Part 186

=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 litter, 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].

=TOWNER, FREDERICK ARTHUR ALBERT=, Private, Signaller, No. 148, 7th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of Horace Frederick Towner, of 22, Alfred Street, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Cabinet Maker, by his wife, Isabel, dau. of William McLeod; _b._ St. Leonards, 6 July, 1890; educ. Christ Church School there; went to sea in 1906 and was twice wrecked, first on the John Shelley, in Nov. 1907, and secondly with the sailing ship Enterprise, in the North Sea, Oct. 1908, being on this last occasion the sole survivor; in 1912 went to Australia and took up farming, but after the outbreak of war enlisted in the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, 4 Sept. 1914, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles, 3 June, 1915; _unm._

=TOWNSEND, CHARLES=, Armourer’s Mate (Pensioner), 342373, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=TOWNSEND, HENRY CHARLES WILLIAM=, A.B., 239251, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=TOWNSHEND, ALFRED=, A.B., 236174, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=TOWNSHEND, CHARLES HENRY=, A.B., 229079, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=TRACEY, ALBERT JAMES FREDERICK=, Private, No. 1940, 15th Battn. (Prince of Wales’s Own Civil Service Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), 4th _s._ of Joseph Thomas Tracey, of 24, Belmont Road, South Norwood, S.E., formerly Sergt. 1st Border (34th) Regt., by his wife, Caroline, dau. of Richard Frederick Hill; _b._ Caterham, co. Surrey, 11 April, 1891; educ. Garrison School, Fort George, N.B.; South Norwood Council School, and Whitgift Middle School, Croydon; served as a registered Boy Clerk at the Board of Education, Whitehall, from 27 May, 1907, to 16 July, 1911, and as an assistant clerk, 17 July, 1911, to Aug. 1914. He joined the 23rd London Territorials in March, 1909; became Sergt. in Sept. 1912, but transferred to the Civil Service Rifles, April, 1914, giving up his stripes; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war; went to France, 17 March, 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, 25 May following, while bombing a German trench; _unm._ He was buried at Festubert. Capt. H. H. Kemble, of his Coy., wrote: “Your son led the way along the parapet and used his bombs with such effect, that the trench was taken the next day. A report of his bravery has been forwarded to Head Quarters. He was always thorough and efficient, and always quiet and gentle”; and Sergt. F. C. Robertson said that when they found him next day he had used all his bombs. He had rushed right on using the bombs till the Germans turned the machine-gun on to him. No man could have done more. The trench was won.

=HANBURY-TRACEY, HON. FELIX CHARLES HUBERT=, Lieut., 2nd Battn. Scots Guards, yst. _s._ of Charles Douglas Richard, 4th Baron Sudeley, P.C., by his wife, Ada Maria Katherine, dau. of the Hon. Frederick James Tollemache; _b._ Buckingham Gate, S.W., 27 July, 1882; educ. Harrow and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Scots Guards, 8 May, 1901, and promoted Lieut. 10 Nov. 1907; retired in 1907 and joined the Reserve of Officers; gazetted to the 3rd Battn. of his regt. on the outbreak of war, 5 Aug. 1914; went to France, 7 Nov., and died of wounds received in an attack on the German trenches near Fromelles, on the night of 18–19 Dec. 1914. He was wounded slightly at the commencement of the attack, but still led his men. When again wounded fatally on the parapet of the German trench, some of his men attempted to carry him back to safety, but he ordered them to leave him where he was and to go on, as he did not wish them to risk their lives in saving him. The Germans shortly afterwards re-took their trench, and he died a few hours later in their hands, and was buried by them. He _m._ at Lacock, Wiltshire, 11 June, 1908, Madeline Llewellyn (13, Queen’s Gate Place, S.W.), only dau. of Col. George Llewellyn Palmer, of Lackham, Lacock, Wilts, and had two sons: Michael David Charles, _b._ 29 March, 1909; and Ninian John Frederick, _b._ 7 Dec. 1910.

=TRAHERNE, LLEWELLYN EDMUND=, of Coedarhydyglyn, near Cardiff, J.P., Lt.-Commander, R.N., eldest _s._ of the late Llewellyn Edmund Traherne, of Coedarhydyglyn, by his wife, Mary, dau. of Henry Hogard; _b._ Paris, 14 Sept. 1863; joined the Britannia in Jan. 1877, and left in Dec. 1878, having taken the first prize in seamanship that year, he was appointed to H.M.S. Charybdis, then on the China Station, and took passage to her in the Encounter. He served in many stations and qualified in gunnery, gaining 1st Class Certificate in 1890, retiring in 1897. On the outbreak of the European War, at the age of 51, he rejoined as Lt.-Commander (G.) Emergency List, and was promoted to Acting-Commander of the Excellent, 12 Oct. 1914, and died while on active service, of pneumonia, at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, 14 Oct. 1914. He was buried in the Churchyard of the village of St. Nicholas, near Cardiff. Lt.-Commander Traherne _m._ at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, London, 16 April, 1907, Dorothy Emma Olivia, elder dau. of George Felix Standish Sinclair, of 3, Manson Place, London, S.W., and granddau. of the late Sir John George Tollemache Sinclair, of Ulbster, 3rd Bart., M.P., and had two sons and one dau.: Cennydd George, now of Coedarhydyglyn, _b._ 14 Dec. 1910; John Rhodri Llewellyn, _b._ 24 Sept. 1913; and Margaret Agnes Mary, _b._ 1 Dec. 1908.

