settled at Pingelly; volunteered on the outbreak of war, and joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force; left for Egypt with the main force, was promoted Corpl., 25 April, 1915; landed at the Dardanelles, 25 April, 1915, and was killed there, 25 May, 1915, while returning to the trenches from patrol duty; unm. He was buried in Anzac Cove. Corpl. Forbes was mentioned in despatches by Gen. Sir Ian Hamilton for gallant and distinguished conduct in the field. Capt. J. A. W. Kayser, the Officer Commanding his Company, wrote: “Duncan was under my command since I took over the command, and my report on him is that he was a brave, trustworthy, honourable soldier and gentleman, and I cannot speak too highly of the way he carried out every mission entrusted to him”; and Archdeacon Richard, Chaplain, 12th Battn.: “His Company Commander told me yesterday, ‘I have lost one of my most reliable men. I have known him for nine months and I have never heard him say or seen him do anything that was unbefitting the character of a true soldier.’ His brother, T. Finlay Forbes, Private, No. 998, who enlisted in the same Company with him, has been missing since 2 May, 1915, and three other brothers are (1916) on active service, one being a 2nd Lieut. in the 1st Seaforths.
FORBES, GEORGE FRANCIS REGINALD, Lieut.-Col. Commanding 1st Battn. The Royal Irish Regt., eldest s. of the late Col. the Hon. William Francis Forbes, Resident Magistrate at the Curragh, by his wife, Phillis Gabriella, 2nd dau. of John Rowe, of Ballycross, co. Wexford, D.L., and grandson of George, 6th Earl of Granard; b. Castle Forbes, co. Longford, 6 Sept. 1866; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Royal Irish Regt. (which was raised by the 1st Earl of Granard in 1684) from the Militia, 6 July, 1889, and promoted Lieut., 25 March, 1891; Captain, 30 Jan. 1895; Major, 7 Sept. 1904; and Lieut.-Col., 12 March, 1912. He served through the Tirah Campaign, 1897–8, including operations on the Samana, and received the medal with two clasps; was Adjutant of the Bombay-Baroda Railway Volunteers, 17 May, 1899, to 16 May, 1904, and Staff Capt. No. 12 (South Irish) District, 1 June, 1905, to 31 May, 1909. He succeeded to the command of the 1st Battn., then serving in India, 12 March, 1912, and after the outbreak of war came home with his regt., Nov. 1914; went to France, 18 Dec. 1914, and died at Bailleul, 17 March, 1915, of wounds received at St. Eloi three days previously, and was buried at Bailleul. Col. Forbes was mentioned in Field-Marshal Sir John French’s despatch of 31 May, 1915, for distinguished conduct. He m. at Windsor, 4 Aug. 1904, Agnes Margaret, dau. of the late Walter Ewing Crum, of Thornliebank, Renfrewshire, and had a son, Walter Arthur Hastings Forbes, b. 18 Dec. 1905.
FORBES, SPENCER DUNDAS, Commander, R.N., yr. s. of the late George Edward Forbes, of Colinton, Queensland, by his wife, Louisa Lillias (4, Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh), dau. of Archibald Trotter, of Dreghorn, co. Midlothian; b. at Keswick, 29 May, 1874; educ. at St. Ninian’s, Moffat; Aysgarth, Yorks; and at Mr. Littlejohns’; entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in 1887, and became a Midshipman two years later, serving in the Cordelia, on the Australian station, Feb. 1889, and in the Immortalité, in the Channel Squadron, Oct. 1891. As an acting Sub-Lieut. he was lent to the Galatea for the naval manœuvres of July, 1894, and in Feb. 1895, was confirmed as Sub-Lieut. and appointed to the Collingwood, on the Mediterranean Station. He became a Lieut. 30 Sept. 1896, and in the following month was transferred to the Melita on the same station. For nearly four years he was associated with the training service, as watch-keeper in the Volage, Dec. 1898, and in the Juno, Oct. 1899 (both in the training squadron), and as 1st Lieut. in the Cruiser, sailing training vessel for ordinary seamen in the Mediterranean, April, 1900, to Aug. 1902. After a short course at Whale Island he was first and (G.) of the Hermes in the Channel Fleet and as tender to the Royal Naval College, Osborne, April, 1903, and of the Eclipse, which relieved her in the latter duty, Jan. 1906. On 31 Dec. 1907 he was promoted Commander, and served in the Suffolk, in the Mediterranean Cruiser Squadron, from April, 1908, to May, 1910. In Sept. 1910, he joined the war course at Portsmouth, which was followed by a course at the Military Staff College, Camberley, Jan. to June, 1911. He was Commander of the London, as flagship of Rear-Admiral Cradock in the Atlantic Fleet, Aug. 1911, and of the Hibernia, as flagship of the same officer and of Rear-Admiral Thursby in the Third Battle Squadron, May, 1912, to Aug. 1913. During the last four months of 1913 he was member of a Committee, presided over by Rear-Admiral Hood, on the question of training young seamen and boys in sea-going ships. Previous to her being commissioned by Capt. Brandt at the end of July, he commanded the Monmouth, in the Third Fleet at Devonport, from 30 Jan. 1914, and went down in her when, with the Good Hope, Rear-Admiral Cradock’s flagship, she was lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. He m. at Malta, 21 Feb. 1913, Ethel, yst. dau. of Col. Selby Walker, late of the Black Watch, and had a son, Spencer Malcolm Edward, b. 17 Nov. 1914.
FORD, ATHOLE STANLEY, Rifleman, No. 1993, 16th Battn. (Queen’s Westminster Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), only s. of Stanley Ford, of 1, Ardlui Road, West Norwood, S.E., by his wife, Mary Elizabeth, dau. of William Armstrong; b. Dulwich, S.E., 9 March, 1896; educ. Dulwich College, where he was a corpl. in the O.T.C. and a member of the “Gym” Six; joined the Queen’s Westminsters for foreign service, 6 Aug. 1914, the day following the declaration of war; trained at Hemel Hempstead, went to France, 1 Nov. 1914, and was killed in action at Hooge, 9 Aug. 1915. One of his officers wrote that he “made a fine, plucky little soldier and was universally popular”; and his Corpl.: “He was a good lad, a fearless soldier, a splendid comrade—one I was proud to call my friend. By his courage, sympathy and cheerfulness, even under the most trying circumstances during all these months, he endeared himself to us all, and deeply we feel his loss.”
FORD, FRANCIS JOHN, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., 3592), 196782, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FORD, FRANK, Private, No. 6713, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, only s. of the late Elijah Ford, by his wife, Emily Jane (Bathpool, near Taunton), dau. of John Wilkins, of West Monkton, Somerset; b. Gosport, co. Hants, 21 March, 1888; educ. West Monkton, Somerset; enlisted 22 March, 1906, and served seven years with the Colours, then going to the Reserve. He joined the Cardiff City Police, and prior to the war was stationed at Canton. On mobilisation he rejoined, left Windsor for France on the last day of Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Ypres, 25 Oct. 1914; unm.
FORD, GEORGE, Stoker, P.O., 285093, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FORD, HORACE FISHER (“RED”), Private, No 12982, 5th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, eldest s. of George Robert Fitzroy Ford, of 2, Cavendish Mansions, Langham Street, W., by his first wife, Charlotte Diana, dau. of the late Capt. John Kendall, 4th West Yorkshire Regt.; b. Hitchin, co. Herts, 14 Dec. 1889; educ. privately; The Roan School, Greenwich, and St. Francis Xavier’s College, Bruges; went to Canada in 1906, and settled at Moose Jaw, and had been Sporting Editor of the “Moose Jaw Morning News” since 1912, and was, according to his editor, responsible for the initiation of clean sport into Western Canada. It was in the Y.M.C.A. building at Moose Jaw where his influence for good athletics was most felt. After the declaration of war he enlisted in the 27th Light Horse, under his friend Col. Tuxford, afterwards transferring with him to the 5th Battn.; left for England with the first contingent in Oct. 1914; went to the Front, 7 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, 24 May, 1915. Col. Tuxford wrote of him: “His conduct was always good and he never gave trouble; during the Battle of Festubert, when we took the German trenches and machine-gun emplacement at a cost of nearly 400 casualties, a position that had been attempted on three previous occasions by other units and failed; Ford was wounded, not seriously, and was walking down the trench to the dressing station when another shell caught and killed him. His death was instantaneous;” and in his letter to the “Moose Jaw Morning News,” chronicling the events of the Battle of Festubert, he said: “Private Ford came to me to enlist, and said he was determined in his course and that I could rely on him to ‘play the game.’ He died as he declared to me in my office ‘playing the game.’” The “Winnipeg Telegram” said: “‘Red’ Ford was a character of the great West, and in the days to come he will be remembered as a first-class sporting editor, a fighter and a hero.” His brother, Ernest Kendall Ford, is a Sub-Lieut. in the Royal Naval Division.
