The Roll of Honour, Volume 1

Part 194

Chapter 1943,858 wordsPublic domain

=WARREN, REGINALD DOUGLAS=, Trooper, No. 2058, 1/1st Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles, 1/1st South Eastern Mounted Brigade, _s._ of Edward George Warren, of 32, Lyndhurst Road, Hove, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of Walter Sharp, of Kilnsea, Yorkshire; _b._ Cambridge, 20 Jan. 1895; educ. Berkhampstead and Brighton Grammar Schools; was on the staff of Messrs. Lloyds Bank at Cliftonville, Margate; enlisted in Sept. 1914; went to the Eastern front 25 Sept. 1915, and was killed in action at Gallipoli, 7 Dec. following, being buried in Y Ravine there; _unm._ Major A. Leach Lewis wrote: “The lad died fighting and in the best of spirits. It was about 8.15 a.m. on Tuesday last that he was endeavouring to hit a periscope in the Turkish trench, when a sniper shot him from another part of the line. Your son had made himself extremely popular being always keen, cheerful and amusing. We have lost a good comrade, whose loss we all regret.”

=WARREN, ROBERT=, Boy, 1st Class, J. 25515, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=WARREN, SYDNEY CHAS.=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 2789), 205935, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=WARREN, WALTER=, Sergt., No. 294, 1/28th Battn. (Artists’ Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), 2nd _s._ of the late Henry Warren, of Stevenage, co. Herts, by his wife, Clara, dau. of Thomas Phillips; _b._ Sloane Square, Chelsea, S.W., 11 July, 1877; educ. City of London School; was a member of the Baltic Exchange; joined the Artists’ Rifles in 1900; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war; went to France with the 1st Battn., 26 Oct. 1914, and was killed in action at Neuve Eglise, 27 Nov. 1914; _unm._ On that morning the left half battalion had marched out to dig trenches in the artillery beaten zone, and shortly after commencing work came under fire of heavy German guns. Sergt. Warren and a comrade were killed by practically the first shot. His Colonel wrote: “The loss is ours as well as yours.... Your son was splendid and had the goodwill and affection of every man in the Corps”; and a fellow Sergt.: “There was no one but spoke well of him, and those of us Sergts. who were privileged to know him best feel the loss more than we can express. He was beloved by everyone, was always cheery, and always doing somebody a good turn.” Walter Warren.

=WARRENDER, ANDREW ROBERTSON=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 6334), 286718, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=WARTH, EDWIN FREDERICK=, B.Sc., Sapper, No. 864, 1st Field Coy., R.N. Divisional Engineers, yst. _s._ of Hugo F. Warth, D.Sc., sometime Deputy Director Geological Survey of India; _b._ Mussoorie, U.P., India, 12 Aug. 1888; educ. privately, King Edward VI School, Birmingham (1899–1905); and Birmingham University (1905–10), where he graduated B.Sc. in Civil Engineering (1st Class). On leaving there he was from 1910 to 1913 with Messrs. Nuthall & Co., engaged in the construction of a pipe line from Thirlmere for the Manchester Water Supply. In 1913 he went to the Grand Canary and was there at the outbreak of war, surveying for the New Las Palmas Water Supply. He had to undergo an operation before he could offer himself for military service and did not reach England till Nov. Having been a member of the Birmingham University O.T.C. (1905–10), he applied for a commission, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 24 March, 1915, but having in the interval enlisted as a Sapper in the R.N.D.E. and left for the Dardanelles, he was unable to take it up. He was wounded in action in the Gallipoli Peninsula 16 May, 1915, and died in hospital at Alexandria, 25 June following; _unm._ He was buried there.

=WARTON, ROBERT INNYS BAKER=, Sapper, No. 5233, 1st Field Coy., Canadian Engineers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 4th _s._ of the late Matthew Henry Warton, of London, Solicitor, by his wife, Mary (Portsdown, Darley Road, Eastbourne), dau. of the late Capt. John Fenwick; _b._ Loughton, co. Essex, 19 Feb. 1879; educ. Marlborough, and afterwards passed law examinations for Solicitor; went to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1903, there qualified as a Barrister and practised later at Atlin, going to Prince Rupert in 1910, where he went into partnership with Mr. W. E. Fisher, the firm employed by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Co.; joined the Canadian Engineers immediately on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914 at Vancouver; came over with the first contingent in Oct.; went to the front in Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at the Second Battle of Ypres, 24 April, 1915, while guarding a bridge over the Yser Canal, north of Ypres; _unm._