=TRAVERS, ALBERT JOHN=, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 14738 (Ports.), H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=TRAYNOR, THOMAS=, Stoker, R.N.R., S. 2922, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=TREHANE, GEORGE=, Leading Stoker, K. 1240, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=TREVELYAN, WILFRED=, 2nd Lieut., 4th Battn. Rifle Brigade, 2nd _s._ of Sir Ernest John Trevelyan, of 1, Marston Ferry Road, Oxford, D.C.L., Reader in Indian Law to the University of Oxford, etc. [gdson. of the Ven. George Trevelyan, Archdeacon of Taunton, 3rd _s._ of Sir John Trevelyan, of Nettlecombe, 4th Bart.], by his 2nd wife, Julia Isabel, dau. of Edward Walhouse Mark, late Consul at Marseilles; b. Calcutta, 10 Oct. 1893; educ. Rugby, and at Manchester University; gazetted from the Officers’ Training Corps to the 5th (Reserve) Battn. Rifle Brigade, 15 Aug. 1914, was transferred to the 4th Battn. 8 Sept. following, served with his regt. in France and Flanders, and died at Ypres, 5 May, 1915, from wounds received in action the previous day. He was buried in the grounds of Hooge Chateau, France; _unm._

=TREVENA, FREDERIC WILLIAM=, Private, No. 931, A Coy., 1/5th Battn. Seaforth Highlanders (T.F.), only surviving _s._ of Richard Charles Trevena, of 33, Lakeside Road, Palmer’s Green, N., by his wife, Eliza Barnicoat, dau. of the late John Robins, of Penryn, Cornwall; _b._ London, 22 Oct. 1892; educ. Bowes Road School, was a member of the Clerk’s Department of the Southgate Urban District Council Office; joined the Seaforth Highlanders, 14 Sept. 1914; went to France, 1 May, 1915, and was killed on the 21st of that month, by shell fire, while the battn. was resting in an orchard about three miles from the firing line, some miles N.E. of Bethune. Buried in the orchard; _unm._ The Chaplain, the Rev. D. Macfarlane wrote: “We were encamped and he and others were simply resting in their bivouac when the shells came raining across on us. We had been shelled the day before farther up the line and had left it to come here for safety as this place had never been shelled before. But this time the shells had a message, and it was your dear Frederic that they came to. He could have suffered nothing, as death was instantaneous. The others were spared, though they got a shock. We feel keenly parting so suddenly from a good comrade and a brave man.”

=TREVENER, WALTER JOHN=, Leading Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 2277), 289209, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=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 Punjab, 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 Department 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 breastwork 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 “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 Minenwerfer, 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.”

=TRIGGS, WOODMAN GEORGE=, Ship’s Corpl. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 3710), 163287, H.M.S. Aboukir: lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=TRIMMER, GILBERT FREDERICK=, Coy. Sergt.-Major, No. 3359, 2/4th Battn. The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regt. (T.F.), 2nd _s._ of John Trimmer, of Guildford, by his wife, Alice Katurah, dau. of J. Dawes Esher; _b._ Guildford, co. Surrey, 18 April, 1876; was by trade a Tailor; served in South Africa, 1900, with the City Imperial Volunteers and was invalided, home; after the outbreak of the European War enlisted 2 Nov. 1914; went to the Dardanelles with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, and was killed in action at Chocolate Hill, Gallipoli, 9 Aug. 1915. He _m._ at St. Mary’s, Guildford, 10 Feb. 1902, Grace Eleanor (38, King John Terrace, Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne), dau. of the late George Hewett, of Guildford; _s.p._

