killed in action

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

AH ‘Sam’ Hales, Captain, 1st Bn, Wiltshire Regt. kia First Battle of the Somme

Today we remember…

5th July 1916. Arthur Hoare ‘Sam’ Hales, MC. Schoolmaster. Captain, 1st Bn, Wiltshire Regt. Killed in action at Canal du Nord, Battle of the Somme.

‘Sam’ Hales was educated at Rugby and Corpus, Oxford, taking honours in moderations and in the final school of modern history. He was in the Rugby School XV of 1900, and afterwards played for the Harlequins and the Monkstown team of 1902. At Oxford he was a rowing ‘Blue’ and rowed in the 1904 and 1905 Boat Race crews. He was an extremely popular teacher at Radley where he was one of the group of young Dons who encouraged the growth of Rugby as the school’s major sport.

He enlisted immediately war was declared in August 1914, as a private. He was awarded his commission ‘for gallantry.’ He won the Military Cross in March 1915 ‘for bringing in the wounded under heavy fire.’

The Radleian published a letter from him describing everyday life in the trenches:

I have heard several times from Mr. Hales, who is sergeant in the Wiltshires. It will be news to hear that, during his first three days in the trenches, even he was absolutely dead beat, as they had to carry up sandbags to mend the gaps in the trenches. His legs absolutely gave out. On the first night he fell into a Jack Johnson hole and was not dry for a week afterwards. Nor could he use his rifle for a day and a half as it was jammed with mud. He is full of praise for the food and bully beef. He has been under heavy fire several times, but he claims to be very good at keeping his head down. When we returned this term we heard that he had been wounded, but his own account is as follows; “A graze on head and arm from a bullet that splintered through a sand bag. Both wounds quite dry by the time I left the trenches next day.’’

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

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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

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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

Today we remember …

First Day of the First Battle of the Somme

1st July 1916. Maurice Kennard, MC, C Social, 1896. Lt-Col commanding 18th Bn, West Yorkshire Regt. Killed in action, Battle of the Somme. He was a career soldier who joined the 6th Dragoon Guards from the Militia in 1902. After holding the adjutancy of the regiment for a period from April 1910, he became Captain in 1913. While serving with the 6th Dragoon Guards in the early days of the war, he was wounded, and was mentioned in dispatches as early as October 19, 1914. Subsequently in November, 1915 he was appointed temporary major and second in command of the 13th York and Lancaster Regiment, and was afterwards transferred to the command which he was holding at the time of his death.

The history of the Regiment records: Less than a hundred yards in front of Dunmow trench they came under a heavy cross fire from machine guns firing from their right, probably from the Quadrilateral Redoubt and south of the Serre Road. Almost everyone dropped flat on their stomachs to escape this murderous scythe, except their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel M.N. Kennard. Standing calm and erect amid the crack and whine of bullets and carrying only a walking stick he called out ‘come on boys, up you get’, turned and began to walk at an easy gait towards the enemy. The Battalion rose to their feet and followed him. As they came out of the dead ground in which their assembly trenches were dug they were additionally engaged by a rapid fire from the front. Casualties were heavy, particularly amongst the officers and including Lieutenant-Colonel Kennard, who was killed by a shell which burst close by him. Everard Wyrell. The West Yorkshire Regiment in the War 1914-1918

At school he was the Captain of the Soccer Team, and represented the school at Fives and Boxing. He won ‘Sword v Sword’ (Officers) at the Naval and Military Tournament, 1913-14

Aged 32

Maurice Kennard, Lt-Col cmdg 18th Bn West Yorkshire Regt. kia 1 July 1916

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

The grave of Charles Ellerton at Ecoivres Cemetery. Photographed for ‘Marching in Memory’ for Combat Stress, July 2015

Today we remember …

19th May 1916. Charles Ellerton. Don. Capt, 10th Bn, Cheshire Regt. Killed in action during preparations for the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Charles Ellerton was born in Cheshire in 1884. He was a Scholar of Jesus College, Oxford, who came to teach at Radley early in 1914. He signed up almost immediately war broke out in 1914.Extract from a letter received from an Officer at the Front re Captain C. F. Ellerton: ‘He died at the head of a party of his company charging the enemy. It was an act of unnecessary bravery, as it was only a small party and he might have detailed it to a subaltern. I was told by a witness that he saved the life of one boy who was going to be bayoneted, by rushing in front and throwing a bomb at the Germans. He was at first badly wounded and refused to be carried away, ordering the stretcher bearers to save themselves. Immediately afterwards he was killed.’‘I saw his grave this afternoon. He is buried in the little cemetery in the wood at Mount St. Eloi. He was just reported missing, because it was not until the next night that it was possible to recover his body.’

The schoolboys he taught at Radley remembered him as ‘Though only here for a comparatively short time he made his influence felt in many ways here – on the “Rugger-field,” in “school,” and with the “recruits,” and there are many to whom the news of his death came as a real grief.’

Aged 32

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

The grave of Albert Lane-Joynt, Guards Cemetery. Photographed for ‘Marching in Memory’ for Combat Stress, July 2015

Today we remember …

26th February 1916. Albert Lane-Joynt, B Social 1909. Lt, Machine Gun Corps. Killed by a sniper in France. Albert Lane-Joynt played for the Cricket XI in 1913, and joined Surrey CC after leaving school. He is commemorated on the War Memorial at Kennington Oval. He was a cricket aficionado who wrote magazine articles, and immediately on leaving school produced his first issue of the Public Schools Cricket Year Book.

A history of Radley cricket, by AW Lane-Joynt, 1914: … ‘the three best cricket Xl’s turned out by Radley were those of 1867, 1888, and 1913. … The 1913 side had the estimable advantage of a really good captain in O. A. Reid. He was a fine hard-hitting consistent bat and scored 101 (not out) in 80 minutes against Bradfield. His wicket-keeping was better than ever and when he bowled he was certainly the best bowler on the side. Both he and R. C. Keller had averages of 40; with the latter he bore the brunt of the season’s work. Keller is a really fine player with a beautiful cut, and should be heard of in the future. Reid was asked to play in the Public Schools Trial match at Lords… and was eventually chosen as first change bowler for the Public Schools XI. Expert opinion unanimously placed our team high among the school sides of 1913, and there could be no more fitting place to end this brief resume of Radley Cricket.’

[OA Reid won the VC in Mesopotamia in 1917. He died at Johannesburg in 1920. RC Keller served in France 1915-1917, was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, was shot down and ended WW1 as a POW. ]

Aged 20