=WASSON, HENRY=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 7875), S.S. 103313, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=WATERFIELD, FREDERICK CHARLES=, Capt. 45th Rattray’s Sikhs, attd. 15th Sikhs, Indian Army; yst. _s._ of the late Major-General Henry Gordon Waterfleld, C.B., 45th Rattray’s Sikhs, by his wife, Emily Scott (Harbledown, Canterbury), dau. of the late Edmund Scott Barber; _b._ Dulwich, 22 Sept. 1878; educ. Bedford Grammar School, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the unattached list, Indian Army, 22 Jan. 1898; was attached to the 1st Gordon Highlanders, 7 April, 1898; joined the 45th Rattray’s Sikhs, 7 April, 1899; promoted Lieut. 22 April, 1900, and Capt. 22 Jan. 1907; took part in the China Expedition, 1900 (medal); served on the N.W. Frontier of India, 1908; took part in the operations in the Zakka Khel country, and those in the Mohmand country (medal with clasp); was in England on leave when war broke out, and served for three months with the 6th (Service) Battn. Royal West Kent Regt.; was attached to the 15th Sikhs, then in France, early in Nov. 1914; was wounded at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 12 March 1915; and again near Richebourg l’Avoué on 18 May following, and died in Bethune Hospital, 21 May, 1915. He was buried in the Town Cemetery there. A brother officer wrote: “I have known Charlie for fifteen years--we went to China together and were intimately associated in our work and our play, and linked by a friendship which distance and time could never affect. He was the very best type of English officer, as brave as a lion; of strong character, indomitable energy, and popular everywhere, without ever seeking popularity. A splendid soldier in every way.” In 1912–13 he accompanied the late Capt. Pritchard, 83rd Wallajahbad Light Infantry, in a journey of exploration beyond the frontier of Northern Burma. Capt. Pritchard was drowned while crossing one of the rivers and Capt. Waterfield brought the party back alone showing great courage and endurance under very difficult and dangerous conditions. He was awarded the MacGregor Memorial Silver Medal for his expedition, the honour coming a month after his death. Capt. Waterfield _m._ at Clayton, Sussex, 9 Jan. 1915, Ethel (Royston, Hassocks, Sussex), only dau. of the Rev. George Edward Roberts, of Royston, Hassocks, Sussex; _s.p._

=WATERING, WILLIAM ERNEST=, Coy. Sergt.-Major, No. 6717, 2nd Battn. The Royal Scots, 2nd _s._ of the late Arthur Fergerson O’Connor Watering, by his wife, Harriet (2, Roynham Street, North Heigham, Norwich), dau. of the late Arthur Fergus O’Connor, Sergt., 2nd Battn. The Royal Scots; _b._ Norwich, 17 April, 1881; educ. Heigham School there; enlisted in the Royal Scots, 17 April, 1899; became L.-Corpl. 19 Jan. 1901; Corpl. 20 June, 1902; Sergt. 29 Dec. 1906; Colour-Sergt. 1 Oct. 1913; and Coy. Sergt.-Major, 1 Oct. 1913; served in the South African War, 1899–1902 (Queen’s and King’s medals), and with the British Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, Aug. to 15 Oct. 1914, on which latter date he was killed in action at Croix Barbée, and was buried at Vieille Chapelle, France. He _m._ at Newlands, Glasgow, 26 Dec. 1911, Elizabeth (died 15 Oct. 1913), dau. of John Burt, and had a son, William Burt Paterson, _b._ 15 Oct. 1913.

=WATERMAN, LEONARD GORDON=, Ordinary Seaman, J. 16648, H.M.S. Pathfinder, lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=WATERMAN, ROBERT ALBERT=, Boy, 1st Class, J. 26355, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=WATERS, ARTHUR DAVIS=, Stoker, 1st Class, S.S. 111853, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=WATERS, GEOFFREY ERNEST=, Private, No. 245, 1/5th Battn. (London Rifle Brigade) The Loudon Regt. (T.F.), 4th _s._ of the late John Waters, of Wimbledon, co. Surrey, by his wife, Alice (St. Denis, Parkwood Road, Bournemouth), dau. of John Freeman; _b._ Wimbledon, 12 Jan. 1896; educ. Merton Park C.E. School, where he gained a scholarship for Rutlish Science School (Sept. 1907 to July, 1912), and on leaving there entered the Banking Department of Messrs. T. Cook & Son, of Ludgate Circus, Tourist Agents. After the outbreak of war he joined the L.R.B. 24 Aug. 1914; went to the Front, 27 March, and died in No. 13 General Hospital, Boulogne, 9 May, 1915, from wounds received in action; _unm._ He was buried in the Military Cemetery at Boulogne. From Merton Park School he gained a scholarship to Rutlish, obtaining a first place for all Surrey. He won the Surrey County Junior Scholarship (1907–11), the Senior ditto (1911–12), and the John James School Scholarship (1910–12), and passed the London University Junior School Exam, with honours, July, 1910; the same Senior Exam, July, 1911, and the same Exam, with additional subjects again in 1912.

