Part 1

The

ROLL OF HONOUR

A BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF ALL MEMBERS OF HIS MAJESTY’S NAVAL AND MILITARY FORCES WHO HAVE FALLEN IN THE WAR

BY

THE MARQUIS DE RUVIGNY

_Author and Editor of “The Blood Royal of Britain,” “The Titled Nobility of Europe,” and other works._

“And he Passed over ... and all the Trumpetts sounded for him on the other side.”

Volume I.

With some 2,500 portraits.

LONDON:

THE STANDARD ART BOOK COMPANY, LIMITED, 30–32, LUDGATE HILL.

AND EVER THE FAITH ENDURES.

These men have laid down their lives for England. In the future, History will pass its verdict upon the War, its causes and its consequences, the methods of its accomplishment, and on the men who planned and schemed and fought to bring it to a triumphantly victorious ending. Our children, and the generations which are to follow us, for whose sake we have believed this war is being waged, will sit in judgment on all that has been done in it for good or for ill. Let us be content to be so judged.

But, whatever may be that verdict, what grander tribute can we humbly pay to those who have fallen, what else can we proudly say of them than the bare reiteration of the simple fact that they have made that last and greatest sacrifice of all? That sacrifice has been reached after the manner of our race, for the benefit of others, for the sake of those ideals which we rightly regard alike as the foundation and the characteristics of our nation.

From the fringes of the Empire men came homing back to the Motherland to shoulder her troubles and die for her alongside of the veterans who had already grown grey in the service of the King, and of the boys from London Town.

Some have gone out to meet their death with laughter on their lips, and some with prayers; and others have faced the end racked with the pain of long drawn suffering. Some have died in the gladdening exaltation of accomplished victory; and there are those who fought--and fought--and turned again and fought--and fell, sleeping as they fell and dying as they slept, in that grimmest nightmare of retreat at the opening of the campaign.

Victory we have known--failure we have met; yet those who have fought this fight for us have heaped up laurel upon laurel to add eternal lustre to that battle fame which the centuries behind us have woven for our name; and our children’s children will rejoice in the glory they have made.

There are British graves in Flanders and Gallipoli, on the bleak hillsides of Serbia and by the waters of the Euphrates. There are those who now rest peacefully beneath the sullen waves of the grey North Sea or the sun-kissed far Pacific; and of those who sleep so quietly none now hears the maddening racket of this world at war in which they played out their parts so gallantly.

Here are their names, officers and men together, as they fought and died for this dear Empire which they have loved so exceeding well. Let us pay tribute to their memory.

PREFACE.

The purpose of the Roll of Honour is to place on permanent record the name of every officer, non-commissioned officer and man of His Majesty’s Forces, on land or sea, who is killed in action, who dies of wounds, or whose death is otherwise resulting from the present war. The work is to be issued in a series of volumes, and the arrangement is alphabetical.

The name, rank and regiment of every one whose name appears in the official casualty lists are included, and where details have been obtainable, the parentage, place and date of birth, schools, a biographical sketch of career, and date and place of death, with extracts from letters of Commanding Officers or comrades relating to the action in which the officer or man fell, or to the particular circumstances of his death. The names of children have been included so that in the years to come they may themselves read, or teach their children to read, of the glorious way in which their fathers died; and of those individual acts of bravery that are the chief redeeming features of war.

The present volume contains some 8,000 names, and deals with casualties during the first year of the war, though certain exceptions have been made in order that relatives, though killed at different periods, may be included together. In every case it has been found possible to give the full name and to state the actual date, and the locality, of death, and these details must add very greatly to the value of the record, as they are not to be found in the Official Casualty Lists.

A large number of portraits of officers and men will be found included. With some 300,000 casualties it was obviously clearly impossible that one should be given in every case, but when a portrait is supplied, the publishers do their best to include it.

The three following volumes, which are at present in course of completion or preparation, will, it is hoped, be issued this year. These are the second and third volumes for 1914–15, and the first volume for 1916. It is earnestly hoped that relatives of those deceased in the service will, by furnishing particulars, co-operate in carrying out what is, even with the official facilities which are being given, an exceedingly difficult task.

The Editor and Publishers wish it to be distinctly understood that the insertion of any name is in no way dependent upon the payment of any fee or of subscription to the book, and that no fee will be accepted for the insertion of any name.

The complete text of the official despatches will be given in the final volume, and in this will also be included a regimental index, in which will appear under each regiment a roll of the officers and men who have been killed, or died on active service, throughout the war, with a reference to the volume in which the biography appears.