FORD, PERCY GORDEN, Rifleman, No. 3250, 9th Battn. (Queen Victoria Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F), 2nd s. of John William Fletcher Ford, of 57, Friday Street, London, E.C., and Rozel, Roydon, Essex, Linen Merchant, by his wife, Catherine, dau. of Thomas Strout; b. Hornsey, London, 11 Sept. 1891; educ. Tollingham School and Christ’s College, Finchley; was a Traveller; joined the Queen Victoria Rifles immediately on the outbreak of war, in Aug. 1914; went to France, 14 Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Hill 60, Flanders, 24 April, 1915; unm. A comrade wrote: “He was in hospital when we went up to Hill 60, but joined us up there in the dug-outs when we had been relieved from the firing line. I remember him, Claude, coming up to me and saying, as we shook hands, ‘By Jove, Ashford, old man, I’m glad to see you; you fellows have had a rough time.’ Not a word about the narrow escape he had had with our transport in Ypres. We left on the Thursday morning, 10 men at a time; they were shelling us and it was dangerous to offer too large a target. We assembled outside the hospital at Ypres and Smith-Dorrien inspected us. We marched back to huts as we thought to a well-earned rest. The huts were not completed and we had to bivouac. About 6.30 p.m. we saw the French coming pell mell across country, a regular rout, we spoke to them and found they were retreating. We had to fall in and dig ourselves in by hedges in some fields near. We did not know which way the Germans were supposed to be coming, and had to change our position three times during the night. We were fagged out and had had no proper sleep since the Saturday previous—we couldn’t get much at Hill 60. At about 2.30 a.m. we had orders to stop digging; marched back some way and spent the remainder of the night in a field. In the morning we had to sit in ditches along the road, in order to be out of sight of aeroplanes, awaiting orders. The cookers came up and we had some tea, I remember as well as if it were yesterday; Percy gave me some of his condensed milk, and I sat down beside him and we laughingly arranged to go to Golder’s Green in the afternoon. Shortly afterwards we had to march off with the rest of the 13th Brigade, to which we were attached. We were in support on the banks of the Yser. The Canadians had driven the Germans back after the French retreat. During the night we had to go up to the firing line, but only for a few hours. The morning of Saturday found us on the banks of the Yser, awaiting orders. We had dug ourselves in as a protection against shrapnel. We moved off about 11 o’clock in single file along the banks of Yser, towards Ypres, then we cut inland and gradually wound our way forward, moving in zig-zag manner, taking as much advantage of hedges, etc., as we could. Shells were flying all around, but Percy was there then, and that was Saturday. Amy tells me you were told Friday; I feel certain that it was Saturday. Well, we must have marched about 3 to 4 miles and we then got right into the thick of it, it was raining shells. We deployed and were told to take shelter behind some semicircular parapets. The Germans seemed to have them taped and dropped shells right in amongst us. It was flat country and evidently they could see us approaching and shelled us very heavily indeed, the air was thick with shells. We advanced by short stages about 100 yards, and then I got hit by a shell in the right shoulder, and missed Percy then; he was in the right half platoon and I was in the left half, so that we got separated. Those that were comparatively lightly wounded were the fortunate ones, Claude. I am sorry that I cannot give you more news of Percy; the last I saw of him was coolly smoking a cigarette as we marched along over those fields in that awful hail of shells.” He was junior sidesman in the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Finchley.
FORD, ROBERT JOHN, Private, R.M.L.I., 15137 (R.F.R., B. 1785), H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FORD, WILLIAM FRANK, A.B., 212470, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FORD, WILLIAM GEORGE, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 1469), 211586, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FOREMAN, SAMUEL JOHN, Private, No. 1713, 12th Battn., Australian Imperial Force, 3rd s. of the late Samuel Foreman, Carter, by his wife, Anne; b. Ladywood, Birmingham, 27 Feb. 1875; educ. Foundry Road Board School there; went to Australia, and was an employee with the Commonwealth Salt Company in Kangaroo Island; enlisted shortly after the outbreak of war, and died at the 10th Australian Clearing Station, 14 June, 1915, of wounds received in action; unm.
FOREST, HENRY SCOTT, Private, No. 41781, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 5th s. of John Forest, of Coaticook, Quebec, Canada, Farmer and Teamster, by his wife, Mary Ann, dau. of Neil McGeehan; b. Coaticook, Quebec, 8 Oct. 1897; educ. Coaticook Academy; enlisted July, 1914; left Canada with the first contingent; trained on Salisbury Plain during the winter; went to France, Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Ypres, 25 April, 1915; unm. Buried on the St. Julien Road.
FORFEITT, FREDERICK WILLIAM LAWSON, Private, No. 2739, 1st Battn. Hertfordshire Regt. (T.F.), only s. of Frederick Joseph Forfeitt, of Medburn, Elstree, A.C.P., Schoolmaster, by his wife, Lucy Jane, dau. of Charles Cooper; b. Elstree, co. Herts, 22 July, 1889; educ. Medburn School (his father’s), and St. Alban’s School (Scholar and Member of the Cadet Corps), and on leaving there entered Messrs. Barclay’s Bank, St. Albans. After the outbreak of war he joined the 1st Hertfordshire Regt. 4 Sept. 1914, went to the Front 5 Nov. following, and died 20 May, 1915, of wounds received in action at Festubert the previous day; and was buried in Bethune Cemetery; unm. A letter from a comrade showed that he met his death in a most gallant fashion. His friend had been killed near him, and though sorely wounded he said: “Never mind me, have a look at poor old ‘Mal,’ I’m afraid he’s gone.” Another wrote: “I have never known a man bear a wound more bravely than he”; and his Capt., writing later, described him as being “much loved by us all, and one of the bravest men in his company.”
FORREST, JOHN, Private, No. 13451, 12th (Service) Battn. The Royal Scots, eldest s. of Robert Forrest, Engine Driver, by his wife, Isabella, dau. of Hugh Fraser; b. Leith, 4 Aug. 1890; educ. St. Thomas School, Leith; was a Riveter at Ramage & Ferguson’s; enlisted soon after the outbreak of war, 2 Sept. 1914; went to France, 11 May, 1915, and died of wounds received in action at Loos, 25 Aug. following; unm. 2nd Lieut. R. B. Stewart wrote: “Your son was wounded last night when he along with some others was carrying out a difficult piece of work in front of our trenches.... He was a fine and plucky fellow and a man in whom I could place my implicit trust. He was always one of the first to volunteer if there was any ‘ticklish’ work to be done.”
FORREST, WILLIAM LYON, Third Writer, M. 2759, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FORRESTER, ADRIAN ANDREW, M.B., Fleet Surgeon, H.M.S. Implacable, only s. of William Forrester, of Glenmiln, Campsie Glen, co. Stirling, by his wife, Jessie Ann Hill, dau. of Archibald MacFarlane; b. Glenmiln, afsd., 20 Jan. 1874; educ. Larchfield, Helensburgh, co. Dumbarton, and Glasgow University, graduating M.B. in 1897; entered the Navy as a Surgeon, 8 Nov. 1898; and was promoted Staff Surgeon, 8 Nov. 1906, and Fleet Surgeon, 8 Nov. 1914. He was appointed to H.M.S. Implacable in Feb. 1914, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles 25 April, 1915. He married at Sydney, N.S.W., 20 Jan. 1904, Ruby Westwood, dau. of Charles Andrew Guesdon, of Hobart, Tasmania, and had a dau., Thelma Westwood b. 10 March, 1905.
FORRINGTON, CHARLES HOARE, Signalman, J. 10092, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FORSTER, ANDREW FORRESTER, Private, No. 1713, 11th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, 2nd s. of William Forster, of Mainsoflaig, Newluce, co. Wigtown, Farmer; b. Brownknowe, Nicolforest, co. Cumberland, 17 Sept. 1887; educ. Newluce and Stramuir; went to Australia; volunteered on the outbreak of war and joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, 16 Aug. 1914; went to the Dardanelles and was killed in action there, 17 May, 1915, and buried behind the trenches; unm.
