Orr R C Captain Somerset Light Infantry

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Orr R C Captain Somerset Light Infantry

CAPTAIN R. C. ORR

3RD BATTALION PRINCE ALBERT’S (SOMERSET LIGHT INFANTRY)

ROBERT CLIFFORD ORR was the second son of Robert Harrison Orr, of Belfast, Solicitor, and of Cassandra Marchaise his wife.

He entered the School in 1895, and left in 1897. He was admitted a Solicitor in 1903, and practised in Belfast and Ballymena. In 1910 he was gazetted to the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve) of the Somerset Light Infantry, and was promoted Captain in October, 1914.

He was attached to the 1st Battalion in October, and was killed while leading his men in an attack on the German trenches outside Ploegsteert Wood, in Flanders, on December 19th, 1914. Age 34

The Adjutant of the Regiment wrote:- “There is no doubt that he must have very gallantly led his men practically into the German trenches, but we could not establish ourselves there, although we were able to advance our lines some distance as the result of the attack.”

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

Norwood J Captain VC 5th Dragoon Guards

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Norwood J Captain VC 5th Dragoon Guards

CAPTAIN J. NORWOOD

5TH (PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES’S) DRAGOON GUARDS

JOHN NORWOOD was the only son of John and Lucy Norwood, of Pembury Lodge, New Beckenham, Kent.

He entered the School in 1891, and was in the Shooting VIII which won the Ashburton Shield at Bisley in 1894. In the same year he went up to Exeter College, Oxford.

He received his Commission as a University Candidate in the 5th Dragoon Guards in 1899. He went to India in the same year, and to South Africa on the outbreak of the Boer War. He was present at the Battle of Elandslaagte (October 21st, 1899), and on the eve of the Battle of Lombard’s Kop (October 31st), in which he took part, performed the act for which he was subsequently given the Victoria Cross. He served through the Siege of Ladysmith, during which he was attacked by enteric fever. After a short interval at home he returned to South Africa, and remained in active service until the end of the War. For his services he received the Queen’s Medal with Four Clasps and the King’s with Two.

The Official record of the services for which he received the Victoria Cross was as follows:-

Sec. Lieut. John Norwood, 5th Dragoon Guards.

“On the 30th October, 1899, he went out from Ladysmith in charge of a small patrol of the 5th Dragoon Guards. They came under a heavy fire from the enemy, who were posted on a ridge in great force. The patrol, which had arrived within 600 yards of the ridge, then retired at full speed. One man dropped, and Second Lieutenant Norwood galloped back about 300 yards through heavy fire, dismounted, and picking up the fallen trooper carried him out of fire on his back, at the same time leading his horse with one hand. The enemy kept up an incessant fire during the whole time that Second Lieutenant Norwood was carrying the man until he was quite out of range.”

Between 1902 and 1909 he served in India, England, South Africa, and Dublin, and then left the Army. He was offered the post of King’s Messenger, but was unable to accept it.

After he left the Regular Army he was still keenly interested in everything connected with it. In the course of a busy life he found time to organize and work the Old Comrades’ Association in connection with his old Regiment. He trained annually with the Territorials, and at the outbreak of War was attached to the Westminster Dragoons. He worked hard to help get them ready, but, at the request of the Colonel then Commanding the 5th Dragoon Guards, he rejoined his old Regiment, and left for France on August 15th, 1914.

He was in the Retreat from Mons and in the advance to the Marne. On his 38th birthday, September 8th, 1914, he was given his Company Squadron. On that day a half Squadron of the 5th Dragoon Guards was acting as advanced guard, and had reached the bank of the Petit Morin River, near Sablonnières, when it came under a heavy fire. One of his Sergeants was wounded, and Captain Norwood managed to reach him and bind him up. He was trying to reach the horses, left in the rear, in order to send for a doctor, when he was shot and died instantly. Age 38.

He married, in 1904, Lilian, only daughter of Major-General Sir Edwin Collen, K.C.I.L., C.B., and left two sons and one daughter.

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

North K C Lt 4th Hussars

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North K C Lt 4th Hussars

LIEUTENANT K. C. NORTH

4TH (QUEEN’S OWN) HUSSARS

KENNETH CROFT NORTH was the eldest son of Arthur North, The Close, Knaresborough.

He entered the School in 1901, and was in the Running VIII in 1905 and 1906. In 1906 he passed into the R.M.C., Sandhurst, from which he joined his Regiment in South Africa in 1907. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1910.

He commandod the machine guns of the 4th Hussars from the commencement of the War. While defending the crossing of the Hollebeke Canal near Ypres, he was twice hit by shell, and, mortally wounded, died on October 31st, 1914. Age 27.

He was mentioned in Despatches of October 8th, 1914, and a second time in those of January 14th, 1915.

