2nd Lieutenant

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

The grave of Maurice Knatchbull-Hugessen at Fricourt. Photograhed for 'Marching in Memory' for Combat Stress, July 2015

The grave of Maurice Knatchbull-Hugessen at Fricourt. Photographed for ‘Marching in Memory’ for Combat Stress, July 2015

Today we remember …

First Battle of the Somme

25th September 1915

Maurice Knatchbull-Hugessen, MC. A Social, 1901. Lt, 2nd Bn, Grenadier Guards. Killed in action at Contelmaison.

Maurice Knatchbull-Hugessen was Head of A Social. After school, he went to Balliol College, Oxford and then out to South Africa where he worked as a mining engineer from 1910-1914. He joined the Royal Fusiliers as a private in 1914, then gained a commission in the Grenadier Guards in 1915. He was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Military Cross.

Aged 28

Ian Ross-Taylor. C Social, 1908. 2nd Lt, 7th Bn, Bedfordshire Regt. Killed in action at Morval.

Ian Ross-Taylor was born in Bombay, India (now Mumbai). He left school in 1911 and joined the Foreign Staff of the Bank of India, Australia and China. He was wounded early in 1915 and after months of convalescence, he returned to the Front in June. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Aged 22

Maurice Knatchbull-Hugessen, MC. Lt, 2nd Bn, Grenadier Guards. kia Battle of the Somme

Ian Ross-Taylor. 2nd Lt, 7th Bn, Bedfordshire Regt. kia Battle of the Somme

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

The grave of Arthur Clarke in Caterpillar Valley Cemetery. Photographed for ‘Marching in Memory’ for Combat Stress, July 2015

Today we remember …

Battle of the Somme

9th September 1916. Arthur Clarke. E Social, 1905. 2nd Lt, 1st Bn, Northamptonshire Regt. Killed in action at High Wood.

Arthur Clarke’s story exemplifies the horror and confusion of the 1st Battle of the Somme. He was reported wounded but missing in October, 1916. By June, 1917 this had been amended to ‘believed to have been killed on 9th September 1916.’ His body was recovered and is buried in Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval.

After school, he went to Christ Church, Oxford. When the War broke out he was in Switzerland, unable to return to England until early in September, 1914. When he did get back he immediately enlisted in the North Somerset Yeomanry. He went to the Western Front in October, 1914, and took part in the first battle of Ypres. In February, 1915, he was given a commission and after three months’ training in England rejoined his regiment at the front. He was wounded on 25th September, 1915, in the Battle of Loos, and, after six months’ sick leave, rejoined his regiment. He was slightly wounded on June 27th, 1916, but was able to return to duty after a few weeks in hospital.

He was Mentioned in Dispatches twice.

Aged 25

Arthur Clarke, 2nd Lt, 1st Bn, Northamptonshire Regt. kia Battle of the Somme

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

Today we remember …

Battle of the Somme

18th August 1916. Aubrey Patch. C Social, 1899. 2nd Lt, 3rd Bn, Royal Lancaster Regt. Killed in action.

After school he went to study at Ontario Agricultural College, Toronto. When war broke out he immediately returned to England from Canada to enlist, and served in the ranks for about a year. He received his commission in October 1915. He was killed while leading his platoon against a German trench.

Aged 30

Aubrey Patch, 2nd Lt, 3rd Bn, Royal Lancaster Regt. kia Battle of the Somme

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

Today we remember …

Battle of the Somme

13th July 1916. Gilbert Whittet. C Social, 1910. 2nd Lt, 7th Bn, Royal West Surrey Regt. Killed in action at Trônes Wood.

At Radley he rowed for the First VIII and was a prefect. His best friend, James Freeman, was killed three months earlier. Gilbert’s parents celebrated the lives of both boys in a shared stained glass window in Chapel.

‘There is a place in the hearts of many of us for the quiet courteous unselfish boy who was killed in action on July 13th. When he left us, so short a time ago, he had risen to a position of authority in the School and had gained the affection of many, the respect of all. … the very true and very remarkable friendship which existed between him and Hutton Freeman, whom he followed so closely into the Land of Shadows. There are few of us, who knew them, who were not impressed by the lasting and unbroken sympathy between the two. Whittet and Freeman – it seems impossible to mention one name without thinking of the other. If they had done nothing else, they would have done something to show us what that most beautiful thing a ‘School-boy Friendship’ can mean in its best and truest sense.’

FROM THE COLONEL’S LETTER: I had got to know him even better than most of the Subalterns, as he was my signalling officer for some time. I personally feel his loss more than I can express in words. He always showed himself to possess all the qualities which only the very best can hope to attain, and was a most excellent officer besides being a most delightful companion. He fell gallantly leading his men in an assault across the open on a wood that is already notorious.

Aged 20

Gilbert Whittet, 2nd Lt, 7th Bn, Royal West Surrey Regt. kia Trones Wood, Battle of the Somme

Detail from the Whittet & Freeman memorial window, Radley College chapel

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

Today we remember …

First Battle of the Somme

3rd July 1916. Lancelot Curteis, G Social, 1906. 2nd Lt, 8th Bn, Border Regt. Killed in action, Battle of the Somme.

