Part 159

=RAILSTON, SPENCER JULIAN WILFRED=, Lieut., 18th King George’s Own Lancers, Indian Army, attd. 4th Dragoon Guards, 1914, yr. _s._ of Col. Henry Edward Railston, of Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, late Cameronians, by his wife, Magdalen, dau. of the Rev. Charles Edward Oakley, Rector of Wickwar, co. Glos., and subsequently of St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, by his wife, Lady Georgina, née Moreton, eldest dau. of Henry George Francis, 2nd Earl of Ducie; _b._ Hamilton, co. Lanark, 8 Jan. 1889, and was educ. at Radley College, from where he passed direct into Sandhurst at the age of 17, and passed out tenth in 1907. He won the Champion Cup for gymnastics at his Public School, and represented it in the Boxing Competition at Aldershot, and both at his Public School and at Sandhurst he was in the cricket XI. He was gazetted 2nd Lieut. unattd. Indian Army, 17 Aug. 1907, and was attd. for his first year to his father’s regt., the Cameronians. Soon after joining, while in India, he entered without any training for the Lightweight Boxing Championship of India, and won it. At the expiration of a year he was appointed to the 18th K.G.O. Lancers, and played in their polo team. He was a good big game shot and a good steeplechase rider. When riding a steeplechase at Jubbulpore, a few months before his death, his girths broke after the first fence. He managed to pull the saddle and weight cloth from under him and rode the remaining 2¼ miles bareback, carrying them on his arm, and notwithstanding the horse falling once, he finished the course. He was promoted Lieut. 17 Nov. 1909, and after going through the cavalry course at Sangor came home on a year’s leave in 1914, and played polo through the London season in Count de Madre’s team (The Tigers). He was to have become Adjutant of his regt. on the expiration of his leave, but the European War broke out, and he at once volunteered for active service, and was attd. to the 4th Dragoon Guards, with whom he went to the Front and served with them through the battle of Mons, and all subsequent actions till he was killed at Messines, Belgium, on 1 Nov. 1914. The Major-General Commanding the 1st Cavalry Division sent the following account of Lieut. Railston’s death to his father: “I am deeply grieved at the death of your gallant boy, who on every occasion of this war has so distinguished himself. He is a great loss to his regt. He lost his life by a gallant act. His regt. was holding one-half of the village of Messines, south of Ypres, and the Germans the other half for 24 hours. In front of his troop a poor woman was lying wounded, and your boy left his cover to bring her in. He was struck by many bullets and killed. Had he lived he would certainly have been mentioned in despatches.” Another officer wrote: “His loss will be felt by the whole Cavalry Brigade, as he has been simply splendid through all these trying times, always cheery, and full of go, and ready to take on anything. Surely when the war is over, there will be no more gallant act than that to write of, and we are all so proud of him.” A memorial tablet was erected to his memory in Tortworth Parish Church. Gloucestershire.

=RAILTON, ARTHUR TEMPLE=, Lieut., 1/4th (Ross Highland) Battn. Seaforth Highlanders (T.F.), elder _s._ of Joseph Arthur Railton, of Woodburn, Buxton, by his wife, Alice Temple, dau. of James Mawson; _b._ 29 Nov. 1890; educ. Denstone College, Oundle School, and Glasgow University (where he obtained his B.Sc. degree in naval architecture, and served five years in the O.T.C.); volunteered on the outbreak of war and was given a commission as 2nd Lieut. in the 4th Seaforth Highlanders, 2 Sept. 1914; went to the Front 5 Nov following, his Battn. being attd. to the Meerut, and then to the Lahore, Indian Division, with which latter he served through the Battle of Neuve Chapelle; was wounded in the attack at Aubers Ridge, France, 9 May, 1915, and killed by a shell a few hours later while lying helpless near the German trenches. Buried in the orchard at Vieille Chapelle, between two of his brother officers; _unm._ His commanding officer wrote; “He was as brave and gallant as anyone who has ever worn a uniform, and he simply did not know what fear was.... Had he been spared he would have gone very far in his profession as a soldier. He fell, as I am sure he wished, at the head of his men, who may and probably did equal him in bravery and gallantry, but who could not possibly surpass him in either.” His promotion to the rank of temporary Lieut. to rank as from 1 Nov. 1914, was announced the day before he fell.