FORSYTH, ARCHIBALD JAMES, L.-Corpl., No. 10/1054, 9th (Hawkes Bay) Wellington Infantry Battn., New Zealand Expeditionary Force, s. of Archibald William Forsyth, of Gisborne, New Zealand [a native of Scotland]; b. Frasertown, Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, 6 Feb. 1894; educ. Frasertown, and High School, Gisborne, at which latter he passed the Junior Civil Service, and matriculated, gaining a first in Hawkes Bay Education Board. On leaving there he started teaching, and when war broke out was Assistant Master at Patutahi School, Gisborne. He was a Territorial and immediately volunteered and joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force; left with the main body for Egypt in Oct.; took part in the landing at the Dardanelles, 25–26 April, and was killed in action there at Walker’s Ridge, 29 April following; unm. Chaplain Major Grant (since killed) wrote: “His time of service was soon over, but he was of the heroic band who climbed and conquered this hill.”
FORSYTH, PETER, A.B., J. 19371, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.
FORTES, THOMAS, Sergt., No. 7687, 1st Battn. East Yorkshire Regt., s. of Harry Fortes, of 4, Clark’s Pace, Wilbert Lane, Beverley, by his wife, Mary Kidd, dau. of Philip Spencer; b. Cherry Tree Terrace, Grove Hill Road, Beverley, 25 Oct. 1888; educ. Minster School there; enlisted in the East Yorkshire Regt., 20 Nov. 1903, and joined the 1st Battn. at Shorncliffe; after a few months was drafted to the 2nd Battn. in Burmah, with which he served first in Burmah and after 1909, in India, till 1913, when he came home and rejoined the 1st Battn. at York. He was promoted Sergt., 6 June, 1914, and after the outbreak of war, went to France with the Expeditionary Force, 10 Sept., and was killed in action at Parride Hill, 28 Oct. 1914. He m. at Shorncliffe, 1904, Louisa, dau. of Henry Kent; s.p. His brother, Private William Fortes, No. 7651, was with him in this engagement and is still (1916) on active service.
FORTUNE, JAMES, Private, No. 6844, 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, 4th s. of the late Henry Fortune, of Foxham, co. Wilts, Platelayer on the Great Western Railway, by his wife, Hannah (Little Alne, Wooten Wowen, Birmingham), dau. of the late George Lovelock; b. Foxham, 5 Dec. 1887; educ. there; enlisted July, 1906, and served seven years with the colours, including two in Egypt, when he passed into the Reserve and obtained employment at Farnborough. On mobilisation he rejoined, went to the Front 12 Aug. 1914, served through the retreat from Mons and the subsequent engagements, on the Aisne and the Marne, and was killed instantaneously at Rentel, by a bullet while on sentry duty 27 Oct. 1914; unm. While living at Farnborough he was connected with the Gospel Mission and was an earnest worker and devoted Sunday School teacher.
FOSTER, ARCHIBALD COURTENAY HAYES, Lieut., Hampshire Regt., attd. 4th King’s African Rifles, 4th s. of the late Montagu H. Foster, of Stubbington House, Fareham, co. Hants, by his wife, Mary Henrietta Foster (The Lodge, Stubbington, Fareham), dau. of the Rev. Richard Foster Carter; b. Stubbington House afsd., 19 May, 1886; educ. Stubbington House and Cheltenham; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Hampshire Regt. 24 Jan. 1906; promoted Lieut. 19 Oct. 1907, and seconded for service with the King’s West African Rifles, 8 Oct. 1913; took part in the Jubaland campaign, 1914, and was killed in action at Marabu, British East Africa, 19 Sept. 1914; unm. It appears from the official report of this action that on the night of 6 Sept. orders were given for Lieut. Foster and A Coy. King’s African Rifles to start at dawn and regain touch with the enemy, Lieuts. Phillips and Hardingham, with 80 King’s African Rifles, to support him. No sign of the enemy was seen on the 7th or 8th. On the 19th the three section A Coy. 4th King’s African Rifles (Lieut. Foster, King’s African Rifles), with one maxim, one section Somali Mounted Infantry (Capt. Isaacson, East African Rifles, and Lieut. Miles, East African Mounted Rifles), “were occupying Campa Ya Marabu. The Somalis and mules were occupying a thorn boma ‘A.’ and the King’s African Rifles a similar boma ‘B.’ It was arranged between Capt. Isaacson and Lieut. Foster that, in case of attack, the mules were to be taken out of the boma ‘A’ and crossed over to the north bank of River Mol Turesh at point ‘D’ through bushes at point ‘E.’ A picquet, composed of Somalis, was posted at point ‘G.’ At 5.30 a.m. the enemy advancing up the river came into touch with the picquet at ‘G.’ Capt. Isaacson immediately ordered the mules across the river and then proceeded towards the picquet, shortly afterwards meeting a wounded Somali retiring on the boma, who reported the enemy to be in strength. The enemy, estimated at three or four white officers and rank and file, had now opened out on either side of the track at point ‘G’ and kept up a heavy fire; seven of the mules were hit in crossing the river. Lieut. Foster, on being informed that the enemy’s strength was only about 100, ordered his company to advance to bushes ‘E’—one section King’s African Rifles, one section Somalis, two sections King’s African Rifles on the right, with Capt. Isaacson and Lieut. Miles. The enemy kept up a very heavy fire to our front and left. As our men reached point ‘E’ Lieut. Foster was hit, but continued to urge on his men in a very gallant manner.... The whole action lasted about two hours, and from reports received later from the Masai the enemy appear to have retired in disorder.... This little action was fought with spirit and determination. Lieut. Foster died a gallant death, and the British officers and rank and file of the Somali section and A Coy. 4th King’s African Rifles gave him courageous support.”
FOSTER, ARTHUR CEDRIC, 2nd Lieut., 1st Battn. Grenadier Guards, yr. s. of Capt. Arthur Wellesley Foster, of Brockhampton Court, co. Hereford, M.A., J.P., D.L., T.D., late Master of the South Herefordshire Foxhounds (now serving as Brigade Instructor of Musketry, attd. to the Staffordshire Infantry Brigade), by his wife, Alice Madeline, dau. of the late Eben Dyer Jordan, of Boston, U.S.A.; b. Caton Green, co. Lancaster, 26 April, 1891; educ. at Remenham, Eton, and Exeter College, Oxford; entered the Diplomatic Service in Feb. 1914, and was for some time Hon. Attaché to the British Legation at Stockholm. When the European War broke out he was home on leave, and obtaining his release from the Foreign Office, volunteered and joined the Public Schools Battn., 18 Sept. 1914, from which he was gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Grenadier Guards, 24 Oct. following. He went to France, 12 Jan. 1915; was wounded in action at Neuve Chapelle, 11 March, 1915, and died in Merville Hospital the following day; unm. He was buried in Merville Churchyard. He was a good all-round athlete, and at Eton won both the Junior and Senior Long Jump, the latter in 1909, when he created a record of 20 ft. 1 in. He also played frequently for the Hereford County Cricket Club. His brother, Lieut. Cuthbert Foster, R.M.A., is (1916) on active service.
FOSTER, DAVID, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9343), S.S. 106620, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FOSTER, FREDERICK, Petty Officer, 1st Class, R.N.V.R. (Sussex), 298, H.M.S. Hawke, s. of John Foster, of 4, Nelson Road, Hastings; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FOSTER, HERBERT KNOLLYS, 2nd Lieut., 1st Battn. Gloucester Regt., only s. of the Rev. Herbert Charles Foster, T.D., Vicar of Groombridge, co. Sussex, and Hon. Canon of Gloucester Cathedral, by his wife, Susan Edith, dau. of Rev. Prebendary Robert Shuttleworth Sutton, of Winkenhurst, Hellingly, formerly Rector of Rye, Sussex; b. All Saints’ Vicarage, Gloucester, 18 Oct. 1895; educ. Glyngarth Preparatory School, Cheltenham, Marlborough College, and Sandhurst; obtained his commission in the 1st Battn. Gloucester Regt. 8 Aug. 1914; went to France, 20 Sept. 1914, and was killed in action at Gheluvelt, near Ypres, Flanders, 29 Oct. 1914; unm.
