Part 64

=DURAND, HAVILLAND MONTAGUE=, Private, No. 720, 13th Battn., Australian Imperial Force, yst. _s._ of the late Rev. Havilland Durand, for 13 years Vicar of Earley, co. Berks (died 1884), by his wife, Mary (Moulin Huet, Guernsey), dau. of the Rev. Montague John Gregg Hawtrey; _b._ Earley Vicarage, 21 Dec. 1883; educ. Elizabeth College, Guernsey, and University College, Durham; went to Australia in Sept. 1911, and settled at Brisbane, where he was engaged in teaching. Volunteered on the outbreak of the war and joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, Sept. 1914; left for Egypt in Jan. and was killed in action two days after the landing at Gallipoli, 25 April, 1915; _unm._ His Capt. wrote: “His comrades having expended nearly all their ammunition, volunteers were asked for, to go to the beach for more; it was necessary to proceed down a fireswept gully, then on to a shell-swept beach, and return. Havilland volunteered to do this. He got to the beach and returned by way of the gully again. He had done his duty and saved our line. I should like to mention that he was loved by officers and men alike. He was selected and especially trained for a battn. scout, work that always requires a lot of intelligence and tact. The Colonel assured me that if Durand had not arrived with the ammunition his comrades, who were in an isolated position, would have been annihilated and our line would have been broken.” He was supposed to have been killed after bringing up the ammunition, but another letter gave the information that he was killed the day after, whilst working in the trench. He was buried by his comrades on a hill at Gaba Tepe, and a rough wooden cross marks the place where he lies. Another letter said: “The landing must have been awful, and all who lived, if only for a day, did heroic work, as the few remaining officers say each man deserved a V.C. The Australians were simply magnificent.”

=DURRANT, CYRIL GEORGE POPLE=, Acting E.R.A., 4th Class, M. 7271, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=DURRANT, WILLIAM BLENCOWE WELLS=, 2nd Lieut., 6th, attd. 4th, Battn. The Rifle Brigade, only _s._ of the Hon. Frederick Chester Wells Durrant, M.A., K.C., Attorney-General of the Bahamas, and Member of Executive and Legislative Councils of the Colony, by his wife, Gertrude, dau. of the late William Blencowe, of Brackley, Northants; _b._ Bath, co. Somerset, 8 May, 1894; educ. Beach Lawn, Leamington Spa; Westminster (1908–13, King’s Scholar); and Magdalene College (Exhibitioner), Cambridge. He joined the Cambridge O.T.C., Aug. 1914, and was gazetted to the 6th Battn. Rifle Brigade Nov. following, joining the 4th Battn. on active service in France,--March, 1915, and was killed in action at or near St. Eloi between 8 and 11 May, 1915; _unm._

=DURWARD, QUENTIN=, Private, No. 9552, 3rd Battn. (Queen’s Own Rifles), Canadian Expeditionary Force, _s._ of William Durward, Manager, Anglo-American Cable Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne; _b._ Newcastle-on-Tyne, 24 Oct. 1895; educ. Northumberland; went to Toronto, Canada; joined the Queen’s Own Rifles of Toronto at the end of 1913; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war; came over with the first contingent in Oct. 1914; trained on Salisbury Plain during the winter; went to France in Feb., and was killed in action at Givenchy, 15 June, 1915; _unm._ His Capt. wrote: “He was a splendid soldier, always first and never shirking his duty.”

=DUSTIN, CLAUDE=, Corpl., No. 10/1229, 7th Wellington Regt., New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 5th _s._ of William Samuel Dustin, Pastrycook and Confectioner, Managing Director of Dustin, Ltd., Wanganui and Palmerston North, by his wife, Celia; _b._ Wanganui, New Zealand, 19 Dec. 1892; educ. High School, Wanganui; was for three years a Sergt. in the Wanganui Guards (T.F.), and on the outbreak of war volunteered for Imperial service, 8 Oct. 1914. After some months in Egypt, he took part in the famous landing at the Dardanelles, 25 April, 1915, and was killed in action on the 27th, being shot through the forehead while rescuing a wounded comrade at Walker’s Ridge; _unm._