Brigadier-General P. Howell, c.м.о., wrote as follows:- “I want to record that, in my opinion, your husband was the best Officer of his rank with whom I have ever had to deal, and certainly the most gallant. During the period we have been out here, I had learnt to place absolute confidence in his commonsense and judgment. Nothing seemed to upset him, and I could always feel confident that the Maxim guns required no orders, because they were invariably employed in the best possible way to suit the circumstances of the moment. Though all our Officers have done well, and many brilliantly, when it came to choosing one name for the D.S.O. I had no hesitation whatever in selecting that of K.C. Half a dozen different acts of gallantry entitled him to more than that.”

(a). On August 25th he remained behind his Brigade to right a waggon which had been overturned. Under heavy shell fire he succeeded in bringing it away.

(b). On September 1st, during a rearguard action, Lieut. Col. Hogg, D.S.O., was wounded in the rear fighting line, during wood fighting. Lieut. North took back his waggon, when the Germans were at short range, and brought Lieut.-Col. Hogg into Haramont village.

(c). On his own initiative, on October 17th, the day after the 4th Hussars had driven the Germans out of Bas Warneton, Lieut. North returned there, climbed the church tower, and made a sketch of the German trenches on the south. This sketch was forwarded by the 2nd Cavalry Division for the use of the Artillery.

“d). At Hollebeke, on October 30th, when other troops had retired, Lieut. North was left isolated with his Maxim gun detachment. He obtained a wheelbarrow and got both of his guns away, the men of his detachment covering the retirement themselves for over a mile.

(e). On October 31st, at the canal bridge, north of Hollebeke, one Squadron of the 4th Hussars and the Maxim gun detachment were shelled by guns of all calibres and attacked by Infantry. The enemy were unable to reach the bridge, largely owing to Lieut. North’s handling of his machine guns. One of these was knocked to bits and Lieut. North was killed. The bridge remained in our possession till the 4th Hussars were relieved.

“The above constitute but a part of the exceptional work of this Officer.”

He married in December, 1911, Frances Evelyn, second daughter of Henry Berry, of Donisthorpe House, Moor Allerton, Leeds.

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

 

Munby E J 2nd Lt Royal Engineers

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Munby E J 2nd Lt Royal Engineers

SECOND LIEUTENANT E. J. MUNBY

EAST ANGLIAN FIELD COMPANY, ROYAL ENGINEERS, T.F.

ERNEST JOHN MUNBY was the second son of the Rev. G. F. W. Munby (O.R., 1846), Rector of Turvey, Bedfordshire.

He entered the School in 1888, and after leaving went to America, where he took his degree as a Mechanical Engineer. He worked as a Mining Engineer in Colorado and Borneo, and on the tunnels under the Hudson River at New York.

He obtained a Commission in the Royal Engineers, in October, 1914, went to the Front at Christmas, was killed on January 31st, near Bethune, and was buried in the cemetery of Le Touret. His section was working at night. They had finished work, and had gone into an old farm building, when a bullet crashed through the wall and caused his instantaneous death. Age 40.

One who knew him in civilian life wrote:- “The thing that struck me most was the fact that whenever there was work involving much danger, he always took the dangerous place, rather than allow the men to take it, and this seems to have been the keynote of his life, self-sacrifice for the good of others.”

Another wrote “He always had the truest spirit of self-sacrifice, and his death seemed a fitting end to a life that was always full of courage and enthusiasm.”

He married in 1905 Emily Louisa Ann, widow of Captain Herbert Turner Turner-Emery, R.A., of Baddow Park, Essex, only daughter of Charles Henry Coxhead.

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

 

Munby E J 2nd Lt Royal Engineers

Source : The Illustrated London News 13th Feb 1915

MUNBY, ERNEST JOHN, 2nd Lieut., 1st East Anglian Field Coy., R.E. (T.F.), 2nd s. of the late Rev. George Frederick Woodhouse Munby, Rector of Turvey, Bedford (1869-1905), by his wife, Harriet Louisa, dau, of the Rev. Canon Linton; b. Turvey Rectory, 19 May, 1875; educ. Rugby and Stevens Institute, Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.A., where he took his degree as Mechanical Engineer, and became M.Am. S.M.E. and A.I.M. and M. As a Mining Engineer, he worked in Colorado and Borneo, and was subsequently engaged with Lord Cowdray (then Sir Weetman Pearson) in constructing the tunnel under the Hudson River to New York. He was afterwards employed by the Gardner Electric Drill and Hammer Company, and had latterly been engaged at the St. John’s Mine, Montezuma, Colorado. On the outbreak of war he returned to England and applied for a commission. He was gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 1st East Anglian Coy., R.E., 14 Sept. 1914; went to France at the end of Dec., and was killed in action near Bethune, 31 Jan. 1915, being buried at Le Touret. He m. at Croydon, 7 Nov. 1905, Emily Louisa Ann, widow of Capt. Herbert Turner Turner Emery, of Baddow Park, Essex, and dau. of Charles Henry Coxhead; s.p.

Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1

Miller G L 2nd Lt Royal Engineers

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Miller G L 2nd Lt Royal Engineers

SECOND LIEUTENANT G. L. MILLER

ROYAL ENGINEERS

GODFREY LYALL MILLER, born at Cawnpore, was the eldest surviving son of Sir John O. Miller, K C.S.I., of the Indian Civil Service, at one time Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces, and Member of the Governor-General’s Council, and of Mary Evelina, daughter of the Right Honble. Sir

Alfred Lyall, C.C.I.E., K.C.B. He entered the School in 1906, became a Cadet Officer of the School O.T.C., and left for the R.M.A., Woolwich, in 1911, passing in 12th.

In December, 1912, he passed 1st out of Woolwich and entered the Royal Engineers. At Woolwich he gained the King’s and Pollock Gold Medals, besides other prizes, and later, at Chatham, a Haynes Memorial Medal for Field Engineering.

At the outbreak of War, August 4th, 1914, he was appointed to the 11th Field Co. R.E., forming part of the 2nd Division.

He was killed on September 14th, 1914, at Pont Arcy, on the Aisne, 14 miles east of Soissons. Age 21. On this day he was in charge of a damaged bridge over a canal, in rear of the pontoon bridge at Pont Arcy. The 2nd Division had crossed the canal and river bridges on the evening of the 13th and morning of the 14th. In the afternoon of the latter day an ammunition train returning from the north of the river attracted the German fire to the bridge, where Lieut. Miller and one Sapper were killed, and ten others severely wounded, some of them succumbing later. His Commanding Officer wrote:-

“He was held in high esteem by the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and men of the Company, and we all liked him. From the moment he joined me on mobilisation at Aldershot, he showed signs that he would make a good Officer, and the more I knew him the better I liked and put confidence in him. I now miss him very much, and am extremely grieved that such a promising young life has been cut short.”

Several men of his Company spoke warmly of his thoughtfulness and kindness, and their regret at losing “a fine and brave Officer, and a thorough gentleman,”

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

MILLER, GODFREY LYALL, 2nd Lieut., Royal Engineers, elder s. of Sir John Ontario Miller, of Rowley Lodge, Arkley, Herts, K.C.S.I., late Indian Civil Service, by his wife, Mary Evelina, dau. of the late Sir Alfred Lyall; b. Cawnpore, India, 14 Feb. 1893; educ. Warden House School, Deal, Rugby, and Woolwich, where he gained the King’s Gold Medal; was gazetted 2nd Lieut., R.E., 20 Dec. 1912; visited Germany twice during leave to study the language was appointed on mobilisation to the 11th Field Coy. R.E. attd. to the 2nd Division, with which he left for France on 15 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action while in charge of a bridge over a canal at Pont Arcy, 14 Sept. 1914, during the crossing of the Aisne: unm. Buried where he fell.

Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1

Michell J C Captain 12th Lancers

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Michell J C Captain 12th Lancers

CAPTAIN J. C. MICHELL

12TH (PRINCE OF WALES’S ROYAL) LANCERS

JOHN COLLORYAN MICHELL was the eldest son of John Michell, 1.s.O., Consul-General at Petrograd.

He entered the School in 1886. He joined the Militia in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry in 1889, and resumed his Commission in 1894 as a Captain.

He served in the Matabele Rebellion in 1896 as a Lieutenant in the Maxim Gun Section. In the South African War, 1899-1902, he joined the Salisbury Contingent, which formed part of Colonel Plumer’s Column, and with it took part in the Relief of Mafeking, and was present at the Battle of Eland’s River. He was mentioned in Despatches, and received the Queen’s Medal with four Clasps, and the King’s Medal with two.

He went to the Front with the First Expeditionary Force and took part in the Retreat from Mons. He was killed at Moy (Aisne) while gallantly leading his Squadron in what proved to be a most successful charge against German Cavalry on August 28th, 1914. Age 43-

He married, in 1910, Ella, eldest daughter of Alfred Macnaghten, but left no children.

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

Meiklejohn K F Lt 1st Cameron Highlanders

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Meiklejohn K F Lt 1st Cameron Highlanders

LIEUTENANT K. F. MEIKLEJOHN

IST BATTALION THE QUEEN’S OWN CAMERON HIGHLANDERS

KENNETH FORBES MEIKLEJOHN Was the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Forbes Meiklejohn, late R.H.A., and of Edith Mary his wife. He entered the School in 1899, passed 3rd into the R.M.C., Sandhurst, was gazetted to the Ist Battalion Cameron Highlanders in February, 1904, became Adjutant of the Battalion in 1913, and left for the Front on August 12th, 1914.