FOSTER, JOHN, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 8497), S.S. 104740, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FOSTER, JOHN THOMAS, L.-Corpl., No. 12374, 10th (Service) Battn. Durham Light Infantry, eldest s. of Robert Foster, of 28, Wear Street, Southwick-on-Wear, Shipwright, by his wife, Dorothy Ann, dau. of John Rames; b. Southwick, co. Durham, 15 July, 1886; educ. National School there; was employed in a shipyard at Sunderland; enlisted 10 Aug. 1914; trained in Surrey, went to the Front in May and was killed in action in France, 31 July, 1915, and buried at Sanctuary Wood, near the dressing station; unm.
FOSTER, LAURENCE TALBOT LISLE, Lieut., 16th (Service) Battn. Durham Light Infantry, 4th s. of the Rev. Albert John Foster, Vicar of Wootton and Rural Dean of Haynes, by his wife, Edith Margaret, dau. of the Rev. T. A. Voules, Rector of Beercrocombe, Somerset: b. Wootton Vicarage, co. Bedford, 15 Feb. 1885; educ. Eastbourne College (Scholar); was a Forest Manager in the Bombay and Burma Trading Corporation; gazetted Lieut. 16th Durham L.I., 21 Nov. 1914; left England for the Dardanelles, 12 May, 1915, was attd. to the 5th Manchesters, and was killed in action at Anafarta 7 Aug. 1915; unm. His Colonel wrote: “As an officer he was splendid, always steadily doing his duty and quite fearless. He led his men with the utmost bravery, and was killed, as he would have liked to have been, at the head of his men, and without suffering. He is a great loss to the Battn. and you have every right to be proud of him, as we are.”
FOSTER, ROBERT, Private, No. 8/137, Otago Infantry Battn. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, yst. s. of the late Edward Foster, of Lowburn Ferry, by his wife, Christine (Lowburn Ferry, via Cromwell, Central Otago, New Zealand), dau. of George Dalziell, of Shetland; b. Lowburn aforesaid, 10 Aug. 1894; educ. Lowburn Public School, and was engaged in farming. He volunteered for Imperial service six days after the declaration of war, joined the Otago Infantry Battn., 11 Aug. 1914, and left New Zealand with the main body. He took part in the landing at the Dardanelles on 25 April, and remained in the trenches until 4 Aug. 1915, on which day he was killed in action. His second brother, William, died on active service (see following notice), and his eldest and now only surviving brother is now (1916) on active service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
FOSTER, WILLIAM, Trooper, No. 9/698, Otago Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 2nd s. of the late Edward Foster, of Lowburn Ferry, by his wife, Christina (Lowburn Ferry, via Cromwell, Central Otago, New Zealand), dau. of George Dalziell, of Shetland (see preceding notice); b. Dunedin, 25 May, 1888; educ. Lowburn Public School; volunteered for Imperial service after the outbreak of war, and joined the Otago Mounted Rifles, 10 Oct. 1914; left New Zealand with the second reinforcements and landed at Anzac on his 27th birthday. He served in the trenches for three months, when he was removed to Malta suffering from pneumonia, and afterwards contracted enteric fever and died at St. Andrew’s Hospital there, after four months’ illness, 16 Nov. 1915; unm. He was well known as a footballer, and before the declaration of war was for some years one of the representatives for Vincent County in the interprovincial Rugby matches.
FOTHERINGHAM, ALEXANDER BOYNE, Leading Seaman, No. 2/2693, Anson Battn. R.N., yr. s. of John Fotheringham, of 34, Dudley Avenue, Leith, Baker, by his wife, Mary Ann, dau. of Alexander Boyne; b. Leith, 26 April, 1894; educ. Bonnington Academy, Leith, and George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh; and was employed as goods clerk in the Leith Walk branch of the Caledonian Railway until the outbreak of war. He had joined the R.N.V.R. in July, 1913, and after the outbreak of war was called up and attached to the Anson Battn. Royal Naval Division; served at Antwerp Sept. 1914, and afterwards at the Dardanelles, took part in the landing at Cape Helles, 26 April, and was killed in action there, 6 May, following; unm.
FOUCAR, CLEMENT AUGUSTE, Rifleman No. 1931, 9th Battn. (Queen Victoria Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F), 4th s. of the late Ferdinand Louis Foucar, of Rangoon and Moulmein, Burma, Teak Merchant [of a Huguenot family, who came from Proisy in Picardy, after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685], by his wife, Martha, dau. of the late (—) Grasemann; b. Rangoon, 11 Sept. 1892; educ. privately and at Doncaster Grammar School, etc.; joined the Queen Victoria Rifles after the declaration of war, in Aug. 1914, and was killed in action on Hill 60, near Ypres, 21 April, 1915; unm.
FOULKES, HERBERT, Stoker, P.O. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 10294), 299552, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FOUND, JOHN, Mechanician, Po./279973 H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FOURNIER, EMILE, Private, No. 26321, 14th Battn. (65th Regt.), 3rd Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force, s. of Adelard Fournier, of Hull, P.Q., Canada; b. Hull, aforesaid, 1 Feb. 1896; educ. Hull Brothers’ College, and with the Capucin Fathers at Ottawa; enlisted early in Aug. 1914, immediately after the declaration of war; left Canada with the first contingent in Oct.; went to France in Feb., and died in hospital at Rouen, 10 May, 1915, of wounds in the right leg received in action at Langemarck, 27 April; unm. His commanding officer, Capt. D. E. Serres, wrote that “he was one of his best men,” adding, “I praise you to have in your family such a courageous and brave child.”
FOWLER, CHRISTOPHER RICHARD, Private, No. 1465, 1st Battn. H.A.C., 2nd s. of Arthur Christopher Fowler, of 12, Grange Park, Ealing, W., Printer and Bookbinder, by his wife Laura Jennie, dau. of Richard Clarke Pauling, C.E.; b. London, 27 Feb. 1893; educ. Xavierian College, Mayfield, Sussex, and St. Edmund’s College, Old Hall, Ware, co. Herts; was apprenticed to his father as a Printer and Bookbinder through the Stationers’ Company; on the outbreak of war enlisted in the H.A.C.; served in France and Flanders, and was killed in action in Flanders, 13 March, 1915; buried at Lochre, nine miles from Ypres; unm. His Capt., Ernest Boyle, wrote: “An attack was made upon the German position, and our company held a trench immediately in front. We were subject to very heavy firing from German machine guns and your son was unhappily hit in the head. He was unconscious from the first and cannot have even been aware that he was hit, so he suffered no pain at all. He survived his wound some hours. As he still lived, as soon as it was dark he was taken away to the hospital, where he died, so I do not know whether he ever recovered consciousness, but I do not think he did. Two others of his company gave their lives for their country the same day ... Personally I had not known your son very long, as I have only recently joined his company, but I soon came to know him and greatly admired him. He was the heart and soul of the football teams, and I had a long talk with him on the morning of his death about future matches. He was so keen in all he did, so determined, so plucky and so willing, showing all those characteristics which endear a man at the front to his comrades and to his officers”; a Sergt., Geoffrey Ernst: “At the time we were supporting an attack by keeping up a heavy rifle fire on the German trenches, and unfortunately they turned a machine gun on us, which, I am afraid, was the cause of all our trouble. At the time, too, he was blazing away with his rifle most cheerily.” Private Brown also wrote to his own father: “During the last time up I have lost my great pal, Dicky Fowler.... We have had a very hot time, and this last time up we had twelve good days of it. Dick was hit on the Friday (12th inst.) in the afternoon and died early on Saturday morning. Glad to say the old boy lived long enough to be brought back to this village, as now he is buried in the churchyard. He was a grand fellow and such a ‘White man.’ We were always together, whether in the firing line or back here; naturally I feel his loss, but it must be cruel for his people and his girl. He hadn’t missed a single trench, and both he and I were proud of our record, but he could not have died a finer death, as his shoulder was hard against the parapet. This was how it happened. We were assisting in a charge by some well-known regulars (great pals of ours) by firing straight in front of us to keep the Huns opposite down below their parapet, and avoid them firing on our chaps, who were making the charge on our right. We were to fire straight and then sweep along to the left as our boys came along, but the blighters swept a machine gun along the top of our parapet and poor Dick got one right through the head. When I got to him he was unconscious and he never regained his senses. Of course I was with him until night, and then he was carried back on the stretcher. The bullet went right through his head and it was a marvel he lived so long, but he was a fine healthy chap and any amount of natural pluck.” Private Fowler was a keen sportsman and played cricket and football for the Neasden Sports Clubs.