=RAINBIRD, JOHN=, Private, No. 6365, 2nd Battn. Royal Irish Rifles, _s._ of John Rainbird, of 9, Ravensdon Street, Kennington; _b._ Fulham, 15 Jan. 1883; educ. North End Road Board School there; enlisted 11 June, 1901, served seven years with the Colours and then passed into the Reserve; was called up on mobilisation 5 Aug. 1914; went to France, 14 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action near Kemmel, 2 May, 1915. Buried at Dickebusch. He _m._ at St. Pancras, 6 April, 1910, Clara Frances (37, College Place, Camden Town, N.), dau. of William Gibaud, and had two children: Hilda Kathleen, _b._ 26 July, 1911, _d._ 18 April, 1914; and Edith Pansy, _b._ 31 Oct. 1912.

=RAINES, CHARLES FREDERICK=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4733), 296016, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=RAINHAM, JOHN THOMAS=, Trooper, No. 9/747, 5th Otago Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, yst. _s._ of Henry Rainham, of Otago, Central N.Z., Miner; _b._ Otago, N.Z., 24 Jan. 1871; was employed by the Dunedin Drainage Board as a licensed Drainer; was a member of the Dunedin City Guards, serving with them till they disbanded; volunteered and joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 22 Oct. 1914; left for Egypt with the second reinforcements, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles, 27 Aug. 1915. He _m._ at Roxburgh 13 June, 1892, Mary, dau. of Patrick (and Margaret) Galvin, and had two sons; John, _b._ 18 Sept. 1893; and William, _b._ 8 Sept. 1894, who both volunteered for Imperial service. The elder was severely wounded at Anzac Cove, and the younger met with an accident while in camp which prevented his accompanying his battn. to the Front.

=RALEIGH, GEORGE HEBDEN=, Brevet Major, 1st Battn. Essex Regt., and Commander, 4th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, yr. _s._ of William Thorp Raleigh, of Goronga, Pakenham Upper, Victoria, by his wife, Matilda Jane, dau. of George Hebden; _b._ Melbourne, Australia, 30 June, 1878; educ. C.E. Grammar School, Geelong, and Melbourne University; and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 15 Nov. 1899, and promoted Lieut. 11 March, 1900, Capt. 8 Jan. 1908, and Brevet Major 22 June, 1914. He served in the South African War, 1899–1902; took part in the operations in Cape Colony, south of Orange River, 1899–1900, including actions at Colesberg (1–29 Jan.); the advance on, and relief of, Kimberley; in the operations in the Orange Free State, including operations at Paardeberg (17–26 Feb.); actions at Poplar Grove, Dreifontein, where he was dangerously wounded; Vet River (5–6 May) and Zand River; operations in the Transvaal in May and June, 1900, including actions near Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Diamond Hill (11 and 12 June); operations in the Transvaal, east of Pretoria, including actions at Frederickstad (17–25 Oct.); operations in the Transvaal and Cape Colony, 30 Nov. 1900, 31 May, 1902; during which actions he was with the Mounted Infantry, and received the Queen’s medal with six clasps and the King’s medal with two clasps. He then served with his regt. in India, Burma and Baluchistan for about eight years. On his return to England he did duty at Warley with the 3rd Essex Regt. (the old Essex Rifles Militia), where he gave great attention to flying, and was attd. to the Air Battn. R.E., 10 April-12 May, 1912, at Farnborough, and later was appointed to command the 4th Aeroplane Squadron at Durrington on Salisbury Plain. He went to the Front about 13 Aug. 1914; carried out air work at Mons, the Marne, the Aisne and Ypres, and was killed at Dunkirk, 20 Jan. 1915, by the falling of his aeroplane, after his return from a raid on Ostend on the night of the 19th; _unm._ Buried in Dunkirk Cemetery. While on Salisbury Plain Major Raleigh flew from there, in two stages, to France, and many of his flights were exceptional both for speed and altitude. He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 8 Oct. [London Gazette, 19 Oct.], 1914, and again after his death in that of 31 May [London Gazette, 22 June], 1915.