He had qualified as Ist Class Interpreter in Russian and French.

He was killed on September 25th, 1914, at the Battle of the Aisne, near Verneuil, by a shell which fell on the cave used for the time being as Head-quarters and caused the roof to fall in. Age 29.

He married, in 1914, Sybil Maud, only daughter of J. C. Stewart, of Kinlochmoidart, Inverness-shire, and left a son, born in January, 1915.

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

Meiklejohn K F Lt Cameron Highlanders

Source : he Sphere 24th Oct 1914

McDougall D A H 2nd Lt 1st Seaforth Highlanders

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McDougall D A H 2nd Lt 1st Seaforth Highlanders

SECOND LIEUTENANT D. A. H. MCDOUGALL

IST BATTALION SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS (ROSS-SHIRE BUFFS, THE DUKE OF ALBANY’S)

DUNCAN ALBERT HERBERT MCDOUGALL was the elder son of Duncan and Amelia Florence McDougall, of Storthholme, Ranmoor, Sheffield. He entered the School in 1911, and went to the R.M.C., Sandhurst, on the outbreak of War, in August, 1914.

He received his Commission in December, and went to France in the following March. He fell while gallantly leading his Platoon in an attack on the German trenches at Rue du Bois, near Neuve Chapelle, on the early morning of May 9th, 1915. Age 18.

His Colonel wrote:- “He was a very capable boy and a brave one too, and, although he had only been a short time here, showed great promise.”

And a Private said:- “Mr. McDougall died a heroic death. Although wounded in the leg he still continued to lead and encourage his men to the last.”

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

 

McDougall D A H 2nd Lt Seaforth Highlanders

Source : The Illustrated London News 29th May 1915

Macarthur-Onslow A W Captain 16th Lancers

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Macarthur-Onslow A W Captain 16th Lancers

CAPTAIN A. W. MACARTHUR-ONSLOW

16TH (THE QUEEN’S) LANCERS

ARTHUR WILLIAM MACARTHUR-ONSLOW was the fourth son of Captain Alexander Arthur Walton Onslow, R.N., Camden Park, New South Wales.

He entered the School in 1892, and was in the XV in 1895. He went to Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1896, and gained a Third Class in the Law School in 1899.

He was gazetted to the 16th Lancers in 1900, and became Captain in 1904. He served through the South African War, and was slightly wounded. He received the Queen’s Medal with three Clasps, and the King’s Medal with two Clasps. He was appointed Instruction Officer at Cambridge in connection with the Territorial Army scheme, in 1910, and was lent to the New Zealand Government 1911-14, serving as Brigade Major and Instruc-tional Officer of Mounted Troops.

He was killed by a shell in the trenches, near Ypres, on November 5th, 1914. Age 36. He was mentioned in Despatches of January 14th, 1915.

General Hubert Gough, c.s., wrote:-

“During the time he was out here, he had done very well, and commanded his Squadron so well that Vaughan (now commanding the 3rd Brigade) has especially mentioned him for the way he handled it in the attack on Warneton.”

He married, in 1911, Christabel, elder daughter of Colonel R. J. Beech, of Brandon Hall, Coventry.

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

Lowe H S Lt 2nd Worcestershire Regiment

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Lowe H S Lt 2nd Worcestershire Regiment

LIEUTENANT H. S. LOWE

2ND BATTALION THE WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT

HENRY STANLEY Lowe was the youngest son of the Rev. Edward Lowe, Vicar of Hallingborough, Lincolnshire, and of Elizabeth his wife.

He entered the School in 1904 and passed into the R.M.C., Sandhurst, in 1908. He went out to India in 1910, was promoted Lieutenant in 1913, and returned with his Regiment in the same year.

He went to the Front with the First Expeditionary Force, was present at the Retreat from Mons and in the Battles of the Marne and of the Aisne. He was wounded in the last of these, on September 20th, and died of his wounds, in Paris, on October 21st, 1914. Age 24.

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1

LOWE, HENRY STANLEY, Lieut., 2nd Battn. The Worcestershire Regt., yst. s. of the late Rev. Edward Jackson Lowe, Vicar of Stallingborough, and only s. by his 2nd wife; b. Stallingborough, co. Lincoln, 7 Feb. 1891; educ. Glengarth Preparatory School, Cheltenham; Bilton Grange, near Rugby; Rugby, and in Sandhurst Company at Woolwich; gazetted 2nd Lieut., Northamptonshire Regt., 6 Nov. 1909, and promoted Lieut. 5 March, 1913; joined his regt. in Jhansi, India, in Jan. 1910; returned to Aldershot in 1913; went to France, and died at Paris, 21 Oct. following, of wounds received in action during the Battle of the Aisne, 20 Sept.; unm. Buried at St. Germain-en-Laye.

Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1