=WATERS, GEORGE ALEXANDER=, Fleet Surgeon, R.N., _s._ of the late Eaton William Waters, of Tramore, co. Waterford, M.D., by his wife, Mary, dau. of William Edwards; _b._ Tramore, 28 Sept. 1862; educ. Tramore Boarding School and Waterford High School, and Queen’s (now University) College, Galway (1880–84, Exhibition in Mathematics), and having completed his medical studies in Dublin at the Carmichael College of Medicine, the Richmond, Whitworth and Hardwick Hospitals, and the Coombe Hospital, he graduated M.D., M.Ch., at the Royal University of Ireland in 1884. After a voyage to India in the Clan Matheson, he spent some 18 months in the Melrose plying between Cape Town and East African ports, and entered the Royal Navy, 17 Aug. 1887, being bracketed second place. He was promoted Staff Surgeon, 17 Aug. 1899, and Fleet Surgeon 1905, and served in the R.N. Hospital, Haslar, and H.M. ships Hearty (engaged in fishery protection in the North Sea, 1890); Boomerang (on Australian Station, 1891–94); Caledonia (Queensferry); Cockatrice (Danube, 1899); Psyche (West Indies); Illustrious (Channel, present at Brest fêtes, 1905), and Drake (accompanied Admiral of the Fleet Sir E. H. Seymour to the Hudson-Fulton celebration in New York, 1909), and was then appointed P.M.O. at Whale Island (H.M.S. Excellent), where he was when war broke out. He was appointed to H.M.S. Goliath (battleship, 12,950 tons, Capt. Thomas Shelford), Aug. 1914; early in Nov. she took part in the operations against the German light cruiser Königsberg, blocking her into the Rufigi River, where she was later destroyed; and on 1 Dec. with the light cruiser Fox, in the bombardment of Dar-es-Salaam, the capital of German East Africa, when she successfully disabled the many vessels in the harbour. Ordered to the Dardanelles in April, 1915, she helped to cover the landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and on 13 May, 1915, while engaged in protecting the right flank of the French Army, was struck by three torpedoes and sunk in two minutes. Only 166 survivors were picked up, Fleet Surgeon Waters being among those lost; _unm._

=WATERS, THOMAS ROBERT=, Chief Armourer, 341363, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=WATERS, WILLIAM DENNE=, 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regt.), only _s._ and surviving child of William Denne Waters, of Clarence House, Walmer, co. Kent, by his wife, dau. of the late George William Gill, of Rochester; _b._ 1 Aug. 1892; educ. Sir Roger Manwood’s School, Sandwich, where he was in the O.T.C., and having passed the Entrance Examination for the Army in June 1914, was gazetted to a 2nd Lieutenancy 15 Aug. of the same year. He was sent to France in Jan. 1915, and attd. to the 1st Battn. of the same regt., being seriously wounded at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle on 12 March, 1915. An officer of his regt., who wrote regretting his death, in describing the circumstances said: “He was in my old Company, which was ordered to charge a breastwork, and he was up and off, leading his men as he always did, but the whole lot were practically mown down by maxims.” Lieut. Waters died of his wounds the same night, and was buried in the Cemetery at Estaires; _unm._

=WATERS, WILLIAM LESLIE=, Lc.-Corpl., No. 10960, Machine-Gun Section, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, 2nd _s._ of Arthur Waters, of 25, Mill Hill Road, Acton, W., formerly of Herstmonceaux, co. Sussex, by his wife, Kate Emma, dau. of Ralph Joanes, of Brighton; _b._ Preston Park, Brighton, 23 Nov. 1896; educ. Stanford Road School there and Hugh Myddelton Higher Grade School, Clerkenwell; enlisted, 15 Aug. 1914; was promoted L.-Corpl. end of Nov. 1914; went to the Front, 17 March, 1915, and died of enteric fever while on active service, in No. 6 Casualty Clearing Station, Lillers, France, 7 July, 1915. His Commanding Officer wrote: “Ever since he came under my command he proved himself an excellent non-commissioned officer in every way and was generally liked by his own men and the whole Machine-Gun Section.”