=RALPH, CHARLES WILLIAM=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 7430), S.S. 102654, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=RALPH, FREDERICK GEORGE=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4812), 296311, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=RAMBERG, KARL ANDRES=, A.B., J. 14096, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=RAMSAY, ALEXANDER=, Lieut., 5th Battn. Royal Fusiliers, attd. 1st Battn. Royal Warwickshire Regt., elder _s._ of the Rev. Alexander Ramsay, B.D., Minister of the Highgate Presbyterian Church, London, N., by his wife, Ella Euphemia Barbara, dau. of the Rev. William Clark, of Barshead; _b._ Coatbridge, co. Lanark, 9 Aug. 1887; educ. City of London School, and Caius College, Cambridge, and on leaving there entered the Board of Education as a Junior Examiner; gazetted 2nd Lieut. in the Reserve of Officers, 10 June, 1912, promoted Lieut. 25 March, 1915; was attd. to the 5th Royal Fusiliers on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914; went to France with the 1st Warwickshires, 21 Oct.; served in the trenches at Houplines, St. Yvon and Messines, and died a prisoner of war in a German Field Hospital, at Roulers, 28 April following, from wounds received in action at St. Julien, on the 25th, during the Second Battle of Ypres. Buried at Roulers. His Col. wrote: “He died gallantly leading his men against the German trenches on 25 April. He had done many gallant deeds since he has been with us, and we have all learnt his value as a man and as an officer”; and his Capt., who was wounded in the same engagement: “I had the luck to have him as one of my subalterns, and got to know him intimately since 1 Feb. I liked him immensely, and so did everyone else in the Battn. There was no one who looked after his men or got to know them like he did. I did not see him killed, but I feel sure he died a gallant death, leading his men in the attack in which we all suffered so.” A fellow officer, now (1916) on Headquarters Staff, also wrote: “Ramsay came to me when he first joined the Royal Warwicks, my regt., and I have no words to express the admiration I have always felt for him. He has been splendid out here, and I know all my men loved him, and we are all feeling his death as a personal loss. When I left my regt. and came to the Brigade Staff he asked me to write to you if anything happened, and that is how I know your address. He was thought highly of by everyone, and I know that his name has already gone forward in the honours list made up by the General some weeks ago.” While at Cambridge he took a double first (classics and history), was President of the Union, and obtained the Winchester Reading Prize.