=DUTCH, WILLIAM BENJAMIN=, Sergt., No. 83812, 47th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, _s._ of William Dutch, of Bladud House, Bath, Accountant, by his wife, Alice, dau. of Alderman Alfred Taylor, of The Red House, Bath; _b._ Lower Weston, Bath, 21 April, 1894; educ. Bathforum, and Bath City Secondary School (3 years’ Scholarship), and was employed in the engineering works of Stothert and Pitt, Ltd., of Bath. He joined the Army, 17 Aug. 1914; was made Bombardier, 1 Nov. 1914; Corpl., 14 Nov. 1914; and Sergt., 1 Jan. 1915; and died at the Thornhill Isolation Hospital, Aldershot, 11 April, 1915, of septic scarlet fever; _unm._ He was buried at Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, with full military honours. His Capt. wrote: “I cannot exaggerate the loss he is to me personally and to the whole battery, had picked up a wonderful knowledge of gunnery and his work in general, was out and out the best sergeant I had, and would have gone far in the service.” He was a keen sportsman and a popular football player.

=DUTFIELD, WALTER THOMAS=, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./14094, H.M.S. Hawke, _s._ of James Dutfield, of 37, Randall Place, West Greenwich, S.E.; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=DUTTON, CHARLES EDMUND FERGUSON=, Rifleman, No. 2366, 1 Coy., 1st/16th Battn. (Queen’s Westminster Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), _s._ of the late Edmund Alfred Dutton, of 53–55, Pembridge Road, Notting Hill Gate, W., Boot Manufacturer, by his wife, Susannah Spencer Biggs (21, Elgin Crescent, Notting Hill, W.), dau. of the late Joseph Henry Ferguson, of Dublin; _b._ Notting Hill Gate, 22 July, 1890; educ. St. Mary Abbots Higher Grade School, Kensington; entered the employ of the Fore Street Warehouse Company, Ltd., in 1907, and at the time war was declared held a good position in the blouse department; volunteered, and enlisted in the Queen’s Westminsters, 18 Aug. 1914; went to France, 24 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Houplines, Flanders, on the night of 7 March, 1915; _unm._ He was buried in the cemetery there in the Rue Emile Zola by the Rev. Webb Peplow. The Sergt.-Major wrote that he “was such a nice boy and one of our best ... and is a great loss to his company and also to the battn.”

=DUTTON, RALPH=, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., B. 5172), 177334, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=DUVAL, GEORGE LOUIS JOSIAH=, M.D., Major, Commanding No. 1 Coy., Field Ambulance, C.A.M.C., only _s._ of the late Louis Duval, of Grande Ligne, P. Quebec, Canada; _b._ Grande Ligne aforesaid, 10 March, 1876; educ. Filler’s Baptist Institute there; entered as a Medical Student at McGill University in 1894, and graduated there with honours, 17 June, 1898; practised in Waltham, Mass., U.S.A., and then in St. John’s, Quebec, later going to St. John’s, New Brunswick; joined the C.A.M.C., at St. John’s, P. Quebec, in April, 1908, being given a commission as Lieut., and was promoted Capt. June, 1911, and Major, in France, April, 1915; transferred to No. 8 Field Ambulance on going to St. John’s, N.B., and in 1914 became M.O. 28th N.B. Dragoons; volunteered for overseas service on the outbreak of war, and his own unit not going, he was given charge of the section of No. 8 F.A., leaving his home and practice at a day’s notice; left Valcartier for England with No. 1 F.A., 30 Sept. 1914; went to France, Feb. 1915, and was severely wounded in both legs during the Second Battle of Ypres, on Sunday, 25 April, 1915. At this action the Canadians suffered heavily, and No. 1 F.A. were ordered to open an advanced dressing station, which Major Duval did at St. Jean; later it had to be abandoned, and he had just succeeded in evacuating the last patient when he was hit about 8.30 p.m. by an explosive shell which burst about 20 yards from him. He was sent from Vlamertinghe to hospital at Boulogne and from there invalided to England, and died in London, 26 Aug. 1915. Col. Foster wrote: “No braver officer ever lived or would be found in our Division, and I shall always remember him for his splendid work at Ypres.” Gunner H. T. Warene, who was wounded in this action and invalided back to Canada, said: “When I was struck Doctor Duval was the first to rush to my aid. We were both exposed to the fire, but he did not seem to mind. He was a kind, gentle and capable surgeon, and the boys all liked him and admired him as a physician, a soldier, and a man. I was most sorry to learn of his death.” He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 5 April/31 May [London Gazette, 22 June], 1915. His body was being taken to Canada for burial on board the Hesperian when she was torpedoed and sunk. He _m._ at Montreal, 23 Oct. 1901, Maude (330, Charlotte Street, St. John’s West, New Brunswick, Canada), dau. of Andrew Byrd, of Montreal, Building and Bridge Contractor, and had two children: Charles Louis Neville, _b._ 18 July, 1906; and Irene Byrd, _b._ 9 Sept. 1902.