14–15, HANOVER CHAMBERS, BUCKINGHAM STREET, ADELPHI, W.C.

_December, 1916._

The Roll of Honour.

=ABBAY, MARMADUKE JOHN NORMAN=, Capt., 87th Punjabis, Indian Army, 2nd _s._ of the Rev. Richard Abbay, Rector of Earl Soham, Framlingham, Hon. Canon of Norwich, and Alderman of East Suffolk, by his wife, Janet, dau. of the Rev. Canon C. F. Norman, and grandson of Thomas Abbay, of Great Ouseburn; _b._ Earl Soham Rectory, co. Suffolk, 3 Nov. 1885; educ. at The College, Framlingham; Mr. T. Eastman’s, Winchester, and at Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Dorsetshire Regt. 16 Aug. 1905; promoted Lieut. and transferred to the 87th Punjabis, 16 Nov. 1907, and Capt. 16 Aug. 1914. On the outbreak of war he was attached to the 47th Sikhs, Lahore Division, served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, and was slightly wounded at Neuve Chapelle, 10–14 March, 1915, where only one British officer out of ten was untouched; and in the attack at Ypres on Sunday, 25 April, when the machine gun bearer--a Sikh--was struck down, Capt. Abbay took the gun and carried it, drawing the fire of the enemy on himself, until he fell badly wounded. Being very hot with his exertions and faint from loss of blood, he told his men to pour cold water over him, and they, being Indians, did so. The result was that, besides being very seriously wounded, he was very ill when he reached the hospital at Boulogne, the wound would not heal, and he was unable to survive the third serious operation, and died under an anaesthetic on 10 May. He was brought home and buried with military honours at Earl Soham. Bronze memorial tablets by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, Bt., R.A., have been placed in the churches of Earl Soham, Suffolk, and Great Ouseburn, Yorkshire. His two brothers are (1916) on Active Service--Major Bryan Abbay as second in command of the 20th Royal Fusiliers (3rd Public Schools Battn.,) and Lieut. Ambrose Abbay, in command of the Destroyer Garry.

=ABBOT, JOHN=, Private, No. 3248, 1st Battn. Loyal North Lancashire Regt.; was employed at Mr. J. Fletcher’s Great Lever Brickworks, Bolton; enlisted on the outbreak of war; went to France early in April, 1915, and was killed in action on the Western Front, June following, aged 19.

=ABBOTT, ALBERT=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 5365), S.S. 99, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=ABBOTT, CHARLES THOMAS=, Coy. Q.M. Sergt., No. 5080, B Coy., 2nd Battn. Royal Irish Regt., _s._ of Graves Abbott, Sergt. 1st Battn. Royal Scottish Fusiliers; _b._ Secunderabad, India, 13 Sept, 1881; enlisted 15 April, 1896; served in the South African War (Medal with Clasps), in India, and with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders; killed in action 24 May, 1915. He _m._ at Karachi, 9 Dec. 1908, Margaret Helen, dau. of John William Gorbey, of Carrick-on-Suir, and had a son and two daus: Henry Graves, _b._ Agra, 17 Nov. 1910; Agnes May, _b._ Agra, 2 Oct. 1909; and Ellen Rewa, _b._ on the troopship Rewa in the Bay of Biscay, 26 Dec. 1911. Sergt. Abbott’s brother-in-law, Corpl. Frank R. Gorbey, D.C.M., was killed in action, 23 April, 1915.

=ABBOTT, ERNEST WILLIAM=, Private, No. 16125, 1st Coy. Grenadier Guards, eldest _s._ of William Abbott, of 123, Ranelagh Road, Ipswich; killed in action in France, 26 Oct. 1914, aged 20.

=ABBOTT, FREDERICK CHARLES=, Corpl., No. 20738, 10th Battn. 1st Canadian Contingent, yr. _s._ of Frederick Charles Abbott, of S. Mildred’s, Salters Hill, Norwood, S.E., Solicitor; _b._ Brixton, 2 Feb. 1885; educ. at Dulwich College; was Assistant Baggage Master, C.P. Railway, at Medicine Hat, Alberta. On the outbreak of war joined the Canadian Contingent, Sept. 1914, was promoted Corpl. April, 1915, and was killed in action in the second Battle of Ypres, 23 April, 1915; _unm._