=RAMSAY, LEWIS NEIL GRIFFITT=, M.A., B.Sc., 2nd Lieut., 3rd (Special Reserve), attd. 2nd Battn. Gordon Highlanders, 2nd _s._ of Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, of 41, Braid Avenue, Edinburgh, formerly Professor of Humanity in Aberdeen University, Professor of Classical Archæology in Oxford, Victoria Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, Medallist of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and one of the original Fellows of the British Academy, by his wife, Agnes Dick, 2nd dau. of the Rev. William Marshall, of Kirkintilloch; _b._ Aberdeen, 3 Feb. 1890; educ. Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh; Aberdeen University; Christ’s College, Cambridge, and the Imperial College of Science. He graduated M.A. at Aberdeen in 1910 and B.Sc. in 1913, with special distinction in Botany, and was about to submit a piece of research work for his Cambridge B.A. During 1914 he acted as Assistant to the Professor of Natural History at Aberdeen, and shortly before the outbreak of war he had been made a Beit Memorial Fellow and had begun work at the Imperial College. He had been a keen Volunteer and Territorial, and applied for a commission on 11 Aug. 1914; rejoined his old unit, the 4th Battn. Gordon Highlanders (T.F.), as a Private early in Sept. 1914, and was at once promoted to his former rank of Colour-Sergt. In reward for his services in drilling he was (18 Nov.) given a commission as 2nd Lieut. in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battn., and early in Dec. was sent to France to the 2nd Battn., then at the Front. He was killed in action on Sunday, 21 March, 1915. His Battn. had taken part in, and suffered loss at, the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, and were engaged in consolidating the position after the battle when he was shot by a sniper. He became engaged a few weeks before war began to V. Grace, dau. of the late Major Ferguson, I.M.S., and of Mrs. Ferguson, Aberdeen, and granddau. of Colonel Hunter, C.B., C.S.I. His orderly wrote: “On 21 March, about noon, I placed out in the sun a chair for him to write a letter while I was making his lunch, and about ten minutes after a man of our company was struck on the head at a low part of our trench, so Mr. Ramsay jumped up at once and went and dressed him. That was what caused his death. He knew it was a very dangerous part, but that was always his first thought, the safety of his men. So Mr. Ramsay gathered together all sandbags which were lying about, and started to put them up. It was while doing that that he was struck by a sniper. As soon as he fell I was beside him, for he was only working at about a few yards from me at the time. I got out his field dressing and bandaged him up the best I could, then I sent for the Doctor, who arrived a few minutes after; but he was beyond all aid. We made him as comfortable as possible until the end. He was unconscious the whole five hours and passed away peacefully. It was a great blow to his platoon for they thought the world of him, and myself I knew had lost a great friend and good master. He was taken away at night by the stretcher-bearers and buried in Estaires with full military honours, and laid to rest beside our dear old Col.” [Grave No. 524.] He had been a devoted student of field Zoology, and especially ornithology, from his earliest childhood, and had amassed a great amount of data regarding the ornis of Aberdeenshire. On the more technical side may be mentioned his notes on the moult of the herring-gull and on the collections made by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. He himself had travelled considerably, and had made valuable collections not only of birds but also of mammals, insects, and botanical specimens in various places, notably in Asia Minor in the summer of 1907. In addition to his work on birds, Mr. Ramsay left unfinished a “Revision of the Nereidac,” a piece of work which was expected by competent judges who knew its substance to become a classical paper on that group of marine worms. Latterly he had turned to entomology with a view to studying it from the economic side. A list of his published work appears in “British Birds,” IX, 1, 1915, p. 17 f., prepared by his friend, Lieut. A. L. Thomson, A. and S.H. He played the Highland pipes well, and was a member of the Aberdeen Pipers Society. He represented Aberdeen University for several years in long distance running and in swimming.

=RAMSDEN, ARTHUR=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 6557), 186587, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=RANCE, WILLIAM JOHN=, Petty Officer, 201566, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=RANCOMBE, MARCUS ERNEST WILLIAM=, Private, No. 1593, 1/3rd Battn. Monmouthshire Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of William John Rancombe, of 15, Cwm Cottages, Abertillery, co. Monmouth, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of Amos Buckle, of Waddesdon, Bucks; _b._ Abertillery, 14 April, 1895; educ. there; joined the 3rd Monmouthshire’s Territorial Regt., 25 June, 1913, and prior to the outbreak of the war was engaged at the Six Bells Colliery. He volunteered for foreign service; went to the Front, 16 Feb. 1915; was badly wounded in action near Messines Ridge, 16 March, 1915, and died at Bailleul, on Easter Monday, 5 April following; _unm._ He was buried in Bailleul Cemetery. His Company Officer wrote that he was one of his most reliable and useful men, a thorough good shot, signaller and despatch rider, one who could ill be spared.

=RANDALL, GEORGE EDWARD=, Private, No. 2093, 14th Battn. (London Scottish) The London Regt. (T.F.), yr. _s._ of Charles William Randall, of Barton Bendish, Alderton Hill, Loughton, co. Essex, Merchant, by his wife, Emma, dau. of Edward Witton, of South Lopham, co. Norfolk; _b._ Norwich, 29 Feb. 1892; educ. Sidcup College; was engaged in his father’s business as Managing Director of Hamburg (German) branch and Director of C. W. Randall & Co., Ltd., London; joined the London Scottish, 15 June, 1914; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war in Aug., went to France 15 Sept. with the first batch of Territorials to leave for the Front, and was killed in action at Messines, 1 Nov. following, during the famous charge of the London Scottish; _unm._ Buried there. A window was erected to his memory in Woodford Parish Church.