=DWERRYHOUSE, EDWARD=, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 10200), 204457, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=DWYER, EDWARD MUNDEN=, Private, No. 1077, 8th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, _s._ of John Thomas Dwyer, of Ignace, Ontario, Canada (originally from co. Tipperary); _b._ Ignace, 24 Nov. 1887; educ. there; was for some years in the Mechanical Dept. of the C.P.R., and was then transferred to the Traffic Dept., and when war broke out was a Conductor. He enlisted 20 Aug. 1914, came over with the first contingent in Oct., and after training on Salisbury Plain during the winter, went to France, and was killed in action at Festubert, 23 April, 1915; _unm._

=DYASON, JAMES NASH=, Act.-Bombardier, No. 162, R.G.A. (T.F.), _s._ of James Nash Dyason, of 63, Coronation Road, Sheerness, Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, by his wife, Harriet, dau. of James Lambkin; _b._ Sheerness, 17 Feb. 1889; educ. Council School there; was a dockyard employee; joined the Territorials, 1910; volunteered for active service on the outbreak of war; died at Shoeburyness, 21 Nov. 1914, on active service; _unm._

=DYBALL, WILLIAM=, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., B. 10521), 208734, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=DYER, FREDERICK GEORGE=, Private, No. 10672, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, 3rd _s._ of James Dyer, Sergt.-at-Mace, at Poole, Dorset, by his wife, Annie Eliza, dau. of John Phillips, of Poole; _b._ Milton Abbas, near Blandford, co. Dorset, 15 April, 1894; educ. Branksome Heath, Poole; was an assistant for Messrs. Bacon and Curtis, of Poole, Iron-mongers; enlisted, 23 March 1914; went to France, 11 Sept. 1914; was wounded in action at Ypres, 29 Oct. 1914, and died in the German military hospital at Courtray, 22 Nov. following; _unm._ His brother, Private P. E. Dyer, was also killed in action. (See his notice.)

=DYER, PERCIVAL ERNEST=, Private, No. 9136, 2nd Battn. The Scots Guards, 4th _s._ of James Dyer, Sergt.-at-Mace, at Poole, Dorset, by his wife, Annie Eliza, dau. of John Phillips, of Poole; _b._ Milton Abbas, near Blanford, co. Dorset, 3 Dec. 1895; educ. Branksome Heath, Poole; was a Plumber and Gas Fitter in the employ of Mr. Hardy, of Poole; enlisted, 6 Aug. 1914; went to France in Oct., and was killed in action between La Bassée and Armentiéres, 18 Dec. 1914; _unm._