=ABBOTT, ROBERT=, A.B., 211311, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ABBOTTS, HARRY=, Private No. 16814, 5th Battn. Shropshire L.I., _s._ of David Abbotts, of Brierley Hill, co. Stafford, and Hampton Charles, co. Hereford, by his wife, Jane (_d._ 19 May, 1912), dau. of Richard Bedford, of Bromyard, co. Hereford; _b._ Hampton Charles, 4 May, 1896; educ. Bockleton National School; enlisted, 3 Feb. 1914; was sent to the Front at his own repeated request, and died of wounds received in a bayonet charge at the Battle of Loos, 25 Sept. 1914. After being wounded he was removed to the trench occupied by the Durhams, where he died. Corpl. R. J. Smith wrote: “At 3 a.m. on 25 Sept. the big guns started to clear the way for the R.B.’s, O. and C.’s, Bucks and Shropshires to get over the parapet ... all too eager they went before it was intended, and the R.B.’s fell to a man, principally owing to a mine being exploded. Five only crawled back. The O. and C.’s and Bucks in the middle found no support for them, but still went on with the Shropshires on the right, and gained their goal, ‘but owing to the heavy losses and no supports being forthcoming’ the ground gained had to be left again, and most of the casualties of the Shropshires happened then. Your brother managed to get back to our lines, and everything possible was done for him and others, but this was not much in the trenches in the daytime. He died 8.30 a.m. 26 Sept. in the traverse I was in charge of.”

=ABBS, TOM WILLIAM ROBERT=, S.B.A., M. 4398, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ABEL, CLAUD CECIL=, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R., B.1884), Ch. 12162, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ABERCROMBIE, ROBERT HENRY CHESTER=, 2nd Lieut., 1/8th Battn. Middlesex Regt., only _s._ of Chester Abercrombie, of Ashberrie, Ruislip, Middlesex, by his wife Ada, dau. of Robert Large Baker, of Leamington, M.D.; _b._ Willesden, N.W.; educ. at Woodriding School, Pinner, and Elstow School, where he was a member of the O.T.C. On leaving school he entered the London County & Westminster Bank, and was successively in the St. John’s Wood, Hanover Square, Uxbridge and Hastings branches, and after the outbreak of war joined the 2/9th Battn. of the Middlesex Regt. in Oct. 1914; was promoted Corpl. in Nov. and Sergt. in Dec.; obtained his commission as 2nd Lieut. with the 3/8th Battn. of the same regt. in March, 1915, and the following month was transferred to the 1/8th Battn., then in Flanders. In the fighting at Frezenberg, near Ypres, 3 May, 1915, the company were detached as escort to the artillery, and he was killed while in command (the other company officers having been all killed or disabled) in the act of helping a wounded comrade. Buried in Poperinghe Cemetery; _unm._

=ABERDEEN, JAMES=, Corpl., No. 5391, B Coy., 2nd Battn. Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, _s._ of (--); _b._ Durham, 8 June, 1880; joined Army 10 July, 1900, served nine years with the Colours and five years in the Reserve, and had a medal with 4 clasps for the South African Campaign. On the outbreak of war he was called up, and after going through the Battle of Ypres, was killed by a shell on 30 April, 1915, while resting in a wood. He _m._ 20 March, 1900, Brandon, co. Durham, Margaret Hannah, dau. of George Stringer, of New Brancepeth, Durham, and had two children: James Gordon, _b._ 16 May, 1913, and Vera Rebecca, _b._ 19 Oct. 1911.

=ABRAM, ERNEST WILLIAM=, P.O. (N.S.), 167361, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1915; _m._

=ABRAMS, FREDERICK=, L.-Corpl., No. 9504, 2nd Battn. Duke of Cornwall’s L.I., 3rd _s._ of the late William Abrams, of Portsmouth; killed in action on the Western Front, 23 April, 1915, aged 23.

=ABRAMS, HAROLD JAMES=, A.B., No. 233190, H.M.S. Good Hope, 2nd _s._ of the late William Abrams, of Portsmouth; lost in the naval action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914, aged 25.

=ABRATTHAT, WILLIAM=, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R.), B. 1999, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ACTON, WILLIAM ALBERT=, Private, No. 9952, 2nd Battn. L.N. Lancashire Regt., _s._ of William Samuel Acton, of 26, Stansfield Road, Brixton, S.W., Labourer; _b._ Bow, E., 2 June, 1891; joined the Army 28 Feb. 1910, served two years at Preston and Tidworth, was drafted to India in Sept. 1912, and whilst serving there gained certificates for signalling and firing; in Jan. 1915, accompanied the Indian Expeditionary Force to British East Africa, and was killed in action at Makton, 3 Sept. 1915; _unm._

=ADAM, THOMAS=, Corpl., No. 5558, Royal Scots Greys, 2nd _s._ of the late George Adam, of Edinburgh, Merchant; killed in action on the Western Front, 10 Sept. 1914, aged 28.

