Snelgrove S H Lt 14th Attd 7th Kings Royal Rifle Corps
SIDNEY HENRY SNELGROVE was the younger son of John Sidney Snelgrove (O.R., 1876-80), and of Gertrude Emily his wife, of Kingswood, Tunbridge Wells.
He entered the School in 1905, left in 1910, and went up to Trinity College, Cambridge. He was training as a Chartered Accountant at the time of the outbreak of War, when he applied for, and obtained a Com- mission in the 14th K.R.R.C. He was sent as a Reserve Officer to France on July 17th, 1915, and was attached to the 7th K.R.R.C.
At Hooge, on the 29th and 30th of this month, the trenches were attacked by liquid fire and taken by the enemy. Attempts to recapture them were made all through the 30th and 31st. Lieutenant Snelgrove was sent with his Platoon to the support of another Company, under heavy shell fire, when he fell, on July 31st, 1915. Age 23
In this action, of which no official account was given at the time, the 8th Rifle Brigade lost 21 Officers, and the 7th Rifle Corps 13. There were 63 Officer casualties in all. Second Lieutenant Woodroffe, of the 8th Rifle Brigade, won his V.C. and both the D.S.O. and Military Cross were awarded, the latter to an officer of the 7th K.R.R.C.
The Colonel of the 14th Battalion wrote:-
“He was quite one of my smartest Officers, and I was quite sure he would give a good account of himself at the Front. He was an Officer I could always rely on to see through any work I wanted particularly well done.”
And the Quartermaster-Sergeant wrote:-
“He was beloved by every man in the Regiment. How much he was liked by the Non-Commissioned Officers you may imagine when some of us offered to resign our rank to go anywhere with him as his servant.”
Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 2
Snelgrove S H Lt 14th Attd 7th Kings Royal Rifle Corps
Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1