=DYER, WALTER=, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 750), 135247, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=DYKE, GEORGE WALKER=, Pensioner Armourer, 136000, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=DYKES, ALFRED McNAIR=, Lieut.-Col., 1st Battn. The King’s Own, Royal Lancaster Regt., yst. surviving _s._ of the late William Alston Dykes, D.L., by his wife, Agnes Andrea (The Orchard, Hamilton), dau. of the late John Urquhart, of Fairhill, co. Lanark; _b._ Hamilton, 15 March, 1874; educ. Trinity College, Glenalmond, and received his first commission in a militia battn. of the Cameronians, passing in first with 2,130 marks out of a total of 2,400, 12 Dec. 1894, and a few months later joined the 2nd Battn. of the King’s Own in India. He was gazetted Lieut., 4 Nov. 1896; Capt., 24 Feb., 1900; Major, 13 Dec. 1902; and Lieut.-Col., 1 Aug. 1913; and was Adjutant at the age of 23 in 1897. On the outbreak of war in South Africa he was selected for special service duty, and having his battn. at Lichfield did Staff duty as Embarkation Officer at Port Elizabeth, Natal, till the arrival of his own regt., which he immediately rejoined, afterwards taking part in the Relief of Ladysmith, and the Battle at Spion Kop in Jan. 1900. In the course of this engagement he rallied a small party of men of another regt., from whom he learned that the enemy was in possession of a position which was believed to be held by our own troops. Calming his men with cigarettes, and leaving them to regain their nerve in the shelter of a boulder, he went forward alone to prove the truth of this assertion, which he doubted. He had almost reached the spot indicated and had satisfied himself that the fugitives were right when he fell shot through the head. Determined at all costs to carry back the news, he struggled three times to his feet and three times fell; but managed by discarding his rifle to stagger back, in a semi-conscious condition and nearly blinded by the blood in his eyes, over the crest of the hill to our own trenches, luckily without further wounds. The information was at once conveyed to the General, and offers were made to help him to the dressing station 100 yards or so in the rear; but it was only to be reached across a fireswept area, and Capt. Dykes resolutely refused all offers of help. He attained his goal in safety, when he fell unconscious. The wound, which was at first classified as serious, rapidly became dangerous; and when the over-worked army surgeons at the field hospital asked whether he could wait a little longer for attention, he cheerfully gave up his turn for others. Gangrene set in, and it was feared that his eyesight must suffer, the bullet having entered just below the right temple and passing through the mouth, blowing away the left check. Sheer determination to live helped to pull him through. In March he came home and underwent two operations, and despite his surgeon’s most emphatic advice rejoined his regt. at the Front in Sept., resuming his post as Adjutant, which he held till 31 May, 1902, a special extension of his time being granted at the request of his Colonel. In the later phases of the war he did a good deal of convoy work, as Adjutant of his regt., and distinguished himself at the defence of Vryheid 11 Dec. 1900, when the town was held by four companies of the King’s Own and a handful of mounted infantry against an attack under cover of darkness, by Louis Botha in superior numbers. For this and general good service he was mentioned twice in despatches [London Gazette, 10 Sept. 1901, and 29 July, 1902], and on being offered the choice of the D.S.O. or a Brevet Majority, chose the latter, being then (1902) barely 28 years of age: he also received the Queen’s medal with four clasps and the King’s medal with two. On relinquishing his post as Adjutant, he became Staff Officer to the Commandant of Maritzburg. From 1904–08 he held the post of Staff Capt. at the War Office. He then passed brilliantly through the Staff College, and on his return from service with his regt. in India was appointed in 1912 to the command of a company of Cadets at the R.M.C., Sandhurst. He was promoted in Aug. 1913, at the age of 39 (the youngest Lieut.-Col. of the line) to the command of the 1st Battn. of the King’s Own, then stationed at Dover. On the outbreak of the European War in Aug. 1914, he accompanied the Expeditionary Force to France, and was killed in action early in the morning of 26 Aug. 1914, at the battle of Cambray-Le Cateau, while covering the retreat of the Allied forces. He was shot through the head, and was almost the first man of his regt. to fall. Referring to his death, one of the Generals under whom he had previously served, wrote: “It was with more than ordinary feeling of sorrow that we learnt of the death of Col. Dykes at the head of his regt.... in the act of cheering on his beloved regt. against tremendous odds. Col. Dykes’ loss to the battn. is great indeed. I had a very high opinion of Col. Dykes’ capabilities as an officer, and I watched his career in the King’s Own with more than ordinary interest. After recovery from his wound in South Africa, I brought him to the War Office to assist me at a time of great pressure, and I never regretted it. The bravery and example of their Colonel will not be forgotten by the King’s Own, and it will ever act as an incentive to all ranks to do their duty to the end”; and a brother officer: “He loved his regt. with absolute devotion; and well have they repaid his love by dying with him.... He was a man far above the ordinary in ability, one of our best soldiers, a man who knew not fear, the very staunchest of comrades, and a gentleman without reproach. He never made an enemy, everyone who knew him loved him, he never spoke ill of anyone, and he never did anything that was not absolutely downright honest and good.” Singularly gifted both in mind and body, a man of unusual achievements, the keynote of his character was straightforward simplicity. His humility, his gaiety, and above all his power of self-less devotion, endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. “I am almost afraid to say how much I hope from him,” wrote the Warden of Glenalmond in one of his school reports. “He never thought of himself, only of others,” was the verdict of one of his officers after his death. Lieut.-Col. Dykes _m._ at Southwick Crescent, London, 21 April, 1914, Rosamund Ann, dau. of the late Frederick Willis Farrer, of 16, Devonshire Place, W., and had a dau., Andrea Mary, _b._ 23 Feb. 1915, exactly six months after her father’s death.