=ADAMS, CLARE ROBERT=, Boy, 1st Class, J. 27420, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=ADAMS, ERNEST ALEXANDER HECTOR=, Leading Seaman, 206926, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=ADAMS, FRANCIS HENRY=, Private, No. 10349, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of Edwin Adams, of New Barn, Stanton Fitzwarren, Highworth, Wilts; reported missing between 29 Oct. and 2 Nov. 1914, and now assumed to have been killed in action in France between these dates.

=ADAMS, FREDERICK=, Canteen Assistant, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ADAMS. GEOFFREY LLOYD=, Private, No. 1711, Princess Patricia’s Canadian L.I., 4th _s._ of the late George Frederick Adams, of Cardiff, M.Inst.C.E., by his wife, Ellen Gertrude, Ty-Draw, Parkstone, dau. of Frank Irwin, of Ebbw Vale, co. Monmouth, M.D.; _b._ Penarth, co. Glamorgan, 9 Aug. 1881; educ. Bedford Grammar School. While at Bedford School he was awarded the Royal Humane Society’s Certificate for saving the life of a little child at Cardington Mill, near Bedford. Enlisted in Princess Patricia’s L.I. in Ottawa after the outbreak of war, 1 Oct. 1914. Killed in action at Bellewarde Lake, near Ypres, 8 May, 1915. His Commanding Officer wrote: “He was loved and respected by his comrades and trusted by his officers. I say in all sincerity that no braver man ever lived than G. Lloyd Adams. He died facing the enemy with his rifle in his hand, and twice they drove them back.”

=ADAMS, GEORGE=, Stoker, 1st Class, (R.F.R.), B. 2978, 299119, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=ADAMS, GEORGE STOPFORD=, Major, 1st Battn. Lancashire Fusiliers, elder and only surviving _s._ of the late Lieut.-Gen. Cadwallader Adams, C.B., late Col. 49th Foot (served in the Crimean War, wounded at Inkerman), by his wife, Ann Catherine Elizabeth (66, St. George’s Square, S.W.), dau. of Brig.-Gen. James Stopford, C.B., and grandson of the late Henry Cadwallader Adams, of Anstey Hall, co. Warwick, J.P., D.L.; _b._ Belgum, India, 2 July, 1872; educ. Wellington College, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted (Hon. Queen’s Cadet) as 2nd Lieut. Lancashire Fusiliers, 25 Feb. 1893, and promoted Lieut. 10 July, 1895, Capt. 9 Oct. 1899, and Major 30 April, 1913, and was Adjutant of Volunteers, 15 July, 1904, to 14 Jan. 1908; served in the South African War, 30 Nov. 1900–31 May, 1902; took part in the operations in the Orange Free State and Cape Colony (Queen’s medal with four clasps), and with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 1915; was present at “Lancashire Landing” on Beach W, Gallipoli, 24–25 April, 1915, and was killed in action there 11 May following. On reaching the beach on the 25th, a withering fire from right left and centre was poured into them, and many were instantly killed, including the subaltern on his right, and the Sergt. with the wire-cutter on his left. Major Adams at once seized the wire-cutter from him and cut a lane through the barbed wire, through which he and the survivors of his company rushed. Owing to submersion in the water the breech mechanism of their rifles had become clogged. Major Adams therefore gave the order to fix bayonets, and they charged up the heights and drove the Turks from their trenches. The Colonel-in-Chief wrote: “I have heard from many in the regt. of the particularly fine behaviour and leading of your son, and I know that in his case the V.C. was thoroughly deserved.” The Colonel wrote: “It is far the worst loss we have suffered, and has cast a gloom over the whole battn., as he was so popular with all ranks.” He _m._ at St. Matthew’s Church, Denmark Hill, London, 12 July, 1905, Muriel Ada (3, Rectory Place, Guildford), dau. of John Cooke Harker, of Danehurst, Champion Hill, S.W., and had a son, Derric John Stopford, _b._ 17 Jan. 1907.

