Vivian C A Lt Col Indian Army
LIEUT-COLONEL CHARLES AUGUSTUS VIVIAN
15th (LUDHIANA) SIKHS
There are certain families whose destinies seem fated to be inextricably interwoven with those of our Great Eastern Dependency; family’s which inevitably turned towards India, and among these are numbered the branch of the great clan Campbell of which Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Augustus Vivian was a distinguished member.
Lieutenant-Colonel father, Colonel Aylmer MacIver Campbell C.B., D.L., who took the name of Vivian on succession to the estate of Ashnish, Argyllshire, in right of his wife, spent the major part of his active career “Somewhere East of Suez”, and served with distinction in the greatest campaigns India had known since Robert Clive broke the power of Suraj-ed-Dowlah at Plassey, and won Hindostan for the British Crown.
Colonel Campbell served throughout the Mutiny which for nearly three years convulsed all India from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and was present at the capture of Lucknow, which will forever rank among the greatest feats of arms in the annals of the British Army. Twenty years later he was one of the Gallant band who shared the hardships and perils of the march from Cabul to Kandahar, which set the seal upon the military fame of the late Earl Roberts. Colonel Campbell was one of the most able and trusted of Sir Frederick Roberts’ Lieutenants during that trying time, as he commanded one of the three cavalry regiments on march to Kandahar, and his services were rewarded with the military С.В.
Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian was not the first of his family to give up his life for the Empire, for his elder brother, Lieutenant Ayltner MacIver Campbell, of the 3rd Panjab Cavalry, died of wounds in the Tochi during the opening stages of the Tirah Campaign; while his brother-in-law, Major George Chrystie, was killed near the same place on May 2nd, 1913.
Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian was born at Dalhousie, on July 28th, 1874, and was educated at Clifton and Sandhurst. From Sandhurst he went to the Gordon Highlanders, joining his Battalion in India in 1894, rather less than a year from his first appointment. From that time the land of his kith claimed bim as it had done his father before him..
In 1895 he was appointed to the 15th (Ludhiana) Sikhs, joining this famous regiment just in time to serve with the Chitral Relief Force. During the last decade of the nineteenth century the North-West Frontier was more thoroughly disturbed than at any period since the pacification by Sir Frederick Roberts, and for three years Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian was almost constantly on active service.
He received the medal and clasp for Chitral, and in 1897 and 1898 won two clasps for his participation in the operations of the flying column in the Kurram, and one clasp for the Tirah Campaign. During the Tirah Expedition he came into prominence by reason of his courage and resource, as is shown by the following letter from Colonel Abbott, which appeared in the well-known Indian newspaper, “The Pioneer”:
“May I beg a sufficient portion of your space to enable me to correct a mistake in the otherwise admirable account of the fight at Tseri Kandas that appeared in your paper of the 1st instant. Your account, moreover, makes no mention of the very gallant and prompt manner in which, when Captain Lewarne’s party was rushed from the wood, the next one was brought up to his aid by Lieutenant Vivian. The second party also got to close quarters with the enemy, and to them must be accredited a large proportion of the Afridi losses on that occasion.”
During the twenty years he spent in India Lieutenant-Colond Vivian acquired a considerable reputation as a Shikari. The world can boast no finer hunting-ground than the Pamirs and Upper Kashmir, and in this sportsman’s Paradise he spent much of his long leave. Rarely did he return unaccompanied by fine heads and skins trophies of the rifle he could use so well.
To those who were aware of the high state of efficiency to which Lord Kitchener had brought our Indian Army during the years of his commandership- in-chief the news that Indian troops were to be sent to France came as no surprise. That the Indian Expeditionary Force justified the confidence reposed in it was even less a matter for wonder, When led by British Officers the Indian forces are equal to any troops in the world, and Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian was admitted upon all hands in the Indian Army, to be one of the best and bravest Officers
To state that his men worshipped him is to state no more than an actual fact. No quality appeals to a fierce fighting race such as the Sikhs as courage, and that quality Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian possessed to an altogether remarkable degree. His courage, indeed, upon occasion amounted almost to recklessness, as when, for instance, he only abandoned the idea of creeping through the German lines by night and reconnoitring their positions by day at the express command of his General, who regarded his services in our lines as infinitely more valuable than the benefits to be derived from so desperate a venture. His services were not unrewarded, for he was mentioned in Sir John French’s dispatches of February, 1915, and was promoted brevet Lieutenant-Colonel.
Subsequent to his death on April 27th, 1915, during the second Battle of Ypres, his Commanding Officer paid the following tribute to his valour:- “I have lost the bravest Officer that ever wore His Majesty’s uniform. There may be as brave, but I swear no braver.”