FOWLER, GEORGE, Transport Sergt., No. 128, 1/5th Battn. The Royal Scots (T.F.), 2nd s. of Colour-Sergt. George Fowler, of 55, Lochend Road West, Edinburgh (who served with the 5th Royal Scots for 35 years), by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of Malcolm Kirk, of Musselburgh, Painter; b. Edinburgh, 25 Aug. 1887; educ. Regent Street Public School there; was a Clerk in Midlothian County Council; joined the 5th Royal Scots, then the Queen’s Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers, 16 Feb. 1905; volunteered for active service on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, left England for the Dardanelles on 21 March, 1915, and was shot by a sniper on 21 May, 1915, and died there the next day; unm. Buried at B. Line, W. Beach. Sergt. Fowler was the Battn. representative at the King’s Coronation in London, and was secretary of the Sports Committee (1912–13), the two years that the Battn. sports were held.
FOWLER, THEODORE HUMPHREY, Corpl., No. 2446, Honourable Artillery Coy., s. of Oliver Humphrey Fowler, of Cirencester, M.D.; b. Cirencester, co. Gloucester, 25 Sept. 1879; educ. Lancing College; volunteered after the outbreak of war and enlisted in the Honourable Artillery Coy., 3 Oct. 1914; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; was wounded at Kemmel, and died in the County of London War Hospital, Epsom, 17 Aug. 1915; unm. His brother, Capt. R. C. Fowler, Northants Regt., is now (1916) on active service.
FOWLER, WILLIAM, Stoker, R.N.R., T. 2294, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
FOWLER WILLIAM HENRY, Private, No. 21600, 7th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, 2nd s. of John Busteed Fowler, of 8, Sidneyville, Bellevue Park, Cork, Member of Cork Stock Exchange, and Insurance Agent, by his wife, Annie Louisa, dau. of William Henry Hill, B.E.; b. Summount, Cork, 7 Aug. 1893; educ. Cork Grammar School and University College Cork; went to Canada in Feb. 1912, and settled at Calgary, Alberta; was an official of the Bank of Commerce, volunteered on the outbreak of War, and enlisted, 11 Aug. 1914; left with the 1st Contingent in Oct. 1914; trained on Salisbury Plain during the winter of 1914–15; went to France, March, 1915, and was killed in action near Ypres, 27 April, 1915; unm. A comrade wrote: “I was right there when it happened, and we buried him. We had not time to do very much, for the bullets were flying all round us, but we wrapped him in his blanket, and we put a cross up.” His two brothers both enlisted when war was declared and served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France. Private Richard T. Fowler, Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry, was invalided home in Nov. 1915, and Private John G. Fowler, 5th Battn., was wounded at Festubert in May, 1915. Another brother, Frank R. Fowler, is now temporary 2nd Lieut. 3rd Leinsters.
FOWLING, BERTIE EVELYN, Shipwright, 1st Class, 342885, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FOWLOW, RICHARD, Corpl., No. 886, D Coy., 1st Newfoundland Regt., eldest s. of Thomas Jenkins Fowlow, of Trinity East, Newfoundland, Owner and Master of 50-ton Fishing Schooner, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of John P. Fowlow; b. Trinity East aforesaid, 18 Jan. 1893; educ. High School there; was a Clerk in a Dry Goods Store; joined H Coy. of the Trinity East Church Lads Brigade, 4 Oct. 1912, was appointed L.-Corpl. the same year and promoted Corpl. in 1913; volunteered for foreign service after the outbreak of war, and joined the Newfoundland Expeditionary Force, Jan. 1915; left for England with the second contingent, 20 March, 1915; went to the Dardanelles, and died at Malta, 23 Nov. 1915, of typhoid contracted while on active service there; unm. Buried in Pieta, Malta (Row 8A, No. 6).
FOX, HARRY, Stoker, P.O., 301863, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FOX, HARRY EDWIN, Leading Telegraphist, J. 6260, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1913.
FOX, JOHN, Private, No. 12768, 4th (Service) Battn. South Wales Borderers, yst. s. of the late Arthur Fox, of Bradford, Yorks, Police Constable, by his wife, Ada S. (27, Layard Street, Splott, Cardiff), dau. of Maurice Devine, Army Pensioner; b. Bradford, 5 Aug. 1897; was employed as a boy at the Cardiff Cinema Theatre, which he left in May with an excellent character; enlisted Aug. 1914; served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at the Dardanelles, from 4 July to 12 Aug. 1915, on which date he was killed in action there; unm. His brother, Private M. A. Fox, was killed in action in France (see following notice), and the only surviving brother, L.-Corpl. William Kenneth Fox, is serving with the A.S.C.
FOX, MAURICE ARTHUR, Private, No. 4634, 1st Battn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, s. of Arthur Fox, of Bradford, Yorks, Police constable (see preceding notice), b. Bradford, 6 Jan. 18..; served three years with the Colours and then joined the Reserve; mobilised 5 Aug. 1914; went to France, 4 Oct. 1914, and was killed in action on the 20th of that month; unm.
FOX, WALTER HENRY, Lieut., 4th Battn. South Staffordshire Regt., attd. 2nd Battn. Bedfordshire Regt., elder s. of George Martin Fox, of Walsall, M.D., by his wife, Emily, dau. of Henry Vaughan, J.P.; b. Walsall, co. Stafford, 30 Nov 1895; educ. St. Ninian’s, Moffat, and Bromsgrave School, where he was in the O.T.C., and in the Cricket XI and Football XV; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the South Staffordshires, 15 Aug. 1914, and promoted Lieut. ... April, 1915; went to France, 29 May, and there was attached to the 2nd Bedfords, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 16 June, 1915; unm. His Capt. wrote: “I feel that in losing him, I lose a very good subaltern and a very good and cheery comrade.” He was an enthusiastic golfer, and won numerous prizes.
FOX, WILFRID ARMSTRONG, 2nd Lieut., 1/4th Battn. Lincolnshire Regt. (T.F.), 2nd s. of the late George Fox, of Horncastle, by his wife, Mary H., dau. of Henry Nicholson; b. Horncastle, co. Lincoln, 12 Oct. 1892; educ. Clevedon House, Woodhall Spa; Aldenham School, and Keble College, Oxford, where he had just finished his second year when the war broke out; joined the 4th Lincolns, 4 Aug. 1914, serving as a Private until he received his commission in Oct. to rank as from 20 Aug. 1914; went to France, 1 May, 1915, and was killed in action at Zillebeke, 29 July, 1915; unm. Buried in Dranoute Churchyard. Lieut.-Col. Barrell, commanding 4th Lincolns, wrote: “During the time he was with us he endeared himself to everyone of us, and he had the makings of a very good officer”; and a Horncastle soldier: “The unfortunate death of Lieut. Fox occurred in these trenches. It would have been a job to find a more capable man in the battalion. His cheery manner was just the thing that’s wanted out here, and although he was not in our company and had not been with us very long, his loss was felt acutely by the whole of the battalion, who all appreciated his readiness to help in any concert or sport that was arranged to pass the evenings while we were resting. Most of us knew him as a Private, and all agree that he was a jolly good Private and an ideal officer.”
FOX, WILLIAM, Stoker, P.O., 172400, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronal, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FOX, WILLIAM ALFRED, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 7020), S.S. 101584, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FOXELL, FREDERICK JAMES, Ship’s Corpl., 1st Class, 209944, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FOXTON, JAMES, Stoker, R.N.R., A. 3049, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
FOYER, WILLIAM, Petty Officer, 176217, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; m.
FRAMPTON, JOHN THOMAS, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3007), S.S. 350, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FRAMPTON, JOSEPH HENRY, Leading Stoker (R.F.R, B. 4207), 292170, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FRAMPTON, WALTER JOHN, Sergt., No. 648, 16th Battn., 4th Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, eldest s. of the late Walter Frampton, of the Civil Service, by his wife, Fanny (3, Lennox Mansions, Southsea, Hants), dau. of Edward Kirk Horn, of Adelaide, South Australia, and grandson of the Rev. Canon John Frampton, of the Priory, Tetbury, Gloucestershire; b. Adelaide, South Australia, 20 Dec. 1867; educ. St. Edward’s School, Oxford; enlisted as Pay-Corpl. in the Australian Expeditionary Force after the outbreak of war, about 14 Oct. 1914; left with his Battn. for Egypt in Jan.; took part in the landing at the Dardanelles on 25 April; was seriously wounded at Gaba Tepe on the 27th, and died in the 17th Royal General Hospital, Alexandria, 3 May, 1915. Buried in Chatby Military Cemetery, Alexandria: unm. Sergt. Frampton was most highly spoken of for his bravery by his commanding officers, who said that, but for his death, he would shortly have received his commission. A tablet to his memory was placed in the chapel of St. Edward’s School, Oxford.