=ADAMS, GEORGE THOMAS=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 9765), 205993, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ADAMS, JOHN GOOLD=, Capt., 1st Battn. Prince of Wales’ Leinster Regt. (Royal Canadians), _s._ of the Ven. John Michael Goold Adams, Rector of Clonleigh, co. Donegal, and Archdeacon of Derry, by his wife, Emma, dau. of Robert McClintock, of Dunmore, co. Donegal, D.L.; _b._ Rossdowney Vicarage, Londonderry, 10 Oct. 1883; educ. Bilton Grange Preparatory School, Rugby, and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Leinster Regt. 22 April, 1903, becoming Lieut. 15 Dec. 1904, and Capt. 21 Sept. 1912; served at Pretoria, 1903–4. with the Mounted Infantry at Harrismith, 1904–5, and in the Mauritius, 1905–6, and was employed with the West African Frontier Force in Northern Nigeria, 1908 to Nov. 1913. After the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, he accompanied his regiment to France (Dec. 23), was wounded in Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Hill 60, near Ypres, 4 May following. He _m._ at Moneyguyneen, Birr, King’s County, 5 Aug. 1913, Ierne Grace, dau. of Assheton Biddulph, M.F.H., of Moneyguyneen aforesaid; _s.p._

=ADAMS, LAURENCE KINGSTON=, M.A., A.R.I.B.A., Lieut., 7th King’s Liverpool Regt., _s._ of William Adams, of Wyndcliffe, Birkdale, co. Lancs, by his wife, Celia; _b._ New Brighton, co. Chester, 10 Aug. 1886; educ. Elleray Park School, Wallasey, Cheshire, Shrewsbury School, and Liverpool Univ.; joined the 7th King’s Liverpool Regt. (T.F.) as 2nd Lieut. in 1908, becoming Lieut. four years later. On the outbreak of war the entire regiment volunteered for foreign service and proceeded to the front early in March, 1915. Lieut. Adams fell at the head of his platoon in the attack on the enemy’s trenches at Richebourg on the night of 15–16 May. They had gained the first trench, and he was shot dead on the parapet of the second trench. His brother-in-law, Capt. Marriott, of the same regiment, and six willing privates had his body removed and buried in the Rue du Bois, about two miles south-west of Neuve Chapelle. A cross bearing his name marks the spot. After leaving Shrewsbury he graduated at Liverpool Univ., taking his degree with first-class honours in architecture, later becoming an A.R.I.B.A.

=ADAMS, ROBERT JOB=, Rifleman, 17th Battn. (Poplar and Stepney Rifles) The London Regiment, _s._ of William George Adams, of 139, Green Street, Bethnal Green, China and Hardware Dealer, by his wife, Jane Sophia, dau. of Robert Ormes; _b._ Bethnal Green, E., 19 Feb. 1895; educ. Bonner Street L.C.C. School, and became a clerk in the Wool Department of the Port of London Authority at the London Docks. Having originally joined the Poplar and Stepney Rifles 14 April, 1910, he rejoined 6 Aug. 1914, the day following the declaration of war, went to the Front with his regt., 17th County of London, and was killed in action at Le Philosophe, between 9 and 10 a.m. on 11 June, 1915; _unm._ His company officer (Capt. J. Evan Evans) wrote: “He was on sentry duty, and with great keenness was trying to locate a sniper who had been seen to move earlier in the morning, unfortunately too much of his head showed over the parapet which resulted in him being struck by a bullet believed to be an explosive one. I do hope this will be of some consolation to you to know that he played a man’s game and died a man’s death in face of the enemy. Death was instantaneous with no suffering whatever.” Adams was secretary of the Christian Endeavour Society of the Grove Road Baptist Chapel and was a good all-round athlete. He won his school prize for swimming at the age of eleven.

=ADAMS, ROLAND=, Signal Boy, J. 23322, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=ADAMS, THOMAS HENRY=, A.B. (Ch. R.F.R., B. 6034), late No. 188155, R.N., _s._ of Thomas Henry Hicks Adams; _b._ Buxton, 8 Aug. 18--; entered Navy, April, 1897, and was lost on the Aboukir, 22 Sept. 1914. He _m._ Lancaster, 18 April, 1908, Mary Ellen, dau. of William Thomas Beattie, and leaves two sons: Thomas, _b._ 10 July, 1910, and Harry, _b._ 29 March, 1912.

=ADAMS, WALTER=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 3866), S.S. 101726, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=ADAMS, WALTER FREDERICK=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 4909), 195243, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=ADAMS, WILLIAM=, L.-Corpl., No. 11241, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of William James Adams, of 78, Brighton Road, Watford, Gardener, by his wife, Mary Jane, dau. of James Borthwick; _b._ East Finchley, N., 11 Jan. 1887; educ. St. Matthew’s School, Ipswich; enlisted after the declaration of war, in Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Richébourg, 14 March, 1915; _unm._ He was buried in Bethune Cemetery.