Today we remember …
Armistice Day 1919
Radley in the Great War. More than 1000 men associated with the school fought in WW1. 235 of them are named on the War Memorial. Many more suffered life-changing and life-shortening injuries.
25 years later, the next generation took part in D-Day
We will remember them
Ten Old Radleians who died after Armistice Day as the direct consequence of military action are recorded on the War Memorial.
The Memorial was dedicated in 1922.
1918
14th November
Ian Mees, E Social 1913. Lt, 48th Sqn, Royal Air Force.. Killed in a flying accident over Salisbury. At Radley he was cox of the VIII. Aged 20
26th November
Walter Paterson, E Social, 1911. 2nd Lt, Royal Field Artillery.. Died in hospital on the Isle of Wight of pneumonia contracted on active service.
At school he was a prefect. Aged 21
23rd December
Mellard Settle, F Social, 1910. Captain, 1/5th Bn, North Staffordshire Regt.. Prisoner of War. Died of influenza contracted in prison before he could be released.
At school he played for the Rugby XV and the Rackets Squad. He joined up in August 1914 and fought throughout the War on the Western Front. He was taken prisoner in March 1918. He died in hospital in Mainz before he could be repatriated. His elder brother, Reginald, was killed flying over German lines in July 1916. Aged 23
1919
4th January George Willis, E Social 1914. 2nd Lt, 1st Aircraft Supply Depot, Royal Air Force. Killed in a flying accident in France. His mother gave a Bible to Chapel in his memory. Aged 18 13th January Maurice Bower, Serbian Order of the White Eagle (with Swords), Chevalier of the Order of the redeemer (Greece). C Social 1888. Lt, Motor Transport, Army Service Corps.. Died of illness in the British Military Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria. Senior Prefect, Captain of Boats. Farmer in Argentina. Aged 43 10th March George Robertson, B Social 1899. Lt, Nigeria Regt.. Died of pneumonia contracted on active service Prefect. After school he went to Trinity College, Oxford – he rowed for Trinity. He then went out to the Straits Settlements and became the Magistrate for the Settlement of Singapore. He served in the Cameroons throughout the War. He died at his family home in Scotland. Aged 34 7th May Harold Willcocks, Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. F Social 1904. Major & Adjutant, Royal Military Academy, formerly Royal Field Artillery. Died of septicaemia as a result of gas. Prefect, Junior Scholar, Mathematical Prize, 1st XI Cricket. Married in 1916. He was awarded the Croix de Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in recognition of his services at Landredes during the retreat from Mons, where he knocked out a German gun at midnight on August 25, an incident described in Lord Ewest Hamilton’s book, “The First Seven Divisions.” He continued to serve in France up to October, 1917, acting as A.D.C. to General Onslow, C.R.A., 2nd Division, from June 15 to August 15, 1915, and being promoted captain in August, 1916, and major (acting) in February, 1917. He was invalided home towards the end of 1917 suffering from the effects of poison gas, and, on recovery, was appointed, in April, 1918, Adjutant at the Royal Military Academy, which post he was occupying at his death. His name, at that of Godfrey Tuite Dalton, was added to the War Memorial after it was dedicated in 1922. Aged 29 4th June 1919 John Tonson-Rye. F Social 1893. Captain, Motor Transport, Army Service Corps Originally from Ireland. At school he was a Prefect. After school, he returned to Ireland where he worked as a land agent, becoming a member of the Professional Institute of Land Surveyors. There is no photograph in the War Memorial albums and no obituary beyond a note published on 26th July 1919 that he was among the dead. The Radley Register published in 1962 incorrectly recorded his on 4th June 1918; the 1923 Register says 4th June 1919; the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records 25th May 1919. He married Clari de la Roche in 1907. They had a son called John, born in 1910, but he was not entered for Radley despite a long family connection. He is buried at Mazargues War Cemetery, Marseilles. Marseilles was the Base of the Indian troops in France during the 1914-18 war and throughout the War the Royal Navy, the Merchant Navy, British troops and Labour units worked in the port or passed through it. Four of the town cemeteries were used, in the main, for the burial of officers and men of the Commonwealth forces who died at Marseilles. His shield still hangs in Hall. Aged 39 10th July Mercer Leeb, D Social 1906. Captain, Loyal North Lancashire Regt Died of illness contracted on active service in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) He went to Sandhurst and served throughout the War. Aged 26 1923 18th December Godfrey Tuite-Dalton, E Social 1905. Major, Royal Field Artillery. Died in a London Hospital after a long illness, the result of wounds received in France. He was a Junior Scholar, the Hall Mathematical Scholar and won the Mathematics Prize. His father campaigned for his name to included on the War Memorial. He died after it was dedicated and so was listed, along with Harold Willcocks, out of sequence at the end. Since then the name of RW Bell has also been added. Aged 32
We still remember them |