Part 190

=VENNING, EDWIN GERALD=, Capt., 3rd, attd. 1st, Battn. The Suffolk Regt., yst. _s._ of the late Rev. Edwin James Venning, Chaplain in Cassel, Germany, by his wife, Amy, dau. of William Lawrence; _b._ Southsea, 7 June, 1883; educ. St. Edmund’s, Canterbury, and afterwards took up acting. From about 1911, he travelled in the provinces with touring companies, playing important parts, and when war broke out in Aug. 1914, he was acting at Brighton. He at once volunteered, and enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regt. in Sept. and was subsequently gazetted Lieut. 3rd Suffolks, 1 Jan. 1915, and promoted Capt. 9 June, 1915; went to the Front, 3 May, 1915, and was killed in action at Ypres, 6 Aug. following; _unm._ Buried in Locre Churchyard. Sergt. Major Utting, in writing to his sister, said: “Your brother, Capt. Venning, was my company officer, and he has treated myself and the men of my company in such a manner that he has gained a respect that will last as long as there is a man of the present B Coy. alive.”

=VERCO, WALTER JOHN=, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R.), Ch./10669, H.M.S Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=VERCOE, HENRY STEVEN=, Officers’ Steward, 3rd Class, L. 4863, H.M.S Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=VEREKER, ROBERT HUMPHREY MEDLICOTT=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Grenadier Guards, 2nd _s._ of George Medlicott Vereker, of Sharpitor, near Salcombe, South Devon, J.P. for co. Galway, Freeman of the City of Dublin, late Capt. Kildare Militia, by his wife, Frances Gore, eldest dau. of Robert Manders, of Landscape, Dundrum, co. Dublin, and grandson of the Hon. John Prendergast Vereker [3rd son of John Prendergast, 3rd Viscount Gort]; _b._ Dublin, 15 Oct. 1894; educ. Cheam, Osborne Naval College and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to 2nd Grenadier Guards, 17 Sept. 1913, and joined his battn. the following month at the Tower of London; went to France with the Expeditionary Force, Aug. 1914, and was killed in action during the desperate night battle at Landrecies, on the 25th of the same month. Buried at Landrecies; _unm._ The Rev. Benjamin G. O. Rorke, Chaplain to the Forces, wrote: “You have probably already heard that your brave son met his death in action on the 25th inst. while trying to draw Corpl. Bacchus of his regt. out of the range of the German fire. Corpl. Bacchus, who was wounded, is now convalescent, and, if spared, can tell you all about it. He showed me the exact spot at Landrecies, on the town side of the railway level-crossing, on the left of the road. It was a brave man’s death. There were in his pocket a silver flask from his mother and his own ‘Onoto’ diary. I gave them into the custody of the medical officer, Major Fry (brother of C. B. Fry), to take charge of for you. He was buried in the next grave to Lord Hawarden and the Hon. Windsor Clive on the one side, and eight men of the Coldstream Guards on the other, and on the same occasion we erected a rough wooden cross inscribing the names. The following day the wife of the ‘Garde Cimetière’ brought me a wooden cross of a more substantial kind, and I left instructions for the names to be painted on it; it was her own thought and her own tribute. Mme. Bocquet, The Pharmacie, Grande Rue, Landrecies (a very kind lady), undertook to see this done. I have heard from the regt. how much he is missed. He died like a brave man. This will be a great consolation to you.” The house and grounds at Sharpitor were lent to the Red Cross Society for the duration of the war by Mr. and Mrs. George Vereker in memory of their son.