FRANCIS, ARTHUR, Private, No. 8146, 1st Battn. Dorsetshire Regt., s. of Job Francis, of 95, Abercynon Road, Abercynon, co. Glamorgan; b. Ashton Gate, Bristol, 4 Feb. 1895; educ. Board School there; enlisted 1 Sept. 1914; and died from the effects of gas poisoning at Hill 60, 4 May, 1915; unm.
FRANCIS, BASIL HUGH, 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. The Royal Scots, s. of Capt. Harold Hugh Francis, late Royal Scots; b. Firth House, Rosslyn, 8 Oct. 1895; educ. Rugby and University College, Oxford (admitted March, 1914), and on the outbreak of war was gazetted to his father’s old regiment, 14 Aug. He was killed in action near La Bassée, 4 Feb. 1915; buried Château de Gerve, near Bethune.
FRANCIS, GILBERT BRYAN, Private, No. 10/2138, Wellington Infantry, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, only s. of the Rev. David Francis, B.A., Vicar of Llandygwydd, Cardigan, R.D., by his wife, Amy, 3rd dau. of J. M. Bryan, of Northampton, M.D., F.R.C.S.; b. Llandygwydd Vicarage, 17 Oct. 1886; educ. Llandovery College; went to New Zealand, 4 Dec. 1912; enlisted, 15 Feb. 1915; left New Zealand with reinforcements, 12 June, 1915, and died of enteric fever at St. George’s Military Hospital, Malta, 13 Nov. 1915. Buried in Pieta Cemetery, Malta; unm.
FRANCIS, HENRY WILLIAM, Private. No. 11133, 4th Battn. 1st Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force, elder s. of Henry Francis, of Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, by his wife, Barbara Wells, dau. of William James Saunders; b. Poplar, London, E., 6 Feb. 1897; educ. Hermit Road Council School, London, and Georgetown, Canada; started work at the age of 13 at the Barber Paper and Coating Mills; Georgetown, Ontario; volunteered 6 Aug. 1914, two days after the declaration of war; left. Canada with the first contingent; went to France, 6 Feb. 1915, took part in the various engagements, including the repulse of the German gas attack at Langemarck, until 17 June, 1915, when he was shot through the temple by a sniper, while taking a message down the trench. His Commanding Officer wrote: “As a soldier there was none braver and none who played the game more manfully than did Henry.”
FRANCIS, JAMES THOMAS, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./11729, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FRANCIS, JOHN, Capt., 1/5th Battn. Royal Warwickshire Regt. (T.F.), only child of John Horace Francis, of 7, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, member of the firm of Deakin & Francis, Birmingham, and his wife, Ethel, yr. dau. of the late John William Botsford, of Manchester; b. Edgbaston, 30 June, 1887; educ. Uppingham and Gottingen, Germany; and was Director and Secretary of Deakin & Francis, Manufacturing Jewellers. He joined the 5th (Territorial) Battn. of the Warwicks on its organisation in 1907, and became Lieut., 30 Oct. 1909. On the outbreak of war he volunteered for Imperial Service; was promoted Capt., 5 Aug. 1914; went to France, 21 March, 1915, and was killed in action in France, 12 June, 1915, being shot by a sniper; unm. Buried in the 5th Battn. Warwicks Cemetery, White Gates, Petit Pont, Ploegsteert. The Col. of the battn. wrote: “He belonged to a fine battn. He was proud of the battn. and the battn. were proud of him,” and after remarking on the loyal spirit of the corps, pointing out that 900 of the 960 men volunteered for foreign service, continued: “It was the officers of the type of Johnny Francis, as he was known in the mess, that made the regt, what it was. Francis loved the regt., loved his company, and his men were devoted to him. Amidst 30 or 40 officers there are bound to be degrees of character, force and capacity, but in Francis I had a perfect soldier. As to character, he was the soul of honour, a disciplined officer, a true friend. He had a keen sense of justice and a sort of rough lovingkindness to his men which made them value him. As to force, he was a born commander, a leader of men. As to capabilities, he was clever, knew his job thoroughly and had a way of imparting his knowledge to his men, and he was hard-working; he was never idle. As to courage, there never was a braver man. He was not merely a brave fool who saw no danger. I think he was the kind of man who enjoyed danger. He would take a fearful punishment on the football field or in a boxing match with the utmost good temper. There was about him a joyous courage. I doubted some men’s courage, I doubted my own, but I never doubted his.” A Memorial Cross was erected in the Churchyard at Fladbury, and was dedicated by the Bishop of Worcester, June, 1916. Capt. Francis, who was the first officer to fall of the 5th and 6th Warwicks, was the great grandson of John Francis, who was the first man to be given a commission as Lieut. in the Volunteer movement of 1803. He was a well-known player for the Moseley Rugby Club.
FRANCIS, JOHN, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 2086), 290778, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FRANCIS, WILLIAM SAMUEL, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./17236, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FRANKLIN, ALBERT EDWARD, Private, No. 1752, 1st Battn. Australian Expeditionary Force, s. of George Franklin; b. Poplar, London, E., 25 Nov. 1892; educ. Daubeney Road School, Clapton Park; went to Australia, 18 June, 1914, and settled at Glen Innes, New South Wales; enlisted in Jan. 1915; left with the fourth reinforcements, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles, 10 Dec. 1915; unm. He was buried on the slope of the hill where he fell, overlooking Anzac Bay.
FRANKLIN, ARTHUR, Chief Stoker, 286935, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3262), 164423, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FRANKLIN, WILLIAM THOMAS, Seaman, R.N.R., 4902B, H.M.S. Cressy lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FRANKS, JABEZ, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 8075), S.S. 103825, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FRASER, ALEXANDER, V.D., Lieut.-Col., 1/4th Battn. Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders (T.F.), eldest s. of the late Alexander Fraser, Provost of Inverness, Agent of the Commercial Bank of Scotland there, by his wife, Elizabeth (Island Bank House, Inverness), dau. of the Rev. John Spray, M.A., Vicar of Kinneagh, Ireland; b. Beauly, co. Inverness, 6 May, 1865; educ. the Royal Academy, Inverness, Inverness College and Edinburgh University, and was admitted a Solicitor on 25 March, 1890, and made a Notary Public on 18 Oct. 1892. He practised in Inverness and became Senior Partner in the firm of Fraser & Ross of that town. He joined the ranks of the 1st Volunteer Battn. of the Cameron Highlanders, 9 May, 1883, and served with them until 10 Nov. 1887, and with the Q.R.V.B. Royal Scots from 20 Feb. 1888 to 13 Nov. 1889, and received a commission as 2nd Lieut. in the former, 17 May, 1890. He was promoted Lieut., 20 Dec. 1890; Capt., 10 Aug. 1898; Hon. Major, 5 April, 1902; Major, 25 Feb. 1905; and from 24 Feb. 1909 to 23 Aug. 1913, was Lieut.-Col. Commanding. He then retired and joined the Reserve of Officers (T.F.). On the outbreak of the European War he immediately volunteered for foreign service and rejoined, 19 Sept. 1914, on a reserve unit being formed at Inverness; and his successor in command of the 4th, being incapacitated for active service by an accident, he was re-appointed Lieut.-Col. Commanding, 29 Oct. following. He went to the Front with his Battn. in Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, France, 18 May, 1915. On the 16th, the first day of the British attack on the German trenches south of La Bassée, the 4th Camerons were in reserve, and occupied trenches and dug-outs made by themselves, about 1,000 yards behind the British line, and on the afternoon of the 17th were ordered forward to the attack, and moved via the village of Festubert up to the trenches captured by the British the day before. The objective was a long trench, previously a communication trench, but now used as a fire trench by the enemy, with a group of houses on the enemy’s right. Two Battns. were ordered to attack, and the Camerons were allotted the houses and the portion of the trench next them; the other Battn. being on the right. Our artillery bombarded the enemy during the day and at 7.30, just as dark was coming on, the attack was launched. They had to advance over what was apparently a perfectly level piece of greasy ground, about 800 yards across, but which was found to be intersected by deep ditches full of water. The Battn. on the right suffered so severely that they had to fall back, and some of D Coy. had to retire with them, but the remainder successfully rushed the enemy’s trench. Every