Christie W C Major 1st Royal Warwickshre Regiment
MAJOR W. C. CHRISTIE
1st BATTALION THE ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT
WILLIAM CHARLES CHRISTIE was the elder son of John Robert Christie, Shipowner, of Llandaff, and of Margaret, daughter of Nicholas Strong, of Greenock.
He entered the School in 1887, and won the “Crick” twice, in 1890 and 1891, and had his Football Cap in 1891. He passed into the R.M.C., Sandhurst, in 1891, and passed out with honours. He was promoted Captain in 1900, and Major in 1902.
He served in the Soudan Expedition of 1898, and was present at the Battles of the Atbara and Omdurman. He was mentioned in Despatches, and was awarded the Queen’s Medal, the Khedive’s Medal with two Clasps, and the Order of the Medjidieh, 4th Class.
He served in the South African War (1899-1902), and was present in the actions at Vet River, Zand River, Diamond Hill, and Belfast. He was again mentioned in Despatches, and was appointed Brevet-Major, being at that time the youngest Major in the Army, and was awarded the Queen’s Medal with five Clasps, and the King’s Medal with two Clasps. In 1912 he was appointed Adjutant to the Officers’ Training Corps of both Birmingham and Bristol Universities, and of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, but rejoined his Regiment immediately on the out- break of War, and went to the Front with the 1st Army Corps, in August,1914.
He was in the Retreat from Mons, and the Battles of the Marne and of the Aisne, and was twice mentioned in Despatches. He was killed in action while leading an attack on the village of Meteren, near Bailleul, on October 13th, 1914. Age 41.
The Major commanding his Regiment wrote:-
“Charles Christie was the bravest soldier in the British Army, and his loss to us is simply irreparable. He died leading his men in one of the best achievements of the British Army.”
A brother Officer said :-
“A more gallant Officer and gentleman never breathed. My Company and his made our attack on a village up one side of a road, with another Company across the road. We were advanced guard to the Brigade. We got the position we wanted chiefly owing to Christie’s gallantry. He was as cheery as possible, always giving us the lead. I heard one of the men remark, ‘He’s a daring man. I hope we don’t lose him.””
Another Officer wrote:-
“He was a most gallant Officer, a man who had absolutely no sense of fear. Under fire he was exactly the same as he was in the ordinary routine of Regimental life. He stood out, in his brave way, as a model to Officers and men serving under him. He could never have done anything small or petty, and in his Regiment everyone loved him, and his influence was felt in all ranks.”
Another Officer wrote:-
“There is one thought which consoles me a great deal, and that is the sincere conviction that the influence which Charles Christie exerted insensibly on his fellow men, remains a living force in the world. His example of simple-minded Quixotism influenced all with whom he was brought into contact and that influence is immortal: it will leaven, in its own degree, all succeeding generations of Englishmen. This is my firm belief. There is not an Officer or man in his Regiment, there is not a Cadet in his Training Corps, who is not a better man for the direct influence that emanated from him. There are no two opinions about this. He was loved and admired by everyone who had the privilege of his acquaintance.”
A friend who had known Major Christie all his life tells the following
anecdote:-
“I was serving as a trooper in the South African War when I chanced to be engaged, with some Mounted Infantry under Major Christie’s command, in a little skirmish. Hearing one of the M.I. ‘Tommies” grumbling at having to hold an uncomfortable position, I asked the grumbler, a typical Birmingham lad, what he was ‘grousing’ about, and received the following reply: ‘It’s this Christie. We are always in the thick of it with him, and the worst of it is, there’s not one of us as wouldn’t go to ‘ell with him willingly.’ No soldier could ask for a more spontaneous or genuine tribute to his capabilities.”
He married in 1909, Florence Violet, daughter of William Vernon Biden, of Lillington Manor, Leamington, and left one infant son.
Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1