Trevor H S Lt Royal Engineers

Source : The Sphere 18th Sep 1915

Trevor H S Lt Royal Engineers

TREVOR, HARRY SPOTTISWOODE, Lieut., Royal Engineers, s. of Sir Arthur Charles Trevor, K.C.S.I., late of the Indian C.S., Revenue Member of the Bombay Government (1892-95) and Public Works Member of the Government of India (1896-1901), by his wife, Florence Mary, 2nd dau. of Col. Cyril Jackson Prescott, Bombay S.C., and grandson of Captain Robert Salusbury Trevor, 3rd Bengal Cavalry (who was murdered at Kabul in Dec. 1841, with the British Envoy, Sir William Macnaghten); b. Karachi, India, 19 July, 1899; educ. Marlborough College, where he was in the sixth form, Prefect and Head of his house, and a member of the house and school football teams, and the School Shooting Eight. From Marlborough he passed direct into Woolwich, became a member of R.M.A. Football XV, and gained his commission in the R.E., after an 18 months course, 1 Oct. 1909. After the usual period of training at Chatham he was ordered to India, served for a time in the Military Works Department at Jullunder, in the Panjab, and was then transferred to the Engineering Staff of the North- Western State Railway at Lahore, and promoted Lieut. 28 Jan. 1912.

On the outbreak of the war he was attached to the 1st K.G.’s O. Sappers and Miners, and proceeded with the 4th Field Company of the battn. as part of the Meerut Brigade to France, where he landed in Oct. 1914, and where he served, throughout the fighting at Givenchy, Festubert, Neuve Chapelle, and elsewhere on the front between La Bassée and Lille, till he was killed in action in the trenches near Laventie, 15 Aug. 1915. Buried in the British Cemetery at Vieille Chapelle; unm.

He was mentioned in Despatches, 30 Nov. 1915. General Nanton, C.R.E., Indian Contingent (under whom Lieut. Trevor had served in the Military Depart- ment in India, as well as at the front), wrote: “I have watched your son since he was with us in Jullunder. In this war I have noted his bravery and skill on so many occasions. We have lost a brave and good officer. He was buried with our other R.E. officers at Vieille Chapelle. He was shot whilst arranging a fixed rifle rest with his usual care, and he did not suffer for an instant”; and Col. Twining, late C.R. E. Meerut Division: “Your son worked under my orders from the time he came to France until March last. I had a high opinion of him as an officer and a strong regard for him as an individual, and I deplore his loss to the Service as well as to his relations and friends. He went through much hard and dangerous work-never spared himself in the slightest and was always cheery and ready for anything. I remember one occasion in particular last Dec. when I had to send him with another young officer out on a very difficult and dangerous task-they had been out through very severe fighting for 36 hours consecutively and were very much done, but your lad stuffed a little food into his pockets and went off again, full of cheer, with a smile. You will be glad to hear of this- it was his usual attitude and we have lost a valuable officer and a much-loved comrade.”

The late Col. Davidson Houston, Commanding 58th Rifles F.F., also wrote: “I trust you will excuse an entire stranger writing to you, but on behalf of both my officers and myself I wish to tender our deepest sympathy with you in the loss of your son last month. He was, when he met his death, working in my section of the front line, as he had frequently done before, and I had always found him a most able and hard working adviser on technical points connected with the defences-always cheerful, always ready to help, never sparing himself, we shall miss him greatly and the R.E.’s have lost one of their most promising young officers. Your son had been lunching with me and discussing a rifle rest he had invented, a specimen of which he had had made and given to my regiment. He said he would like to test this particular specimen as he had not had time to do so before sending it to us. He asked if he might use my observation post to shoot from and he and my adjutant went there for the purpose. The post is raised up on a platform. Your son raised his head to look over the little breast- work and was immediately shot. We much regretted being unable, owing to the Military situation, to attend his funeral and mark our respect for him as a soldier and a comrade.”

“An officer of high professional promise, he was also a music and book lover, a talented designer and draftsman, and had a somewhat notable turn for the devising of contrivances I for the further discomfiture of the enemy,” to use the words of a brother officer. One of the first, if not absolutely the first, trench mortar used by the British, to counter the German Minnenwerfer, was made on his initiative and under his orders, of 9 inch iron piping, in the company’s workshops, and proved very effective, and it was in arranging to test a portable contrivance of his own for enabling fire to be kept up on any desired point in the dark and without exposure, that he met his death. With reference to this contrivance the O.C. 2nd Black Watch wrote in a note found among Lieut. Trevor’s papers: “We have tried your rifle rest, and found it very good.”

Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1

Townend F W Captain Royal Engineers

CAPTAIN FRANCIS WHITCHURCH TOWNEND (1900-1). Royal Engineers.

Born 10th July, 1885. Third son of the Rev. A. J. Townend, Chaplain to the Forces. On leaving Dulwich he passed into the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, at sixteen and a half years of age, where he played in the Football XI. He was gazetted to the Royal Engineers in January, 1904, and after two years at the S.M.E., Chatham, he went to India, being attached to the 3rd Sappers and Miners. He was a well-known Army cricketer, having several times represented the Royal Engineers at Lords, and played for the Bombay Presidency and the Indian Army.