effort was immediately made to put it in a state of defence, but the houses had not been captured and our supports failed in the dark to find the trench where the Battn. was, and when, just at dawn, the Germans made a strong counter-attack and assailed both flanks with hand-grenades, Col. Fraser saw that it could not be held and ordered a retreat. He himself refused to leave his post of danger before the last of his men was away, and just as he was starting to go he was shot at the edge of the ditch. The Chaplain, in a letter to Mrs. Fraser, wrote: “Shortly after I joined the Battn. as Chaplain, we were ordered to take up a certain position. The date was 11 May. The Battn. waited there in reserve until last night. At four o’clock in the afternoon the order came to march out to —— and turn due east. The front British trench was reached without any casualties, and, led by your brave husband, the gallant Camerons crossed over the backbone right into the German trench. It had been evacuated by the enemy, but a communication trench was still held by them, leading to their reserve trenches. The task allotted to our Battn. was to cut off the German retreat from this communication trench. Officers and men behaved like immortal heroes.... Lieut. ——, A Coy. told me that he saw Col. Fraser at an advanced point. He was then wounded, but was giving orders. Lieut. ... was sent with orders to another point, and when he returned he could find no further trace of the Colonel. When the Battn. had to fall back under a withering fire and the roll was called, there was still no word of the Colonel. At 11 a.m. to-day Dr. Lindsay and I went out to look for him, and though we reached to within a few hundred yards of the spot, no trace of him could be found.... In the few days that I had been with the Battn. I was led to cherish the profoundest admiration for your husband. He was a wise leader, a considerate commander, and one of the finest men that I ever had the good fortune to meet.... I was very much struck with the religious note in his life, and it is a source of inspiration to me to recall how earnestly he counselled his men to guard against all manner of excesses.... It will comfort you to know that the Brigadier-General told me that the Camerons crowned themselves with glory.” He was twice mentioned in Despatches by F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French (31 May, 1915, and 15 Oct. 1915). Col. Fraser was Factor for the Estates of Culloden and Ferintosh; a military member of the County Territorial Force Association for Inverness; a member of the Town Council of Inverness, and for some time a Magistrate; Clerk to the Deacons Court of the United Free High Church; President of the Sanitary Association of Scotland, 1912–13; convenor of Public Health Committee of Inverness, and secretary of the northern branch of the Royal Arboricultural Society. He was Right Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge of Freemasons, Inverness, and Provincial Grand Treasurer of Inverness-shire. He passed the School of Musketry, Hythe, 18 Oct. 1899, and had certificates for Tactics (May, 1892), Organisation and Equipment (May, 1903), and Military Topography (Nov. 1903). He had the Long Service medal, the Volunteer Decoration, and the Coronation medal (1911). Col. Fraser m. at the West Parish Church, Inverness, 27 April, 1893, Ella (Westwood, Inverness), only dau. of the late Col. Duncan Menzies, Blarich, Sutherland, Scotland, who for many years commanded the 1st Sutherland Highland Rifle Volunteers, and left two sons and seven daus.: Duncan Menzies, b. 15 April, 1894; Alexander Redmond Hugh, b. 25 Jan. 1908; Elizabeth Sibell, b. 9 June, 1896; Mary Millicent, b. 14 March, 1898; Muriel Jess, b. 26 June, 1900; Alexandra Dorothy, b. 1 Jan. 1903; Eleanor Beatrice Stewart, b. 31 Dec. 1905; Margaret Iris, b. 30 July, 1910; and Frances Alice Murray, b. 10 Nov. 1912. Col. Fraser’s elder s. Menzies obtained a commission in the Royal Engineers (S.R.) at the outbreak of the war and is now (1916) Lieut. in the 75th Field Company R.E. attd. to the Guards Division in France.
FRASER, DONALD ALEXANDER, Trooper, No. 862, 1st Light Horse, Australian Imperial Force, 2nd s. of the late William Fraser, by his wife, Mary (Loloma, Barry Street, Neutral Bay, Sydney, N.S.W.), dau. of John Oswald, of Melbourne, Victoria; b. Louth River, Darling, New South Wales, 15 Feb. 1889; educ. Scotch College, Melbourne; joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, 12 Jan. 1915, left Australia with the fourth reinforcements and was killed in action at Suvla Bay, 7 Aug. 1915; unm.
FRASER, GEORGE JAMES, Private, No. 2276, 4th Battn. (Royal Fusiliers) The London Regt. (T.F.), eldest s. of James Fraser, of 3, Reeves Place, Hoxton, N., Labourer, by his wife, Flora, dau. of William Nixon; b. Bethnal Green, 13 Dec. 1892; volunteered following the outbreak of war and joined the 4th London Regt., 22 Aug. 1914; went to France, 5 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Hill 60, 27 April, 1915; unm.
FRASER, THE HON. HUGH JOSEPH, M.V.O., Major, 2nd Battn. Scots Guards, 2nd s. of the late Simon, 15th Lord Lovat, by his wife, Alice Mary (Beaufort Castle, Beauly), dau. of Thomas Weld Blundell, of Ince Blundell; b. Beauly, co. Inverness, 6 July, 1874; educ. Fort Augustus Abbey School. Inverness-shire; gazetted 2nd Lieut. from the Militia to the Scots Guards, 12 Dec. 1894, promoted Lieut. 15 Nov. 1897, Capt. 16 March, 1901, and Major 12 June, 1907, and served in the South African War, 1900–2; took part in the operations in the Orange Free State, May to 29 Nov. 1900, including actions at Biddulphsberg and Wittenbergen (1–29 July), also in those there and in the Transvaal, 30 Nov. 1901 to 31 May, 1902, and was mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 10 Sept. 1901], and received the Queen’s medal with three clasps and the King’s medal with two clasps; was Adjutant in Lovat’s Scouts (Imperial Yeomanry) from 1 April, 1903 to 31 July, 1907, and Aide-de-Camp to the Viceroy of India from Nov. 1910 to April, 1913. On the outbreak of war with Germany he went to the Front with the 2nd Battn. Scots Guards, which formed part of the 7th Division, and was killed in action in the 1st Battle of Ypres, 27 Oct. 1914; unm. He was made a M.V.O. (4th Class) 1912.
FRASER, JAMES HOWIE, Lieut., 2nd Battn. Gordon Highlanders, only s. of Edward Cleather Fraser, C.M.G., Member of the Council of Government, Mauritius, and a Partner in the firm of Ireland, Fraser & Co., of Port Louis, by his wife, Mary Josephine, dau. of the late Thomas Howie, and gdson. of the late James Fraser, of Newfield, Blackheath Park; b. Blackheath, London, 4 April, 1888; educ. Summerfields, near Oxford, Rugby and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, out of which he passed first in Summer Term 1907, with prizes for Tactics and Military Engineering; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Gordon Highlanders, 9 Oct. 1907, and promoted Lieut. 20 March, 1909; joined the 2nd Battn. in India, and served with it there and in Egypt, and with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, and was killed in action 30 Oct. 1914, in the attack on Zillebeke Farm House. He was unm. and was buried at Klein Zillebeke. Lieut. Fraser was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 14 Jan. [London Gazette, 17 Feb.] 1915, for gallant and distinguished service in the field.
FRASER, JAMES O’NEILL, Private, No. 1341, 5th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, eldest s. of Evan Fraser, of 4, Caledonian Place, Newton, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Railway Signalman, by his wife, Sarah, dau. of John O’Neill; b. Beith, co. Ayr, 6 June, 1894; educ. Hallside School, Cambuslang, and after being for some time a clerk with the Caledonian Railway Co., emigrated to Australia in April, 1914, to take up farming. On the outbreak of war he enlisted in the Australian Expeditionary Force; left for Egypt, 1 Feb. 1915; took part in the landing at the Dardanelles, 25–26 April, 1915, and was killed on the latter day; unm.
FRASER, LACHLAN HENRY VEITCH, Lieut., 4th Battn. The Middlesex Regt., yst. s. of Major Francis Fraser, of Tornaveen, co. Aberdeen, by his wife, Alexia Mary Beatrice de Dombal, dau. of Capt. John Henderson MacDonald, of Caskieben, co. Aberdeen, 78th Highlanders; b. Tornaveen, 22 April, 1894; educ. Malvern and Sandhurst; gazetted to the 4th Battn. Middlesex Regt. 8 Aug. 1914, and promoted Lieut. 15 Nov. following; went to France, Sept. and was killed in action in the trenches at Ypres, 24 Feb. 1915; unm. Buried at Goderzom Farm, Vierstraat. He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 14 Jan. [London Gazette, 17 Feb.] 1915, for gallant and distinguished service in the field.