At school Lancelot Curteis played for the 1st XI Soccer team. He joined the University and Public Schools Corps in September, 1914. He obtained his commission in the Border Regiment in May, 1915, and went to France in December, 1915.

A letter from his Company Commander to his parents:

Your son was a splendid officer, and the men were simply devoted to him. He led them magnificently in our charge on the German trenches as steadily and coolly as on parade. He was shot soon after we had occupied them, fighting hard and cheerily to the last. The Commanding Officer had the greatest confidence in him. I have lost in him a personal friend, and a most efficient officer, who died, as he had lived, a very gallant gentleman.

Aged 23

&

Duncan Tuck, G Social, 1907. Capt, 3rd Bn, Ox & Bucks Light Infantry. Died of wounds received on 17th June near Arras.

Duncan Tuck won a Scholarship to Radley. He went up to Hertford College, Oxford in 1912.

‘In May 1914, he joined the Special Reserve of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, and after training at Portsmouth he was in March, 1915, attached to the 2nd Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and was wounded in the right shoulder on April 23, when the regiment was supporting the left of the Canadians in the second battle of Ypres. Afterwards he was attached to the 5th Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, joining them on September 26, the day after they had lost many officers and men on the Menin road. He was six months in the dangerous Ypres salient, and then was moved to Arras. On June 17, while inspecting wire entanglements, he was hit in the chest and right arm when binding up the wounds of another officer.’

Aged 23

Lancelot Curteis, 2nd Lt, 8th bn Border Regt. kia 3 July 1916

Duncan Tuck, Captain, 3rd Bn, Ox & Bucks LI. Died of wounds 3 July 1916

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

The grave of Claud Heygate at Gordon Dump Cemetery. Photographed for ‘Marching in Memory’ for Combat Stress, July 2015

Today we remember …

First Battle of the Somme

2nd July 1916. Claud Heygate, C Social, 1900. Capt, 10th Bn, Yorkshire Light Infantry. Killed in action at Fricourt, Battle of the Somme.

Claude Heygate went to Sandhurst in 1904 and received his commission in the 1st Yorkshire L.I. in August, 1906.

‘At the outbreak of the war he was at the depot of the regiment, and went out with a draft from Hull in August, 1914. He was present at the battles of Marne, the Aisne, and the first battle of Ypres, when he was wounded at Lorgues. He returned to the front last month.’

Aged 30

&

Lawrence Westmore, D Social, 1908. 2nd Lt, 1st Bn, Hampshire Regt. Killed in action at Beaumont Hamel, Battle of the Somme.

Lawrence Westmore was one of the best scholars of his year at school. He was a Junior Scholar who won The Richards Gold Medal, The James & Heathcote Scholarships, the Historical Essay Prize, the Worsley Prize and the Morgan Verse Prize. He left school in 1913 to take up a place at Wadham College, Oxford, for which he won an Exhibition. He achieved 1st Class in Classical Mods in 1915.

Aged 21

Claud Heygate, Captain, 10th bn Yorkshire LI. kia 2 July 1916

Lawrence Westmore, 2nd Lt, 1st bn, Hampshire Regt. kia 2 July 1916

The grave of Lawrence Westmore at Colincamps Cemetery. Photographed for ‘Marching in Memory’ for Combat Stress, July 2015

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

The grave of James Freeman at Lijssenthoek. Photographed for ‘Marching in Memory’ for Combat Stress, July 2015

Today we remember …

24th April 1916. James Freeman, C Social, 1910. 2nd Lt, 29th Sqn, Royal Flying Corps Killed in a flying accident over Flanders. He survived a serious crash shortly before in which his plane broke up in mid-air. The photo opposite was taken soon after: ‘I have before me, as I write, a photograph taken just after by one of his greatest friends. There he stands, with the pleasant trustful smile on his face that many of us knew so well.’ from his obituary in The Radleian.
At school, James Freeman rowed for the 1st VIII, was a keen member of the Corps, and nowadays would be most often found in the Design Centre: ‘devoted to the carpenter’s shop. Thrust away in a corner by the stables one may still see – causam lacrymis! – that wonderful motor car which he constructed with such delight…’ His closest friend was Gilbert Whittet, also of C Social and a member of the VIII, who was to die on the Somme just three months later. Gilbert Whittet’s parents generously included James jointly with Gilbert in a stained glass window put up in Chapel in 1917. The window depicts four figures, St Michael, St George, King Alfred, and King Arthur, and portraits of the two young men.This is a window of tears. … But it is also a Window of Pride – just Pride – Radley is proud to-day that two young lives have shown the stuff which Radley can produce – proud that two boys have shown what a clean tender true friendship can be. They walked in this House of God as friends and in that nearer Presence they are friends still … Remember that Military Service with all its glamour is only on the same footing as your service here. The one great principle is duty. They had to be trained and equipped, to go through drudgery, self-denial, and learning and labour; they did their duty and won their reward…

Like Michael fight for God against the powers of evil. Like St George learn habits of courtesy towards your fellow men. Like King Arthur and his Knights practice perfect chivalry to all women. Like King Alfred learn to be a ruler for good – of yourselves first, and then of Society round you. …

Bishop Hook, speaking at the unveiling of the memorial window to Freeman and Whittet in 1917.

Aged 19