=TRIMMER, WILLIAM DOUGLAS MACLEAN=, Lieut., 1st Battn. Hampshire Regt., only child of Edward Douglas Trimmer, of Oakrigg, Walton-on-Thames, Solicitor, and his wife, Mary Kate, dau. of John Lauchlan Maclean, late of Haremere Hall, co. Sussex; _b._ Surbiton, co. Surrey, 29 Dec. 1891; educ. Aldenham School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 1st Hampshires, 20 Sept. 1911, and promoted Lieut. 18 March, 1914; left for France, 22 Aug. 1914, in the 11th Brigade of the 4th Division, served through the retreat from Mons, the Battles of the Aisne and the Marne, and was killed in action with his whole platoon, in an advanced and isolated trench at Ploegsteert Wood, during the First Battle of Ypres, 30 Oct. following. Buried in Ploegsteert Churchyard; _unm._ Lieut. J. F. Gwynne, Medical Officer to the Hampshires, wrote: “He died like a hero--he _was_ a hero, and the way he and his men fought to the last is one of the finest acts I have heard of in the whole war. He was found in his trench, wounded fatally in the head, grasping unexpended cartridges in his hand--game to the last. He must have died immediately on receiving the fatal shot.” Capt. Clive Garsia, 1st Hampshires, wrote: “The simplest truth about him, uninfluenced by the natural wish to speak well of the dead, is that he was one of the very best subalterns I ever knew. From the day he joined he devoted himself whole-heartedly to work and to play, and exhibited pluck and endurance I have never seen excelled. His success as a cross-country runner was due solely to grit, because he was not the cut of a runner, but he had the heart to stay the pace however hot they made it. As a loyal subordinate who played up to me whole-heartedly on every occasion I should like to pay his memory humble tribute of acknowledgment. I knew when the war broke out that he would do well, and I have frequently asked men coming down wounded for news about the regt. and different officers. The first news I heard was about the retreat from Mons, when a sergt. told me that Mr. Trimmer and the General were the only two that wouldn’t lie down. Several told me that ‘the blokes said they’d follow him anywhere’”; and in a subsequent letter he added “the specially heroic circumstances attending the last stand of Douglas and his platoon are fully appreciated. I am now on the Divisional staff and have frequently heard the Chief Staff Officer say how well my regt. has done all through, instancing the way Douglas’ platoon stuck it to the last man.” And Capt. Douglas Johnston, 1st Hampshires, wrote: “On the Aisne he [Lieut. Trimmer] did his work perfectly, and I myself was particularly struck with the quiet courage he showed when on really dangerous patrol work. He was far from well there, but got better before we moved. When poor Major Connellan was struck, your boy dashed out and brought him into cover, and the next day, the 21 Oct., he told me about it. It is unnecessary for me to add that he was extraordinarily popular with his men.” Mr. Connellan in a letter to Mr. Trimmer said: “I have heard from Capt. Thurn and I will tell you all that he told me about your son, but I am afraid it is very little. He says, about 28 Oct. he was holding an advanced trench with his platoon in front of Ploegsteert Wood; he was very heavily shelled and attacked by infantry all day, losing most of his platoon. He sent back for reinforcements but apparently there were none to be had, anyhow none were sent. He held his men together and stuck to his trench all day, being finally killed by a shell towards the evening. The remains of his platoon, nine men out of about 40, stuck on and were finally all killed by German infantry, except, I believe, one man who is now wounded and prisoner. The only survivor of his platoon, the messenger he sent back, was killed about two months after. Young Trimmer certainly held his trench very gallantly and I know his name was sent on from the battn.” He was a good all-round athlete. When at Aldenham he won the School Mile and Half Mile, in 1910, creating school records in both instances. He was also a good cross-country runner, coming in fourth at the R.M.C. in 1911, and he ran in the 1st Hampshire Regimental Teams in 1912, 1913 and 1914, which won the Aldershot Command (twice) and the Eastern Command, Cross Country Runs. In other sports he was a useful Rugby Football and Hockey player, a plucky swimmer and a good horseman.

=TRINEMAN, CHARLES FREDERICK=, Staff Sergt., No. 62, 18th Battn. 5th Infantry Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of the late William Trineman, Gardener; _b._ Exeter, 28 March, 1882; educ. Seaton Council School; joined the 27th Devonshire Yeomanry, and served with them through the South African War, 1899–1902 (Queen’s medal with five clasps); afterwards went to Australia; joined the Australian Imperial Force on the outbreak of war; served in Egypt and at the Dardanelles, and was killed in action there, 21–25 Aug. 1915. He had, just previous to his death, given a cooking demonstration at Victoria Barracks, on one of the Travelling Kitchens to be used by the troops, and was then presented with a gold wristlet watch. For many years he was golf professional and groundsman at the Axe Cliff Golf Links. He _m._ at Seaton, Devon, 28 Jan. 1903, Amelia (Southfield, New Road, Water Orton, near Birmingham), dau. of John Harley Boddy, and had a dau.: Nora Amelia, _b._ 13 March, 1904.

=TRITTON, ROBERT EDMUND=, Leading Seaman, 227159, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.