=VERGE, ARTHUR=, Capt., A.A.M.C., attd. 6th Light Horse, Australian Imperial Force, 2nd _s._ of Austral Verge, of Kempsey, Macleay River, New South Wales, Grazier, by his wife, Matilda Jane, dau. of Henry Flavelle, of Hamilton Terrace, London; _b._ Kempsey, 12 Feb. 1880; educ. The King’s School, Parramatta, where he was Burton Exhibitioner in 1898, and St. Paul’s College within Sydney University, where he graduated M.B., Ch.M., in 1905; was for two years (1905–6) resident medical officer at Sydney Hospital; then proceeded to England, where he attended the leading London hospital skin departments, and took courses in Bacteriology and Vaccine Therapy. After a post graduate course at Edinburgh University he qualified F.R.C.S. there in 1908, and then visited Paris, Vienna, Prague and Berlin, and attended the skin clinics and took courses in the treatment of skin diseases under Sabarand, Brocq, Thebierge, Albaran (Paris), Finger, Rheil, Oppenheim, Kapsammer (Vienna), Blaschko, Josephs and Wasserman (Berlin). Returning to Edinburgh, he was appointed Clinical Assistant to the Skin Department for three months, and later non-resident house physician for one year (1909–10), at the Royal Infirmary, and while holding these positions had charge of the X-Ray department, and the radium treatment under Dr. Cranston Low. He took a six months’ course in Vaccine Therapy and Bacteriology of the Skin at the Royal College of Physicians, and in 1910 published in the “British Medical Journal” (31 Dec.) an article on “The Treatment and Diagnosis of Lupus Vulgaris by Tuberculin Ointment.” He then returned to Australia and practised as a skin specialist in Sydney, and in 1911 obtained the position of Hon. Assistant Physician for Diseases of the Skin at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital there. On the outbreak of war he volunteered for Imperial service, and was given a commission as Capt. A.A.M.C., 2 Oct. 1914; left Sydney as medical officer to the 6th Light Horse with the second reinforcements, and died in No. 17 General Hospital, Alexandria, 8 Sept. 1915, of dysentery contracted while on active service with his regt. at Anzac Cove; _unm._ He represented both King’s School and St. Paul’s College in cricket, football, tennis and rowing. He played with the University Union Football Team, and was full-back for three seasons. He played full-back for New South Wales against Queensland in 1902 and 1904, and while in the old country played rugger with Blackheath and other Rugby clubs. Dr. Verge was also a capital all-round cricketer, and at one time was the most successful bowler at the University. He played in two matches against Melbourne University, scoring 10 and 2, and taking two for 22 and six for 20 in 1903; and scoring 4 and 5, and taking four for 70 and three for 69 in 1904. His yr. brother, Dr. C. A. Verge, is now with No. 32 General Hospital, Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force.

=VICAT, HORATIO JOHN=, Lieut., 1st Battn. Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regt., eldest surviving _s._ of the late Horatio Nelson Vicat, of Sevenoaks, by his wife, Miriam Frances Kate (East Lodge, Sevenoaks), dau. of Henry Augustus Prevost Holland, of Quebec, Canada [grandson of Capt. Samuel Holland, R.A., A.D.C. to General at the capture of Quebec, and afterwards Surveyor General of Quebec and Director of Surveys in British North America]; _b._ Melbourne, P. Quebec, Canada, 24 June, 1885; educ. Cheltenham College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Royal West Kents, 25 Jan. 1905, and promoted Lieut. 26 May, 1908; was seconded for service with the West African Frontier Force (Gold Coast Regt.), from Nov. 1910 to Oct. 1912; went to France with the Expeditionary Force, 21 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action near Missy, during the Battle of the Aisne, 13 Sept. 1914. He was in command of his company when they were forming advanced guard to the Brigade and he was leading his men down to make good a bridge-head which was held by the enemy when they opened fire with a machine-gun, and he was killed instantly. Buried 300 yards East-South-East of Missy Bridge on the south side of the river; _unm._

=VIGUS, ROBERT EDWARD=, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R.), Ch. 8507, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=VILES, WILLIAM=, Gunner, R.M.A., 13533, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=VILLIS, LEYSHON=, Trooper, No. 748, 18th Light Horse, 3rd Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of George Villis, by his wife, Mary Ann (Hayes Cottages, Sully, near Cardiff), dau. of Leyshon Watkin; _b._ Mountain Ash, co. Glamorgan, 17 April, 1893; educ. Sully; went to Australia, 1 Dec. 1911; volunteered and enlisted following the outbreak of war, 15 Nov. 1914, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles, 7 Aug. 1915; _unm._

=VINALL, CHARLES COBDEN=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3591), S.S. 957, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=VINALL, EDWARD ARTHUR=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3504), S.S. 1184, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=VINCE, DAN=, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9107), 234619, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=VINCENT, THOMAS ERNEST=, Blacksmith’s Mate, M. 3134, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=VINCENT, WILLIAM=, Private, No. 6540, 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, eldest _s._ of William Offer Vincent, of Garsdon, by his wife, Fanny, dau. of Charles Vincent; _b._ Garsdon, co. Wilts, 6 May, 1883; educ. Lea National School; enlisted 8 Jan. 1906, and was killed in action at Villers Cotteretts, 1 Sept. 1914, being buried at Rue de la Reine on the 4th. He _m._ at Ampeny St. Peter, co. Gloucester, Elizabeth (Garsdon, Malmesbury, Wilts), dau. of Edwin Wheeler, and had issue: Francis William, _b._ 17 July, 1911; William Charles, _b._ 29 Sept. 1912; and Joan, _b._ (posthumous) 21 Dec. 1914.