FRASER, ROBERT, Private, No. 8313, 2nd Battn. Highland L.I., only s. of Robert Fraser, of Glasgow, by his wife, Mary; b. Glasgow, 1881; educ. Dobbies Loan School there; enlisted in the 3rd Battn. Highland L.I.; served through the South African war and retired in 1905 with the rank of Corpl.; re-enlisted in the 2nd Battn. on the outbreak of the European War; went to France in Nov. 1914; was wounded at Neuve Chapelle and again at Hill 60, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 25 Sept. 1915. After the fighting that day he was officially reported “Missing,” but on 29 Nov. a letter was received by a wounded comrade who stated that he saw him buried that night. He m. at Glasgow, 25 May, 1906, Mary (130, Taylor Street, Townhead, Glasgow), dau. of James McLaughlan, of Glasgow, and had four children: Robert, b. 22 Dec. 1908; James, b. 6 Oct. 1913; Mary, b. 23 March, 1907; and Janet, b. 13 Jan. 1912.
FRASER, WILLIAM ST. JOHN, Lieut.-Commander, Royal Navy, 4th s. of Sir Thomas Richard Fraser, of Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh, and Druimbeg, Acharacle, co. Argyle; M.D., F.R.S., LL.D., Professor of Materia Medica and of Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh; Hon. Physician to the King in Scotland, by his wife, Susanna Margaret, dau. of the Rev. Robert Duncan; b. Edinburgh, 18 Sept. 1883; educ. Edinburgh Academy and Stubbington House, Fareham; entered the Navy, Britannia, 1898; became a midshipman, 1899; and was promoted Sub-Lieut., 1902, Lieut. 1904 and Lieut.-Commander, 1912; served in China, 1899–1902, on board the Endymion (medal), and in the European War, 1914–15, and was killed while on active service in the North Sea, near Heligoland, Jan. 1915, in command of Submarine E 10, which was destroyed with all hands. Admiral Sir George Warrender wrote: “I knew him well, for he was with me in the Shannon and I admired and respected him as one of the finest of our young officers.” He m. at Colinton, Midlothian, 9 April, 1908, Kathleen Lilias (Colinton, Midlothian), dau. of Capt. Abel Chapman, 19th Hussars, and had two daus.: Mary Kathleen, b. 16 Aug. 1911; and Rachel Margaret, b. 22 Jan. 1913.
FREDERICK, HENRY, Stoker (Native), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FREDERICK, JOHN EDWARD, Gunner (R.F.R., I.C. 43), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FREDERICKS, WILLIAM, A.B., 198858, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FREEBOROUGH, CHARLES HENRY, Leading Seaman, 228949, H.M.S Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
FREEMAN, CHARLES WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 15937, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.
FREEMAN, GEOFFREY WILLIAM, Private, No. 1201, 5th Battn. (London Rifle Brigade) The London Regt. (T.F.), eldest s. of William Edward Freeman, of 77, North Side, Clapham Common, S.W., L.D.S., R.C.S. Eng., Dental Surgeon, by his wife, Maud, dau. of the late John Hopkins, of Sydney, N.S.W.; b. Narrabri, New South Wales, 11 Sept. 1896; came to England with his parents, 1903; educ. Manor House School, Clapham Common; and when war broke out was studying to enter Guy’s Hospital. He immediately volunteered and joined the London Rifle Brigade, 4 Nov. 1914, and, after training at Crowboro’ and Haywards Heath, went to France, 12 March, 1915. He wrote home regularly and cheerfully, his last letter being dated 8 May when the battn. was resting from a long spell in the trenches. A day or two later they were rushed up to take part in the Second Battle of Ypres, and he was one of the gallant band of nine who were with Sergt. D. W. Belcher when he won his V.C. on 13 May. Sergt. Belcher, with his handful of men, elected to remain and endeavour to hold a portion of an advanced breastwork south of the Wieltje-St. Julien Road, which was under heavy bombardment from the enemy’s artillery, after the troops near him had been withdrawn, and there is little doubt that the bold front shown by Sergt. Belcher and the few men with him prevented the enemy from breaking through and making a flank attack on one of the divisions. They held on during the whole day, and at nightfall reinforcements came up and the position was saved. Unfortunately, however, Freeman was killed during the course of the day. He had volunteered to take a message under heavy fire to Capt. Somers Smith of the L.R.B.; the message was taken and delivered, but almost immediately a shell burst and he and all around him were killed. He was named in Battn. Orders, and 2nd Lieut. A. G. Sharp wrote; “He was always popular wherever he went, and everyone who came in contact with him, liked him. During the whole time I knew him I never met one person who had anything but good to say of him. In his last term at Manor House he won the Gold Medal, and everyone who was with him during his short but glorious career in the Army says that they have lost in him a great pal. During his whole life he upheld the traditions of his school, which was very dear to him, and he died as every Manorian would wish to die. Truly when one thinks of him one is convinced that Manor House makes no idle boast when she says that all her sons are ‘Sportsmen and true gentlemen.’”
FREEMAN, JAMES, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3402), 217667, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
FREER, ALEXANDER, Private, No. 7890, 1st Battn. Highland L.I., 6th s. of George Freer, of 18, Cameron Street, off New City Road, Glasgow, by his wife, Barbara Park, dau. of William Ferris, of Dundee, Carpenter; b. Glasgow, 31 June, 1894; educ. Oakbank School there; was an apprentice shipwright with Messrs. Berdmore & Dalmuir; enlisted 30 Jan. 1914; went to France, 4 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 12 March, 1915. His yst. brother, Robert, died on active service (see his notice), and of his other brothers, James and John are both on active service, the former with the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders and the latter at Salonika.
FREER, LEACROFT HOWARD, Sapper, No. 5089, 1st Coy. (6th North Vancouver Engineers), Canadian Engineers, 2nd s. of the late Howard Freer, of Bidford Grange, Warwickshire, by his wife, Gertrude Louisa (Port Hammond, P.O., British Columbia, Canada), dau. of Peter Davis, of Bickmarsh Hall, co. Warwick; b. Bidford Grange, co. Warwick, 26 Aug. 1884; educ. Bedford Grammar School; went to Canada in 1903, farming, afterwards taking up carpentering; volunteered on the outbreak of war and joined the North Vancouver Engineers, 11 Aug. 1914; came over with the first contingent; went to the Front in Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 15 June, 1915, by shell-fire; unm. A comrade wrote: “On the evening of 15 June, the Canadians were making an attack, a party of engineers, including your son and myself, were waiting with some infantry in a communication trench immediately behind our front line for the word to go forward. Before the word came a large German shell exploded quite close to us, killing seven of our men, your son being one. He was killed instantly, as he was nearest to the explosion. Your son was thought much of by both officers and men. He was always so willing to help others. His services to the company will be greatly missed. He was so capable, being able to turn his hand to such a variety of works”; and another: “He was the ideal type of an Englishman, I always thought, and I know that everyone who had anything to do with him liked and admired him.”
FREER, ROBERT, Private, No. 3351, 3/5th Battn. Highland L.I. (T.F.), 7th and yst. s. of George Freer, of 18, Cameron Street, off New City Road, Glasgow, by his wife, Barbara Park, dau. of William Ferris, of Dundee, Carpenter; b. Glasgow, 28 Oct. 1897; educ. Oakbank School there; was an apprentice with a boat builder; enlisted 7 April, 1915, a month after his brother Alexander was killed at Neuve Chapelle, and died in the Military Hospital at Ripon, 26 Dec. 1915, of pneumonia contracted while training; unm.
FREIGHT, STANLEY GEORGE, Corpl., No. 123, 1/4th Royal West Surrey Regt. (T.F.), 2nd s. of Edward James Freight, of 40, Windmill Road, Croydon, Builder, by his wife, Jessie, dau. of Samuel Cross, of Frome, Somerset, Farmer; b. Brixton, 1884; educ. Croydon; was a Builder and Decorator in partnership with his father; joined the 4th Surrey Territorials in 1908; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914; went to India with his regt. 29 Oct. 1914, and died on active service at Lucknow, 1 May, 1915, of enteric fever; unm.
FRENCH, ALFRED, Private, R.M.L.I., Po./11057, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chile, 1 Nov. 1914.
FRENCH, ARTHUR ROBERT, Boy, 1st Class, J. 26373 (Ports.), H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
FRENCH, FREDERICK, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 2469), 196044, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.