He was promoted Lieutenant in 1906, and went with the Indian Expeditionary Force to France in October, 1914, being promoted the same. month to Captain. He belonged to the 35th Divisional Signal Company, and was attached to the Dehra Dun Brigade throughout the battle of Neuve Chapelle. He was engaged in laying telephone cables after his brigade had taken the enemy trenches when he was wounded, at Rue. du Bois, and died within twelve hours at the Casualty Clearing Station on 29th March, 1915, being buried at Bethune. A motor driver wrote the following account of the incident. “After dinner I commenced a letter, but was interrupted by a shell bursting somewhere in the vicinity and a man yelling for bandages. Of course I rushed to see if I could be of any use, and found that the shell had burst right in the midst of a party of Indian Engineers, who were laying telephone wires. I was late in starting, owing to my letter, and all the Indians were being attended to when I arrived on the scene. However, I saw someone in the shell-hole, which was on the side of the road opposite from where the men had been hit, and so had escaped notice. In it was the white officer of the Indians, Captain F. W. Townend, who appeared to have his legs half buried in the débris. He told us to attend to the others first, as he was all right, and then as we moved him we saw that he was standing on the stumps of his legs! Both had been shot off at the knee. (I’m telling you this story, horrible as it is, because of the extraordinary courage, the man showed such courage as I’ve never seen before, and hardly imagined. It’s worth while bearing the horror of it to realise that we are officered by such men.) He was perfectly conscious and calm, and spoke as though he were a medical officer and someone else the victim. He looked at his legs as we moved him on to the stretcher, and asked me quietly to tie something tight round both thighs to stop the bleeding. There were two Royal Army Medical Corps men with us, and they attended to the subsequent first aid. They discovered another terrible wound in his arm, and while they were dressing it he told them he thought he would give up football next year! We took him to the nearest hospital; he was still conscious and perfectly collected, and laughed quietly and talked, apologising for the trouble he was causing, while on his way to the hospital, and I came back thinking of that tag in some book or other: ‘I have seen a man.’ ”

He was mentioned in despatches by Field Marshal Sir John French.

Source : Dulwich College Roll Of Honour 1914-1919

Townend F W Captain Royal Engineers

TOWNEND, FRANCIS WHITCHURCH, Capt., 35th Divisional Signal Coy. Royal Engineers, 3rd s. of the Rev. Alfred John Townend, Chaplain to the Forces, by his wife, Margaret Wiseman, dau. of the late William James Stairs, of Nova Scotia; b. Halifax, Nova Scotia, 10 July, 1885; educ. Dulwich College, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and on leaving there spent two years at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham; gazetted 2nd Lieut. R.E., 21 Jan. 1904, and promoted Lieut. 24 Sept. 1906, and Capt. 30 Oct. 1914; went to India in 1906, and was there attached to the 3rd Sappers and Miners; left for France with the Indian Expeditionary Force after the outbreak of war, reaching the front in Oct. and died at Bethune, 29 March, 1915, of wounds received in action the previous day, while laying telephone wires; unm.

Buried in Bethune Cemetery. A motor ambulance driver wrote the following account of the incident to his Mother [Morning Post, 12 April, 1915]: “After dinner I commenced a letter, but was interrupted by a shell bursting somewhere in the vicinity and a man yelling for bandages. Of course I rushed to see if I could be of any use, and found that the shell had burst at the side of the road about forty yards away, right in the midst of a party of Indian engineers who were inspecting the telegraph wires. T. and I grabbed stretchers from our car, and with some others rushed for the Indians. I was late in starting owing to my letter, and all the Indians were being attended to when I arrived on the scene. However, I saw someone in the shell hole which was on the side of the road opposite from where the men had been hit, and so had escaped notice. In it was a man, the white officer of the Indians, who appeared to have his legs half buried in the debris of the hole. He told us to attend to the others first; he was all right. And then as we moved him we saw that he was standing on the stumps of his legs. Both had been shot off at the knee. (I’m telling you this story, horrible as it is, because of the extraordinary courage the man showed-such courage as I’ve never seen before, and hardly imagined. It’s worth while bearing the horror of it to realise that we are officered by such men.) He was perfectly conscious and calm, and spoke as though he were a medical officer and someone else the victim. He looked at his legs as we moved him on to the stretcher and asked me quietly (he was not in the least excited, and his handsome face showed no pain) to tie something tight round both thighs to stop the bleeding. I did what I could with my handkerchief, and another I requisitioned, and we took him to our billet. We had to move hurriedly, of course, as a second shell had followed and we wanted cover in case any more arrived. There were two R.A.M.C. men with us, and they attended to the subsequent first aid. They discovered another horrible wound in his arm, and while they were dressing it he told them that he thought he would give up football next year. We then took him to the nearest hospital; he was still conscious and perfectly collected, and laughed quietly and talked, apologising for the trouble he was causing, while on the way to the hospital. And I came back thinking of that tag in some book or other ‘I have seen a man.’ The poor fellow died in hospital.”

While at Woolwich he played for the Association Football XI. and was a well-known Army cricketer, having several times represented the Royal Engineers against the Royal Artillery at Lord’s; he also played for the Free Foresters, the Bombay Presidency, and the Indian Army.

Capt. Townend was mentioned in Despatches by F.M. Sir John French [London Gazette, 22 June, 1915].

Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1