=DYNES, ALBERT=, Stoker, 1st Class (M.), 289177, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=DYSON, CECIL VENN=, Private, Malay States Volunteers, yst. _s._ of the late Rev. Samuel Dyson, of Koilash, Stevenage, co. Herts, D.D., Vice-Principal Church Missionary College, Islington, by his 1st wife, Matilda Julia, dau. of the Rev. Charles Henry Blumhardt; _b._ Calcutta, 7 Aug. 1873; educ. Merchant Taylors’ School, and Queen’s College, Cambridge (Senior Classical Scholar, Bell’s Scholar); entered the Malay States Civil Service in 1896, and was District Judge of Singapore. He was killed while assisting to quell the riots there, 15 Feb. 1915; _unm._

=EADE, REGINALD JOHN=, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., B. 10142), 202124, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=EADES, WILLIAM GEORGE=, Private, R.M.L.I. 7291 (Ply.), H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=EADY, JOHN=, Private, No. 1095, 1st Battn. Australian Imperial Force, only _s._ of the late John Eady, of 5, Fisher Street, Birmingham, by his wife, Emma, dau. of Joseph Sarty; _b._ Sheep Street, Birmingham, 6 March, 1868; served for 12 years with the South Staffordshires; then went to Canada, and to Australia, 1910. Enlisted at the end of 1914, and was killed in action at Gallipoli, 13 Aug. 1915; _unm._

=EAGAR, FRANCIS RUSSELL=, 2nd Lieut., Royal Field Artillery, 3rd _s._ of the late Capt. Edward Boaz Eagar, 1st Battn. Northumberland Fusiliers (who was killed in action at Belmont, South Africa, 23 Nov. 1899), and his wife, Ada (now wife of Edward Franks, of The Priory, Bishop’s Cleeve, co. Gloucester), dau. of Col. Newman Burfoot Thoyts, of The Mythe House, Tewkesbury, J.P.; _b._ Fawdon House, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, 27 Sept. 1893; educ. Connaught House (J. R. Morgan), Weymouth; Sherborne, Dorset, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich (1913–14); gazetted to the Royal Field Artillery, 12 Aug. 1914, and left with his battery for active service in France in November, and was killed in action at Fleurbaix, France, 9 May, 1915, while on observation duty. He was buried in the Rue Petillon Cemetery, Fleurbaix; _unm._ His two brothers, Capt. E. F. Eagar, Royal Berkshire Regt., and Capt. H. St. G. Eagar, Lincolnshire Regt., are now (1916) on active service.

=EAMAN, ALFRED=, P.O., 192106. H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=EARL, STEPHEN=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 1388), 201346, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=EASON, JESSE HERBERT=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 6007), S.S. 100950, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.