=WATKINS, CHARLES HENRY=, Drummer, No. 8495, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, 3rd _s._ of William Henry Watkins, Sapper, No. 200567, R.E. (now on active service), late 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards (served in the Egyptian Expedition, 1882), by his wife, Harriet Deborah, dau. of James Connor; _b._ Caterham, co. Surrey, 21 Dec. 1893; educ. Winslow and Aylesbury; enlisted in the Coldstreams Dec. 1910; went to France with the Expeditionary Force 15 Aug., and was killed in action at the First Battle of Ypres, 10 Nov. 1914, being shot through the head by a sniper while crossing from one trench to another, and was buried in a wood near Rentel, Belgium; _unm._

=WATKINS, CHARLES ROBERT=, Private, No. 9986, 5th Battn. (London Rifle Brigade) The London Regt. (T.F.), elder _s._ of Edwin Robert Watkins, of Sladmore, Priory Avenue, High Wycombe, Surveyor, Member of Auctioneers’ and Land Agents’ Institute, by his wife, Henrietta, dau. of the late Walter Skull; _b._ High Wycombe, 19 Sept. 1891; educ. Royal Grammar School there (where he won a Major County Council Scholarship) and matriculated at London University with honours, subsequently becoming an Artist Designer for W. H. Smith & Sons, of Kingsway, Publishers. He joined the London Rifle Brigade the day after war was declared (5 Aug. 1914), went with it to France the first week in Nov., and was killed in action in the front trenches, outside Ploegsteert Wood, Flanders, 3 Feb. 1915; _unm._ He was buried on the side of the Armentières road, south of Ploegsteert Village. At the time of his death he had been recommended for a commission, and was shortly to have returned to take up his appointment. “A young man of great ability, considered by his employers to be a genius and with every prospect of a highly successful career.”

=WATKINS, ILTYD EDWIN MAITLAND=, Capt., 2nd Battn. The Monmouthshire Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of John Maitland Watkins, of Castle Parade House, Usk, Monmouthshire, Solicitor; _b._ Usk, 25 March, 1890; educ. Downside School, near Bath, and King’s College, Cambridge; B.A. (Law Tripos) 1911, LL.B. June, 1911, and passed Solicitor’s Final Examination in June, 1914. He joined the 2nd Battn. Monmouthshire Regt. as 2nd Lieut. 25 March, 1909, and was promoted Lieut. 8 Feb. 1912, and Capt. 15 July, 1914, and was Signal Officer, Welsh Territorial Division Signal Coy. On the outbreak of war he volunteered for Imperial service; went to France, 2 Feb. 1915, and was killed in action near St. Julien, during the Second Battle of Ypres, 7 May, 1915; _unm._ His Commanding Officer, Lieut.-Col. E. B. Cuthbertson, C.M.G., M.V.O., wrote: “He was killed in the morning of the 7th, just at the end of the German attack, and his death was instantaneous and painless. Of his qualities as a soldier and a gentleman I cannot speak too highly; cheerful, gallant and unselfish, he died as he would have chosen to die with his face to the enemy and in the middle of the men whom he loved and commanded so well. We buried him on the battlefield [at La Brique St. Jean, north of Ypres]. His loss is deeply deplored by all ranks.”

=WATKINS, WILLIAM JOHN=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 1636), 200436, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=WATSON, ALEXANDER=, Private, No. 16999, C Coy., 13th (Service) Battn. The Royal Scots, _s._ of Thomas Watson, by his wife, Esther; _b._ Strathaven, 10 June, 1886; educ. Ballgreen Public School; was a Tailor; enlisted in the Royal Scots, 4 Jan. 1915; went to France, 10 July, 1915, and was killed in action at the Battle of Loos, 26 Sept. 1915. He _m._ 3 June, 1910, Annie (18, Ballgreen, Strathaven), dau. of Robert Orr, and had two children: Thomas, _b._ 5 May 1912; and Jeanie, _b._ 3 Aug. 1910.

=WATSON, ALFRED JAMES=, Gunner, R.M.A., 8439 (R.F.R., I.C. 46), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=WATSON, CEDRIC GORDON=, Lieut. 2nd Battn. Princess Charlotte of Wales’ Royal Berkshire Regt.; only _s._ of Gilbert Watson, of the End House, St. Andrews, Fife, by his wife, Eva, dau. of Henry Minchen Chase, I.C.S.; _b._ Kenilworth, co. Warwick, 30 Aug. 1895; educ. Haileybury College and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Berkshires, 25 Feb. 1914, was promoted Lieut. 5 Jan. 1915, and for a time attd. to the East Surrey Regt. but had rejoined his own regt. at the time of his death. He was killed in action while gallantly leading his platoon in a frontal attack under “terrible conditions” at Fromelles, 9 May, 1915; _unm._

=WATSON, DAVID GALLOWAY=, M.A., M.B., Ch.B. (Edin.), Lieut., R.A.M.C., attd. 2nd Battn. Bedfordshire Regt., _s._ of John Watson, of 19, West Mayfield, Edinburgh, Headmaster Broughton Higher Grade School and Junior Student Centre, Edinburgh, by his wife, Agnes, dau. of David Galloway, of Edinburgh; _b._ West Calder, Midlothian, 18 Nov. 1889; educ. at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, where he was dux, in a brilliant year, and at Edinburgh University, where he first studied with a view of entering the Church, but eventually turned aside to medicine. After graduating in 1913, he became House Surgeon to Mr. Alexis Thomson at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, and later Senior House Surgeon at King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor, which he left to join the R.A.M.C. on the outbreak of war. He was gazetted temporary Lieut. 10 Aug. 1914, and went to the Front immediately thereafter. He was wounded by fragments of high explosive shell, 17 May, 1915, when bringing in wounded men from the trenches taken from the Germans at Festubert and died very suddenly at the Duchess of Westminster’s Hospital at Le Touquet, Paris-Plage, 5 June, 1915; _unm._ He was the first officer buried in the British Cemetery at Etaples. Dr. Watson was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatches of 30 Nov. 1914, for gallant and distinguished conduct in the field at Neufchatel and Festubert. At his university, as well as taking a uniformly high place as a student, he was well known in the Union, and as a President of the Dialectic Society, but even better as a prolific contributor to the University Journalism; he was Joint-Editor of The Gambolier when that light-hearted weekly was in the heyday of its first success, and he was for a year or two a member of the Editorial Committee of The Student, acting as Deputy-Editor (and frequently as Editor) in 1912–13. He used to devote much of his time (for a considerable period at least two evenings every week) to social work in the University Settlement, delighting especially in playing with the children and telling them stories. One of his most successful efforts, a popular exposition of Physical Methods in Therapeutics, is included in a volume published by Messrs. T.C. & E.C. Jack. Another little work entitled “Waiting Night Sketches” with a memoir and a Personal Impression was printed for private circulation at the Darien Press, Edinburgh, 1916.

=WATSON, GEORGE JOSEPH=, Leading Stoker, 298094, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=WATSON, GEORGE WILLIAM=, Leading Stoker (R.F.R., Ch. B. 8159), 293612, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=WATSON, JAMES WILLIAM=, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 1978), H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=WATSON, JOHN ROBERT=, Seaman, R.N.R., 4751A, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=WATSON, LOUIS TALBOT=, Capt., 1st Battn. Worcestershire Regt., 3rd _s._ of Col. Richard Talbot Watson, of Honeybrook House, Franche, Kidderminster, V.D., J.P., and formerly O.C. 1st Vol. Battn. Worcestershire Regt., by his wife, Harriet Elizabeth, dau. of James Morton; _b._ Kidderminster, 7 March, 1881; educ. Clifton College, and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. unattd. 8 Jan. 1901; posted to the 3rd Battn. Worcestershire Regt. 9 March following, and promoted Lieut. 26 April, 1902 and Capt. 22 Jan. 1909; served in the South African War, 1901–2, being employed with the Mounted Infantry; took part in the operations in Cape Colony, Orange River Colony and the Transvaal (Queen’s medal with five clasps). He then transferred to the 2nd Worcesters and served with this battn. in Africa, Ceylon and India, re-transferring to the 1st Battn. on 22 Jan. 1909. He left for France early in Nov. 1914, and was killed in action at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 11 March, 1915. He _m._ at Arreton, Isle of Wight, 28 Sept. 1911, Margaret Amy, 2nd dau. of William Hartshorne Shorthose, of Stickworth Hall, Arreton, and had a dau., Diana Marion, _b._ 12 June, 1912.

=WATSON, ROBERT=, a Private, No. 2083, 1/4th Battn. Royal Scots (T.F.), yst. _s._ of Robert Watson, of Gilmerton Dairy, Midlothian, Dairyman, by his wife, Catherine, dau. of Alexander Anderson, of Lanarkshire; _b._ Midlothian, 20 Jan. 1890; educ. Public School there, and was afterwards employed as an assistant ironmonger. He enlisted on the outbreak of war, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles, while assisting a wounded comrade into safety, 28 June, 1915; _unm._