=RANDALL, WILLIAM ARTHUR=, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 6831, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=RANDELL, CHARLES WESTLEY=, Petty Officer, 1st Class, 196243, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=RANDLE, DONALD=, Rifleman, No. 2916, 21st Battn. (1st Surry Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), yst. _s._ of the late George Beavis Randle, W.G., Manufacturers’ Agent, by his wife, Sarah (Shandwick, Hazelwood Lane, Palmer’s Green, N.), dau. of the late John Mitchell, of Dorking, Norfolk; _b._ Wood Green, 13 March, 1894; educ. there; was a Clerk with Messrs. Kirwan & Co., Hatton Garden; volunteered after the outbreak of war, and joined the Surrey Rifles in Sept. 1914; went to France, 15 March, 1915, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 25 May following; _unm._ Four of his brothers are on active service; the eldest an officer in A.S.C., another in R.F.C., and two in Royal Bucks Hussars.

=RANGECROFT, WILLIAM EDWARD=, Acting Chief Stoker, 283745, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=RANDS, WILLIAM FREDERICK=, Rifleman, No. 3057, 1/16th Battn. (Queen’s Westminster Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of William Rands, of 108, Florence Road, Wimbledon; _b._ Battersea, 12 Feb. 1892; educ. Queen’s Road School, Wimbledon, and on leaving there in 1906 entered the shipping firm of Messrs. McEwan & Co., of 97, Cannon Street, E.C., in whose employ he was when war broke out in Aug. 1914; volunteered and joined the Queen’s Westminsters, 4 Sept. 1914; went to France with the first draft; was wounded in action at Armentières 3 May following, and died two days later in No. 8 Casualty Clearing Station; _unm._ Buried in the Bailleul Annex (Grave No. 816).

=RANKEN, HARRY SHERWOOD, V.C.=, Capt., Royal Army Medical Corps, elder _s._ of the Rev. Henry Ranken, B.D., Minister of Irvine, by his wife, Helen, dau. of Mathew Morton; _b._ Glasgow, 3 Sept. 1883; educ. Irvine Royal Academy and Glasgow University, where he graduated M.B., Ch.B. “with commendation” in 1905, and became M.R.C.P., London, 1910; was for some time House Physician and House Surgeon, Western Infirmary, Glasgow, and Assistant Medical Officer, Brook Fever Hospital, Metropolitan Asylums Board; gazetted Lieut., R.A.M.C., 30 Jan. 1909, and promoted Capt. 30 July, 1912; transferred to Egyptian Army, Aug. 1911; Member of the Sudan Government Sleeping Sickness Commission, and in charge of the Sleeping Sickness Camp at Yei, Western Mongalla, 1911–14; came home on leave, July, 1914, and volunteered for war service, and was restored to British establishment, Aug. 1914; went to the Front, 12 Aug. 1914, attd. to the 1st King’s Royal Rifle Corps; created a Knight of the Legion of Honour by the President of the French Republic “for gallant conduct from 21 to 28 Aug. 1914,” and decorated with the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 16 Nov. 1914] “for tending wounded in the trenches under rifle and shrapnel fire at Hautevesnes on 19 Sept. and on 20 Sept., continuing to attend to wounded after his thigh and leg had been shattered”; died of his wounds at Braisne, 25 Sept. 1914; _unm._ The Times History of the War, Pt. 41, p. 44, says: “It is a safe statement that no man ever won the Victoria Cross more nobly than did Capt. Harry Sherwood Ranken, R.A.M.C. Capt. Ranken was severely wounded in the leg whilst attending to his duties on the battlefield. He arrested the bleeding from this, and bound it up, and then continued to dress the wounds of his men, sacrificing his chances of salvation to their needs. When finally he permitted himself to be carried to the rear, his case had become almost desperate. He died within a short period.” Col. Northey, commanding 1st Battn. King’s Royal Rifle Corps, wrote to his parents of his personal loss and the loss the whole Battn. has sustained. Several other of his brother officers wrote in the same strain. The P.M.O. of the Egyptian Army regarded his death as a great loss to science. Sir William Leishman deplored the loss of a friend, and wrote of him as a man who thought nothing of doing three men’s work. In collaboration with Dr. H. E. Plimmer and Capt. Fry he prepared a series of “Reports on the Experimental Treatment of Trypanosomiasis.”