=VINE, RICHARD=, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R.), Ch. 9739, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=VINEY, CECIL HENRY=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Northamptonshire Regt., only _s._ of Cecil T. Viney, of Bromley, Kent; _b._ 24 May, 1891; educ. South Lodge, Enfield Chase, and Westminster, and then entered the Royal Academy School of Painting, where he was still a student in Aug. 1914, when war was declared. He immediately volunteered for Imperial Service and was given a commission in the Special Reserve of Officers, Northamptonshire Regt. 15 Aug. 1914, and later posted to the 2nd Battn. He went to France and was killed in action near Festubert, 9 May, 1915; _unm._

=VINEY, PHILIP ERNEST=, Capt., 1st Battn. Leicestershire Regt., 2nd _s._ of Josiah Ernest Viney, of Cintra, Swanage, formerly of Harcourts, Chertsey, M.D., L.R.C.P. Lond., M.R.C.S. Eng.; _b._ 23 April, 1888; received his commission as 2nd Lieut. in the Leicesters, 8 Feb. 1908, and was promoted Lieut. 16 May, 1910, and Capt. 24 Aug. 1914. He served with the 1st Battn. at Shorncliffe, and later with the 2nd Battn. at Belgaum, and 5 Oct. 1911, was seconded for service with the Gold Coast Regt., and did good work in West Africa. He was A.D.C. to Sir Hugh Clifford, but on the outbreak of war came home and rejoined his regt., and died in the field hospital at Bailleul, 17 Dec. 1914, of wounds received in action; _unm._

=VINNALL, EDWARD ARTHUR=, A.B., S.S. 1184, R.F.R., B. 3904, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=VIVIAN, CHARLES AUGUSTUS=, Brevet Lieut.-Col., 15th (Ludhiana) Sikhs, Indian Army, 3rd and yst. _s._ of the late Col. Aylmer MacIver-Campbell, formerly Vivian, of Asknish, C.B., D.L., J.P., Bengal S.C., by his wife, Margaret Agnes (Asknish House, Lochgair, co. Argyle), elder dau. and co. h. of Col. James Duff MacIver-Campbell, of Asknish; _b._ Dalhousie, India, 28 July, 1874; educ. Clifton College and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut (unattd. list) Indian Army, 30 Aug. 1893; was attached to the Gordon Highlanders for his first year; joined the Indian Staff Corps, 27 Jan. 1895, and was promoted Lieut. 30 Nov. 1895, Capt. 30 Aug. 1902, and Major, 30 Aug. 1911; served (1) with the Chitral Relief Force, 1895 (medal with clasp); (2) on the N.W. Frontier of India, 1897–8, including operations on the Samana and in the Kurram Valley during Aug. and Sept. 1897, and those of the Flying Column in the Kurram Valley, under Col. Richardson, 20 Aug. to 1 Oct. 1897 (two clasps); (3) in the Tirah Expedition, 1897–8; including actions of Chagree Kotal and Dargai; the capture of the Sampagha and Arhanga Passes; reconnaissance of the Saran Sar and action of 9 Nov. 1897; and operations of the Waran Valley, and action of 16 Nov. 1897 (clasp); and (4) with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, Oct. 1914 to 27 April, 1915. Delayed by illness in Egypt, he did not join his regt. at the front until Oct. and was wounded in Dec. He returned to duty in Jan. and was mentioned in Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 14 Jan. 1915, and promoted Brevet Lieut.-Col. 18 Feb. following, for service in the field. In the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, where his regt. took a leading part, he was again wounded, but refused to leave his men and remained in the trenches under very heavy fire. He was killed in action near St. Julien, during the 2nd Battle of Ypres, 27 April, 1915. About 5.30 p.m., under cover of a bombardment of the Sirhind Brigade, the 1st Highland Light Infantry, and the 15th Sikhs were ordered to advance, but were met with such a terrific fire that a check ensued. Col. Vivian had to rush with his company over a fire swept zone to join the remainder of his regt. Just as he arrived he was shot through the body. An officer wrote: “I think that Col. Vivian was the bravest man I ever met--he seemed absolutely fearless of bullets, and his patrol work in front of our trenches at night was really wonderful. He inspired all the Sikh officers and men of his company with the greatest confidence, and made them nearly as fearless as himself. Once there was a house 30 yards in front of our trenches and it obscured our field of fire. The regt. who occupied the trenches before we did, said that they had tried to pull down the house, but had had to give up the attempt, because the enemy fired on them. Col. Vivian called for volunteers of his company to assist him to demolish the house. The whole company to a man volunteered--he chose the requisite number and in two days the house was flat; although they worked in daylight, not a single man was hit. I shall never forget the thrill of admiration I had for him when he volunteered to go behind the German line for two or three nights and reconnoitre the German position at La Bassée, but I was very relieved when the General would not allow him to go. Each time that he was wounded he insisted on going on with his work; any ordinary man would have been very shaken. We have lost a very dear friend, and England one of her bravest soldiers.” Col. Abbott, writing to The Pioneer about the Tirah Campaign, said: “Your report, moreover, makes no mention of the very gallant and prompt manner in which, when Capt. Lewarne’s party was rushed from the wood, the next one was brought up to his aid by Lieut. Vivian. The second party also got to close quarters with the enemy and to them must be accredited a large proportion of the Afridi losses on that occasion.” He _m._ at Portsmouth, 30 Aug. 1906, Mary Hastings, eldest surviving dau. of the late Joseph Studholme, of Ballyeighan, King’s Co., J.P., and had three children: Aylmer Studholme, _b._ 17 Aug. 1909; John, _b._ 30 Aug. 1913; and Margaret Ruth, _b._ 25 June, 1907.

=VISCOUNT, JOHN THOMAS=, Private, No. 1065, D Coy. 1st Newfoundland Regt., _s._ of Charles B. Viscount, of Dunville, Placentia, Newfoundland, by his wife, Hannah, dau. of Jane Norman; _b._ Cape Shore, Newfoundland, 23 March, 1895; educ. Dunville afsd.; was a Fisherman; volunteered after the outbreak of war and joined the Newfoundland Expeditionary Force, 14 Jan. 1915; left for England, May, 1915; went to the Dardanelles, Sept. 1915, and died on board the Hospital Ship Valdivia, 30 Oct. 1915, of wounds in the head received in action there. Buried at sea, Long. 23,26 E., Lat. 36,43 N.; _unm._

=VYVYAN, WALTER DRUMMOND=, Lieut., 2nd King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, elder _s._ of Capt. Richard Walter Comyn Vyvyan, of Trewan, St. Columb. Cornwall, late 2nd Battn. The Welsh Regt. and Temp. Lieut.-Col. 21st (Reserve) Battn. of the same, by his wife, Mary, dau. of Edward Sladen Foster, of Dowsby, co. Lincoln; _b._ Bath, co. Somerset, 20 March, 1887; educ. Bedford Grammar School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. King’s Shropshire L.I. 4 May, 1907, and promoted Lieut. 19 March, 1910; went to France, 21 Dec. 1914, and was killed in action at St. Eloi, Belgium, 2 March, 1915; _unm._ He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Dispatch of 5 April [London Gazette, 22 June], 1915, for gallant and distinguished conduct in the field.

=WACHER, GEOFFREY GIBBINGS=, Sergt., No. 517, 1/16th Battn. (Queen’s Westminster Rifles), The London Regt. (T.F.), yst. _s._ of the late Alfred Wacher, of the Anchor Brewery, Bermondsey, S.E., and Herne Bay, by his wife, Lucy Durant, dau. of Henry Gibbings, of North Tawton, Devon; _b._ Bermondsey, 25 April, 1891; educ. St. Anne’s School, Redhill, Surrey; was for some years in the employ of Chas. Morgan & Co., Paper Manufacturers, London; joined the Queen’s Westminsters, 22 Jan. 1909; volunteered for Imperial Service, Aug. 1914, and left for France, as Corpl. 1 Nov. 1914; promoted Sergt. June, 1915, and placed in charge of the machine-gun section, to which he had been transferred in Jan.; and was killed in action 9 Aug. following; _unm._ The Queen’s Westminsters were in support during the attack on Hooge on 9 Aug., and, after this had proved successful, occupied the first line trenches. During the severe bombardment by the enemy’s artillery which followed, our men took refuge in dug-outs. There were a large number of casualties, and Sergt. Wacher gave up his place of safety to some wounded men, and a few minutes later was killed by a shell. He had done valuable work with his battn. before war broke out, during its period of training, and more especially at the Front. One of his officers wrote: “He was one of the most popular fellows in the battn. among all ranks, and his loss is considered a regimental catastrophe”; and another wrote: “Ever since he went to the guns he had done excellent work as well as winning the affections of all the section.” He had been recommended for a commission by his Commanding Officer, and expected to return to England any day to take up his new duties, but owing to the heavy fighting could not be spared. An elder brother, Lieut. Walter Ronald Wacher, is (1916) on active service with the 2nd Royal Berkshires.