An extraordinary instance of Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian’s courage is related by a brother Officer in a letter home. Ile wrote:
“I think that Colonel Vivian was the bravest man I ever met. He seemed absolutely fearless of bullets, and his patrol work in front of our trenches at night was really wonderful. He inspired all the Sikh Officers and men of his Company with the greatest confidence, and made them nearly as fearless as himself, Once there was a house thirty yards in front of our trenches which obscured our field of fire. The Regiment who occupied the trenches before we did said that they had tried to pull down the house, but had been forced to give up the attempt because the enemy fired on them. Colonel Vivian called for volunteers to assist him to demolish the house. The whole Company to a man volunteered. He chose the requisite number, and in two days the house was flat. Although they worked in the daylight not a man was hit. I shall never forget the thrill of admiration I had for him when he volunteered to go behind the German lines for two or three nights and reconnoitre the German position at La Bassée; but I was very relieved when the General would not allow him to go. Each time he was wounded he insisted on going on with his work. Any ordinary man would have been very shaken. We have lost a very dear friend, and England one of her bravest soldiers.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian married on August 30th, 1906, at St. Thomas’s Church, Portsmouth, Mary, elder daughter of the late Joseph Studholme, Esq., J.P., and of Mrs. Studholme, of Ballyeighan, Birr, Ireland, and leaves two sons, Aylmer Studholme, born August 17th, 1909, and John, born August 30th, 1913, and one daughter, Margaret Ruth, who was born on June 25th, 1907.
Source : The British Roll Of Honour Vol 1
Vivian C A Brevet Lt Col Indian Army
VIVIAN, CHARLES AUGUSTUS, Brevet Lieut.-Col., 15th (Ludhiana) Sikhs, Indian Army, 3rd and yst. s. of the late Col. Aylmer MacIver-Campbell, formerly Vivian, of Asknish, C.B., D.L., J.P., Bengal S.C., by his wife, Margaret Agnes (Asknish House, Lochgair, co. Argyle), elder dau and co. h. of Col. James Duff MacIver-Campbell, of Asknish; b. Dalhousie, India, 28 July, 1874; educ. Clifton College and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut (unattd. list) Indian Army, 30 Aug. 1893; was attached to the Gordon Highlanders for his first year; joined the Indian Staff Corps, 27 Jan. 1895, and was promoted Lieut. 30 Nov. 1895, Capt. 30 Aug. 1902, and Major, 30 Aug. 1911; served (1) with the Chitral Relief Force, 1895 (medal with clasp); (2) on the N.W. Frontier of India, 1897-8, including operations on the Samana and in the Kurram Valley during Aug. and Sept. 1897, and those of the Flying Column in the Kurram Valley, under Col. Richardson, 20 Aug. to 1 Oct. 1897 (two clasps); (3) in the Tirah Expedition, 1897-8; including actions of Chagree Kotal and Dargai; the capture of the Sampagha and Arhanga Passes; reconnaissance of the Saran Sar and action of 9 Nov. 1897; and operations of the Waran Valley, and action of 16 Nov. 1897 (clasp); and (4) with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, Oct. 1914 to 27 April, 1915. Delayed by illness in Egypt, he did not join his regt, at the front until Oct. and was wounded in Dec. He returned to duty in Jan. and was mentioned in Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 14 Jan. 1915, and promoted Brevet Lieut.-Col. 18 Feb. following, for service in the field. In the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, where his regt. took a leading part, he was again wounded, but refused to leave his men and remained in the trenches under very heavy fire. He was killed in action near St. Julien, during the 2nd Battle of Ypres, 27 April, 1915. About 5.30 p.m., under cover of a bombardment of the Sirhind Brigade, the 1st Highland Light Infantry, and the 15th Sikhs were ordered to advance, but were met with such a terrific fire that a check ensued. Col. Vivian had to rush with his company over a fire swept zone to join the remainder of his regt. Just as he arrived he was shot through the body.
An officer wrote: “I think that Col. Vivian was the bravest man I ever met-he seemed absolutely fearless of bullets, and his patrol work in front of our trenches at night was really wonderful. He inspired all the Sikh officers and men of his company with the greatest confidence, and made them nearly as fearless as himself. Once there was a house 30 yards in front of our trenches and it obscured our field of fire. The regt. who occupied the trenches before we did, said that they had tried to pull down the house, but had had to give up the attempt, because the enemy fired on them. Col. Vivian called for volunteers of his company to assist him to demolish the house. The whole company to a man volunteered-he chose the requisite number and in two days the house was flat; although they worked in daylight, not a single man was hit. I shall never forget the thrill of admiration I had for him when he volunteered to go behind the German line for two or three nights and reconnoitre the German position at La Bassée, but I was very relieved when the General would not allow him to go. Each time that he was wounded he insisted on going on with his work; any ordinary man would have been very shaken. We have lost a very dear friend, and England one of her bravest soldiers.” Col. Abbott, writing to The Pioneer about the Tirah Campaign, said: “Your report, moreover, makes no mention of the very gallant and prompt manner in which, when Capt. Lewarne’s party was rushed from the wood, the next one was brought up to his aid by Lieut. Vivian. The second party also got to close quarters with the enemy and to them must be accredited a large proportion of the Afridi losses on that occasion.”
He m. at Portsmouth, 30 Aug. 1906, Mary Hastings, eldest surviving dau. of the late Joseph Studholme, of Ballyeighan, King’s Co., J.P., and had three children: Aylmer Studholme, b. 17 Aug. 1909; John, b. 30 Aug. 1913; and Margaret Ruth, 25 June, 1907.
Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol
