Part 26

=BRAY, CECIL HERBERT=, Private, No. 2801, 1/9th Battn. (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) London Regt., _s._ of Thomas Bray, Engineer’s Draughtsman, by his wife, Frances, dau. of John Drewry Codling; _b._ Harringay, N., 22 Nov. 1892; educ. Haverstock Hill Orphanage; enlisted two days after the declaration of war, 7 Aug. 1914; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, and was killed in action at Voormezeele, near St. Eloi, 17 July, 1915; _unm._

=BRAY, GEORGE=, A.B., 216585, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=BRAY, DERRICK REGINALD PAMPHILON=, Corpl., No. 1553, 1st Battn. (Royal Fusiliers) The London Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of Reginald Alfred Bray, of 49, Orlando Road, Clapham Common, S.W., formerly of Jersey, by his wife, Lissa, dau. of the late Stephen Algir Pamphilon, of Lea Hall, Hatfield Broad Oak, Harlow, co. Essex; _b._ Clapham Common, 20 Sept. 1895; educ. private school, and Wix’s Higher Grade School; joined the 1st City of London Regt. 7 April, 1913; on the outbreak of war volunteered for foreign service, was sent to Malta for five months, and proceeded to France, 10 March, 1915. He was killed in action at Aubers Ridge, 9 May, 1915, and was buried in Rue Pettilon, near Picantin; _unm._ His commanding officer wrote: “At the time he was gallantly leading his section in an advance under very severe fire, and by his death, we all realise that we have lost a brave comrade, who has done his duty and whom we all miss dreadfully. His sense of duty was most real, as events have proved.” Corpl. Bray was very proud of the fact that every man of his family of fighting age joined the colours early in the war. His uncle, Lieut. Ede, Royal Marine Artillery, was mentioned in Despatches while serving with the Egyptian Army in 1896.

=BRAY, HORACE=, Private, No. 9241, 3rd Battn. The Middlesex Regt.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action, 16 April, 1915; _m._

=BRAZIER, ALFRED=, Private, No. 9499, 2nd Battn. East Surrey Regt., _s._ of James Brazier, of 22, Stewarts Lane, Battersea; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action, 25 April, 1915.

=BRAZIER, BENJAMIN WILLIAM=, Corpl., No. 8949, 2nd Battn. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire L.I., eldest _s._ of Wallace Brazier, Lieut. and Quartermaster 6th Service Battn. and late Regimental Sergt.-Major 2nd Battn. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire L.I., by his wife, Mary Jane (4, Pentland Villas, Juniper Green, Midlothian), dau. of William Paddon, late R.N.; _b._ Bareilly, N.W.P., India, 30 Nov. 1893; educ. Cowley, and East Oxford Council School, Oxford; joined the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire L.I. in Sept. 1908, attended the Kneller Hall Royal School of Music from Oct. 1913 till Aug. 1914, and on the outbreak of war rejoined his battn., served in France and Flanders; was twice wounded, the second time at the Battle of the Aisne, and was killed in action during the night attack, 15–16 May, 1915, at Richbourg L’Avoue; _unm._ His company commander wrote: “During the time I was out in France he was in my company, and I looked upon him as a promising N.C.O. He was always cheerful, ready to help in anything there was to be done, and during the three rather hard days fighting, 21–23 Oct., he did a lot of most excellent work, and looked after the men round him admirably. Everyone who knew him will miss him, and the regt. has lost a N.C.O. who would in time have risen to the highest rank. He was a gallant lad,” and the Quartermaster: “He was a brave lad, the best of soldiers, and would, I am certain, had he been spared, have risen to a high position. There is not one but will mourn his loss.” Corpl. Brazier was a keen sportsman and football player, in which latter sport he won two medals.

=BRAZIER, FREDERICK OWEN=, Private, No. 3198, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battn. Royal Sussex Regt. (T.F.), _s._ of Frederick Brazier, of 29, St. George’s Road, Hastings; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action, 9 May, 1915.

=BRAZIER, JAMES=, Private, No. 6282, 1st Battn. East Surrey Regt.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders; killed in action, 26 Oct. 1914; _m._

=BRAZIER, WALTER ERNEST=, Stoker, 1st Class, Chatham, 311704, H.M.S. Laertes; killed in action in Heligoland Bight, 28 Aug. 1914.

=BREACH, JOHN=, Private, No. 4770, 5th Dragoon Guards, 3rd _s._ of William Breach, of Lowestoft, Fishing Smack Owner, by his wife, Sarah; _b._ Lowestoft, 5 April, 1879; educ. at the Board and Technical Schools there; joined the Army, 16 April, 1898; served with his regt. in India, and went through the Boer War, for which he was awarded the medal. At the outbreak of the European War he was farming in Canada, and was recalled to join his regt. He died of wounds received in action at Hill 60, in 13 General Hospital, Boulogne, 11 June, 1915. He _m._ at Kirkley Parish Church, Lowestoft, 28 March, 1910, Agnes Maud (Ivydene, Kitchener Road, Ipswich), yst. dau. of John William Hadenham, of Ipswich, District Superintendent Insurance Company; _s.p._ Private Breach was a lifelong abstainer, a keen football player, and an expert cricketer, and held several good conduct medals. His three brothers are all now (1916) on active service.

=BREAM, CHARLES=, Drummer, No. 7248, 1st Battn. Northamptonshire Regt., _s._ of Charles William Bream, of Nassington, co. Northants; _b._ Nassington, 5 Dec. 1883; educ. there; joined the 1st Northamptons (D Coy.), 1903, and saw active service on the Indian Frontier in 1904, for which he received two medals and two bars. He afterwards became a Police Constable in the Durham County Constabulary, and was stationed at South Moor, in the Lancashire and Consett Petty Sessional Division, when he was called up on the outbreak of war. He left with his regt. for France, 17 Aug. 1914, taking part in the retreat from Mons and several other engagements, and was killed in a bayonet charge at Festubert, 21 Dec. 1914. In a letter to a friend at South Moor he said: “You will have heard about the battle on the Aisne. We were in the trenches for a month, and the first week it never ceased raining, and we had to stick it.” Later, writing from Festubert, he said that they had had several engagements with the Prussian Guard, but had got through them, doing six bayonet charges in ten days. He _m._ at Yarwell, Nassington, 8 Oct. 1913, Carrie, dau. of (--) Mould, of Nassington.

=BRECKELL, RALPH LEICESTER=, 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. (Prince of Wales’ Volunteers) South Lancashire Regt., attd. 2nd Battn. Lancashire Fusiliers, 2nd _s._ of Edward John Blease Breckell, of Holmdene, Alexandra Road, Waterloo, near Liverpool, by his wife, Emilia Mary, only child of the late Charles Oddie, of Everton, Liverpool; _b._ West Derby, near Liverpool, 16 April, 1890; educ. Ellesmere College, Shropshire; was Resident Secretary in Liverpool for the British Crown Insurance Company, but on the outbreak of war joined the 18th Service Battn. King’s Liverpool Regt. in Sept. 1914, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 3rd South Lancashires, 20 Feb. 1915, being later attached to the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers at the front; killed in action on the canal between Pilkem and Boesinghe, during the severe fighting between 5 and 9 July, 1915; _unm._ His orderly, Private E. Murphy, wrote: “He died fighting like a true English gentleman, being in charge of a party of bomb throwers who held on to such a purpose that they were piling themselves on top of one another, and I am very pleased to tell you that he did not suffer more than a minute, just calling my name like this, ‘Oh, Murphy’; then I caught him and laid him down and as near as I could make out he said a few prayers, and then passed peacefully away looking as if he had gone to sleep,” and added that he was killed by a piece of shrapnel in line with his left shoulder striking his heart.

=BREED, GEORGE ALFRED=, Private, No. 444310, 55th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, _s._ of the late William Breed, Farm Labourer, by his wife, Julia (Papworth Everard, Cambridge), dau. of James Paine, of Croydon, co. Cambridge; _b._ Hatley St. George, co. Cambridge, 14 Feb. 1892; educ. there, and at Papworth Everard; went to Canada, 1 March, 1912; volunteered for service overseas on the outbreak of war, and died in the Military Hospital at Bramshott, Liphook, Hants., 10 Dec. 1915, of influenza contracted while going through his course of training; _unm._

=BREEZE, JOHN=, Private, No. 10505, 1st Battn. South Wales Borderers, _s._ of John Breeze, of 6, Durham Street, Grangetown, Cardiff, Labourer, by his 1st wife, Caroline, dau. of Thomas Morris; _b._ Tenbury, co. Worcester, 9 March, 1887; educ. National School, Monmouth; enlisted in 1911; killed in action at Langemark, 21 Oct. 1914; _unm._

=BREMER, FRANCIS AUGUSTUS=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3921), 167964, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=BREMNER, HENRY SADLER=, Private, No. 138, 2nd Battn. Australian Imperial Force, 3rd _s._ of James Bremner, of 137, Canongate, Edinburgh, by his wife, Jane, dau. of Robert Sadler, of North Shields; _b._ Edinburgh, 30 Oct. 1885; educ. Milton House School there; went to Australia in 1912; enlisted on the outbreak of war, and was killed in action at Gallipoli, 2 May, 1915; _unm._

=BREMNER, JAMES=, Private, No. 8834, 1st Battn. The Royal Scots, _s._ of John Bremner, of Edinburgh, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of James Wilson; _b._ Edinburgh, 30 Sept. 1886; educ. there; enlisted in Jan. 1904, and served three years with the Colours, acting part of the time as Assistant Schoolmaster at the Depôt (Glencorse). At the outbreak of war he was in the employ of the North British Railway Co. at Edinburgh; was called up on mobilisation in Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at Messines, 16 Nov. 1914, by a shell when entering a trench; _unm._

=BRENAN, BYRON EDWARD=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Gloucestershire Regt., yst. _s._ of Edward Vincent Brenan, of Poulton, Sneyd Park, Bristol, late Commissioner Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs (died July, 1915), by his wife, Marion Mabel, dau. of Major-Gen. John Thornhill Watson, B.S.C.; _b._ Hong-Kong, 22 March, 1895; educ. Clifton College, was in the O.T.C. there; joined the Army on the outbreak of war, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 3rd (Reserve) Battn. Gloucestershire Regt. 15 Aug. 1914. On 19 March he was attached to the 2nd battn. at the front, and was killed while leading his men to repair a trench which had been absolutely destroyed by a shell, 18 April, 1915; buried at Ypres; _unm._

=BRENCHLEY, ARTHUR=, Leading Seaman, 215494, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BRENCHLEY, GEORGE CHARLES=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 6640), 223932, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BRENCHLEY, ROBERT HENRY=, 1st Class P.O. Blacksmith, No. 156247, H.M.S. Cressy, _s._ of Henry Brenchley, of St. Peters, Thanet, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of James Epps; _b._ 25 Jan. 1868; educ. St. Peter’s National School; served in the Navy for twenty-two years, and in 1912 became an attendant at the Broadstairs Cinema. On the outbreak of the war was recalled, 3 Aug. 1914, and was lost on H.M.S. Cressy, 22 Sept. 1914. He _m._ at Broadstairs, 11 Nov. 1903, Louisa (20 Albion Street, Broadstairs), dau. of Henry Mawlings of Walford, near Ross, co. Hereford, and left a dau., Mary Louise, _b._ 7 May, 1905.

=BRESLIN, ANDREW=, Private, No. 3103, 1st Battn. Irish Guards, _s._ of Patrick Breslin, of Ballyorr, near Londonderry, Labourer; _b._ St. Johnston, co. Donegal, 4 Dec. 1885; enlisted Aug. 1908, served with the Expeditionary Force in France, and was killed in action during a charge on a strong enemy position, 1 Nov. 1914; _unm._

=BRESLIN, PETER=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 8656), S.S. 105078, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BRETT, CHARLES=, A.B., 162505, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=BRETT, CHARLES=, Private, No. 1707, 4th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of Walter Brett, of Lodge Farm, Wingfield, Harleston, Norfolk, Farmer, by his wife, Sarah Jane, dau. of the late John Welsh Berry, of Great Yarmouth; _b._ Styleham, Suffolk, 22 Oct. 1886; educ. Brockdish Council School, Norfolk; emigrated to Australia in July, 1911; joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, 9 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action between 9 and 11 Aug. 1915, at Gallipoli; _unm._

=BRETT, CHARLES ARTHUR HUGH, D.S.O.=, Lieut.-Col., 2nd Battn. The Suffolk Regt., eldest _s._ of the late Lieut.-Col. Arthur Brett, A.P.D., formerly of the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays), by his wife, Georgina, dau. of Hugh Hannay, Paymaster R.N. (who served through the Napoleonic War and was taken prisoner at Verdun in 1812); _b._ Muttra, India, 28 March, 1865; educ. privately and at Sandhurst; entered the Army as Lieut. 9 May, 1885; was promoted Capt. 15 June, 1894; Major, 24 Feb. 1906, and Lieut.-Col., 24 Feb. 1914. From Jan. 1895–Jan. 1899, he was Adjutant of the 1st Battn. of the Suffolk Regt., and of the 4th Battn. at Ely in 1900, and from Dec. 1909 to Dec. 1912 was in command of the Depot at Bury St. Edmunds. He served in the Hazara Expedition in 1888 and received the medal with clasp, and in the South African War, 1899–1901. He was in command of one of the four companies of the 1st Suffolks which, on 5 Jan., made the night attack on a ridge in the Colesberg district, and when they suffered repulse he found himself in charge of the party of 107 which was cut off, and after making a gallant resistance, until their ammunition gave out, and during which Capt. Brett was severely wounded, had no alternative but to surrender. After his release he rejoined his regt. and saw service in the operations east of Pretoria, and in the Orange River Colony, from July to Oct. 1900. He was mentioned in the general’s despatches [London Gazette, 10 Sept. 1901], and received the Queen’s medal with three clasps, and also the D.S.O. On the outbreak of the European War he went to France with the first Expeditionary Force, and was killed in action at Le Cateau, France, 26 Aug. 1914. The 2nd Battn. of the Suffolks arrived at Le Cateau about 7 p.m. on the 25th, and bivouacked at the barn, and made themselves comfortable for the night, although the Germans were following close on their heels. The remainder of the Brigade was fairly close at hand. On the 26th the Suffolks had breakfast at 3 a.m., and fell in at 4 a.m. to take up their allotted positions, which were about half a mile to their rear. Two of the battns. (Nos. 3 and 4) of the Brigade were to occupy the trenches which had already been prepared for them, and the Suffolks (No. 1 Battn.) and the 4th Battn. of the Brigade was placed in reserve. Afterwards the Suffolks were moved out in front of the battery and No. 4 Battn. to the right, to protect the guns. The Suffolks had barely taken up their position and commenced to use the web equipment entrenching tool when the Germans opened fire on the battery and dropped a shell right among them. The fight developed and the regt. hung on, protecting the guns, but had to put up with a good deal of shelling which was intended for the battery. They also came in for a good deal of enfilading fire from the German guns. This went on for several hours. It was very difficult to feed the firing line with ammunition, especially when the German infantry drew near. Our infantry and maxim guns simply mowed them down, but still they pressed on, and for a time they recoiled, and then came on again. The battery at one time was firing at them at about 800 yards range, and some of our men, especially of C Coy. (Capt. Orford), got hit with our own shells. Nothing could show itself in the open without drawing a terrible fire from the enemy. The first line of transport was ordered to retire and get away the best way it could. The batteries and the infantry brigade stuck to their positions, and continued the fire, hoping to be reinforced, as General Sir Charles Fergusson had given out that 40,000 French troops were expected. Eventually the order to retire was given, but the old Suffolks had little ammunition left, and the casualties were enormous; very few men were able to retire. In the early part of the fight about 50 wounded Suffolks were carried to the dressing station and to the field hospital. These, together with the other wounded, were shown as “missing,” with the exception of Col. Brett, who was killed early in the fight by a shell. Col. Brett was buried on the battlefield and was mentioned in F.M. Sir John French’s Despatch of 7 Sept. 1914. A brother officer wrote: “If ever there was a commanding officer that I would wish to have gone on service with, it was he whose loss we now mourn. The one consolation is that he fell as a soldier at the head of his regt. for whom he did so much, and who, everyone of them, looked up to him, admired him. and tried to follow his grand example in everything. His life was noble and straight, and his death was the same. We of the regt., or what is left of it, mourn his loss as the best of comrades”; and another one wrote: “I don’t suppose there was a single commanding officer in the service more beloved by the officers and men. We had all so looked forward to his getting command, and were delighted at the prospect of serving under him. His loss to the regt., as it is to you, is absolutely irreparable.... It will be a long time before we cease to grieve for a gallant soldier, and one of the best and kindest of men.” One of his former subalterns also wrote: “I thought I would like to write to you to tell you that I was his subaltern that night at Colesberg in 1900 when he was shot, and to say that he was a very gallant fellow. Though shot through the lungs, he kept up command of his Coy., and actually charged the Boer trenches in this state, until he fell exhausted from loss of blood. I have no doubt he was just as brave in France when he met his glorious death, and I write these few words in the hope that should they be shown to his wife, it may console her just a little to know that there are a few of his comrades of that night left, who will remember him always as one of old England’s most gallant sons.” Col. Brett was fond of travel and astronomy, and joined when on leave Sir W. Christie’s party to Sfax, Tunisia, 1905, to witness the Eclipse, and received thanks from the Admiralty for his assistance to the Astronomer Royal. During other leave he visited Mesopotamia, and was interested in exploring Muscat, Bagdad, Babylon, and other places. He _m._ at St. Mary-at-the-Walls Church, Colchester, 6 Jan. 1909, Enid Geraldine (The Cottage, Lexden, Colchester), eldest dau. of the late Lieut.-Col. Harry Hamersley St. George, Senior Ordnance Officer, Scottish District (and sister of Lieut. G. S. W. St. George, 1st Gurkha Rifles, who was killed in action, 27 April, 1915, see his notice), and had one dau., Ione Moncrieff St. George, _b._ 10 Oct. 1909.

=BRETTELL, SAMUEL THOMAS=, Petty Officer (N.S.), 210526, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BREWER, FRANK=, A.B., 207025 (Ports.), H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=BREWER, JOHN HAROLD=, Private, No. 169, 6th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of John Brewer, late Worcester Regt., by his wife, Emily Isabella Margery, dau. of John Harley Bedford, late Superintendant of Post Offices, Bombay Presidency; _b._ Poona, India, 7 June, 1892; educ. Church School, Liskeard, Cornwall, and on leaving there served as an errand boy with Mr. Rapson, the Mayor for three years there; joined the Duke of Cornwall’s L.I. in 1908, and two years later emigrated to Australia, where he was employed at the Parkside Tannery, Preston, until the outbreak of the war when he joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force. He was killed in action in Gallipoli, 8 May, 1915; _unm._

=BREWER, WILLIAM ARTHUR=, Private, No. 10398, 1st Battn. Wiltshire Regt., 2nd _s._ of George Brewer, of 81, Shamrock Cottage, Chippenham, by his wife, Sarah, dau. of William Neate, of 42, Wood Lane, Chippenham; _b._ Chippenham, co. Wilts, 19 May, 1893, and educ. British School there; an old Territorial he enlisted in the Wilts Regt. 1 Sept. 1914; and was killed in action at Ypres 13 Nov. 1914; _unm._ A comrade wrote: “The officer called for volunteers to rush a road, and he was the first to leave trench, and by so doing was killed with a Maxim gun.” Private Brewer was a well-known Wiltshire footballer, and was formerly a captain of Chippenham Town, but in 1913 signed on for Swindon and played one match with the first eleven.

=BREWIN, WILLIAM HENRY FRANK=, Private, No. 1749, 7th Battn, Middlesex Regt. (T.F.), eldest _s._ of William Henry Brewin, of 90, St. Loys Road, Bruce Grove, Tottenham, by his wife, Louisa, dau. of Richard Henry Calvert; _b._ Stoke Newington, 12 May, 1896; educ. Earls Mead School there; joined the Middlesex Territorials about 1911; volunteered for foreign service Aug. 1914; went to France the last week in Feb., and was killed in action there, 13 April, 1915; _unm._

=BREWSTER, HERBERT JOHN=, Ship’s Corpl., 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4774), 169829, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BRIAN, HERBERT CECIL=, 2nd Lieut. 59th Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, eldest _s._ of Hyla Edwin Brian, Military School, Cairo, and of Holmbury, Berkhampstead, by his wife, Annie, dau. of Charles Elliott; _b._ Abbassieh, Cairo, Egypt, 23 Dec. 1891; educ. Berkhampstead School, and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; gazetted to the 18th Battery 20 Dec. 1912, with which he served in England until June, 1914, when he left to join the 59th Battery in India, and returned the following Dec. to Portsmouth, and went from there to the Front early in March, 1915. He was present and took part in the action of Neuve Chapelle, and was killed in action near Fromelles, while performing the duty of forward observing officer in the trenches, 9 May, 1915. He was _unm._ and was buried in an orchard near where he fell. His commanding officer wrote of him: “He was a splendid officer and absolutely fearless in the execution of his duty.”

=BRICE, HENRY COPELAND=, Lieut., 4th Battn. Leicestershire Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of Francis Strange Brice, of Middlemeade, Stoughton Drive, Leicester, J.P., by his wife, Margaret Alice, dau. of Thomas Henry Downing; _b._ Leicester, 28 Nov. 1893; educ. Mill Hill School, London; received his commission as 2nd Lieut. 10 May, 1913. When war was declared he volunteered for Imperial Service, was gazetted Lieut., 22 Oct. 1914, and died at Bailleul, France, 12 June, 1915, of wounds caused by the premature explosion of a rifle grenade at Dranoutre, Belgium. He was buried at Bailleul. His commanding officer wrote: “I cannot forbear saying how profoundly I regret his death, and how great a loss he is to the battn. He was the Grenade Officer and had charge of the bomb throwers. His work in that position was of a high quality. He was absolutely fearless, and I believe that his men would have followed him anywhere. He was of the type of which leaders are made, and the Army can ill afford to lose such men.”