=WACKETT, FREDERICK JAMES=, Petty Officer, 2nd Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 3158), 151740, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=WADDY, JOHN RAYMOND=, B.A., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., Lieut., R.A.M.C., 2nd _s._ of Lieut.-Col. Waddy, late Commanding 2nd Somerset L.I., and grandson of Gen. Sir Richard Waddy, K.C.B., 50th Regt.; _b._ Weston-super-Mare, co. Somerset, 15 Feb. 1886; educ. Clifton College; Pembroke College, Cambridge, and King’s College Hospital; qualified M.R.C.S., and L.R.C.P. (London) 1912; volunteered on the outbreak of war, and was given a commission as temporary Lieut., R.A.M.C., 11 Aug. 1914; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, and was killed in action by a stray bullet, Bois de Ploegsteert, 17 March, 1915; _unm._ Buried in Somerset Cemetery, Ploegsteert Wood. He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 14 Jan 1915, and was awarded the Military Cross, 18 Feb. 1915. An officer of the Somersets wrote: “We were all, both officers and men alike, absolutely devoted to him; he was brave as a lion, and always ready to help anybody who needed him; no name will go down in the history of the regt. with more honour than his, for everybody loved him and realised his sterling qualities.” And the Chairman of the King’s College Hospital: “Both at King’s College, London, and at King’s College Hospital, your son was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. As you know, he finished a brilliant career at the hospital by obtaining the senior scholarship of this year, and was forthwith appointed House Surgeon to Professor Sir Watson Cheyne; the latter appointment he fulfilled to the complete satisfaction of his seniors, and during his residence in hospital he considerably enhanced that high reputation he had already gained.”

=WADE, FREDERICK WALTER=, Private, No. 13069, 2nd Battn. The Suffolk Regt., eldest _s._ of Frederick William Wade, of Hall Cottage, Foxhall, near Ipswich, Farm Horseman, by his wife, Edith Florence, dau. of the late Joseph Goodchild; _b._ Bromeswell, near Woodbridge, 24 Sept. 1895; educ. Bucklesham; enlisted on the outbreak of war, 2 Sept. 1914, served with his regt. in France and Flanders, died from wounds received in action, 21 June, 1915, and was buried in the Civil Cemetery at Bailleul; _unm._

=WADE, STAMPER PLASKETT=, Ch. E.R.A., 2nd Class, 269679, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=WADE, THOMAS=, Private, No. 2565, 1/7th Battn. London Regt. (T.F), _s._ of John William Wade, of 150, Lansdowne Road, Dalston, by his wife, Emily, dau. of (--) Parker; _b._ Hackney, 2 June, 1890; educ. Wilton Road School, Dalston; volunteered for Imperial service, and joined the 7th London in Sept. 1914, and went to France, 17 March, and died in hospital at Bethune, 5 April, 1915, of wounds received in action, 3 April. Buried in the Town Cemetery, Bethune; _unm._

=WADKINS, WILLIAM FERDINAND=, A.B., J. 3223, H.M.S. Laurel; killed in action in the Heligoland Bight, 28 Aug. 1914.

=WADSWORTH, ALFRED CHARLES=, Private, No. 12/1820, 16th Waikato Regt. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, only _s._ of the late John Wadsworth, of 10, Pelham Road South, Gravesend, Kent, Watchmaker and Jeweller, by his wife, Alice (10, Pelham Road South, Gravesend, Kent), dau. of John Hawes; _b._ Cheshunt, co. Herts. 3 Sept. 1889; educ. Christ Church School, Wanstead; volunteered for Imperial service on the outbreak of war and joined the New Zealand E.F., 15 Dec. 1914; left for Egypt, 13 Feb. 1915; took part in the landing at the Dardanelles, 25–26 April, 1915, and was reported missing on 8 May following, and is now assumed to have been killed in action there between those dates; _unm._