Part 7

=ATTWATER, RICHARD=, Leading Stoker, (R.F.R., Ch. B. 8422), 294694, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ATTWOOD, ALGERNON FOULKES=, Capt., 4th Battn. Royal Fusiliers, only _s._ of Llewellyn Carless Foulkes Attwood, of Pandy, co. Monmouth, and of Llay Gresford, co. Denbigh, J.P., and his wife, Rachel Edith, dau. of Arthur Alexander Corsellis, of Wandsworth, co. Surrey; _b._ Wandsworth, 17 May, 1880; educ. Haileybury and Christ Church College, Oxford; gazetted 2nd Lieut. (as a University candidate) in 4th Battn. Royal Fusiliers, 4 May, 1901; promoted Lieut. 15 Oct. 1904, and Capt. 1 March, 1912. In the spring of 1914, after undergoing a course of instruction in aviation at Upavon, he was recommended for an appointment in the Royal Flying Corps, but rejoined his regt. on its mobilisation in Aug. of that year. This was one of the first units of the British Expeditionary Force to arrive on the Belgian frontier in that month. He took part in the Battle of Mons, the retreat to the Marne, and the subsequent advance to the Aisne. On 14 Sept. 1914, however, he was reported severely wounded and missing, and it was afterwards ascertained that at Vailly, near Soissons, at the Battle of the Aisne, “while skilfully and gallantly withdrawing his men from an advanced position which could not be held he was hit twice in rapid succession and fatally wounded.” He _d._ _unm._, and was the only male of the last generation of the family of Attwood, formerly of Hawne House, Corngreaves Hall, and The Leasowes, Worcestershire.

=ATTWOOD, ARTHUR=, Private, No. G 7559, 3rd Battn. Middlesex Regt., _s._ of James Attwood, of Dale View, Hackney, near Matlock; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, and was killed in action, 30 Sept. 1915.

=ATTWOOD, ARTHUR CHARLES=, Gunner, R.F.R., 26, Immed. Class, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=ATTWOOD, CHARLES=, Private, No. 26, 8th Battn. (90th Winnipeg Rifles) Canadian Expeditionary Force, eldest _s._ of Henry Mark Attwood, Superintendent of Police, Somerton Division, Somerset, by his wife, Emma Matilda, dau. of the late James Coles Taylor, of Weston-super-Mare; _b._ Bishopsworth, near Bristol, 5 Oct. 1893; educ. at various schools in Nailsea, Chard, Taunton, and Somerton, and was afterwards apprenticed to Mr. J. G. Williams, Somerton, to learn the trade of printing. At the termination of his indenture he left for Canada, where at the outbreak of war he held a good position as a printer in Winnipeg, Canada. He immediately volunteered, and joined the 90th Winnipeg Rifles on 6 Aug. 1914, coming over with the first Canadian Contingent. After training at Salisbury during the winter he went to the Front, 10 Feb. 1915 (sailed from Avonmouth), was slightly wounded by a splinter at Neuve Chapelle, but, in his own words when writing home, “It was not enough to stop me,” and took part in the memorable charge at Ypres on 23 April, 1915, when the Canadians, in spite of heavy odds, recaptured the guns which the retirement of the French before the asphyxiating gas (then used for the first time) had left in the hands of the Germans. He was killed in action at Langemarck the following day, and as the trenches held by his company had to be evacuated shortly afterwards his body was not recovered. Attwood was a fine athlete and a member of the Somerton Rifle Club, and later of the Winnipeg Rifle Club. He was _unm._

=AUBIN, ALFRED CHARLES=, Capt., East Lancashire Regt. (attd. West African Field Force), _s._ of Alfred Jackson Aubin, of Belle Vue, Lower King’s Cliff, Jersey, by his wife, Christiana Spark; _b._ 16 Oct. 1878; educ. Bedford Grammar School and Oxford Univ.; gazetted 2nd Lieut. from the Militia to the East Lancashire Regt. 21 April, 1900, and promoted Lieut. 11 Sept. 1901, and Capt. 12 Feb. 1913; served in South Africa with the Mounted Infantry as a Railway Staff Officer, 1899–1902, taking part in the operations in the Transvaal and Orange Free State (Queen’s medal with three clasps and King’s medal with two clasps); employed with the West African Frontier Force (local Capt. 11 Jan. 1911) from July, 1904, to Feb. 1909, and again from Jan. 1911; killed in action at Garua, in the Cameroons, 30 Aug. 1914; _unm._

=AUSTEN, WILLIAM FRANK=, Ord. Seaman, J. 13723, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=AUSTIN, CYRIL FREDERIC=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regt., yst. _s._ of the late Louis Frederic Austin, of 48, Woodstock Road, Bedford Park, W., the well-known journalist, by his wife, Wilhelmina, dau. of Richard Robinson, C.E.; _b._ Bedford Park, W., 6 Oct. 1884; educ. in Belgium and Germany; was on Reuter’s editorial staff, and had been a member of the Artists’ Rifles since 1907. Went to the Front with them in Oct. 1914, and was given his commission as 2nd Lieut. in the Queen’s 15 Nov. following; served continuously in the trenches during the winter of 1914–15, came home for the week-end in Feb. for his marriage, returning to the Front the following day, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 10 March, 1915; buried at Laventie. While serving at the Front he sent home several graphic sketches of soldier life, which were printed as “From a subaltern in the trenches.” He was mentioned for important and dangerous reconnaissance work in ascertaining the whereabouts of enemy saps by F.M. Sir John French in his Despatch of 31 May, 1915. The Medical Officer of the battn., writing with reference to his death, said: “For some time he and his men occupied a small position of the utmost importance to our line, a position constantly sniped and bombarded by the enemy. I well remember going down to see a wounded man in this isolated post after the German trench mortars had blown the defences about their ears. Austin--wet, muddy, but cheerful--crawled out of the ruins and displayed the utmost concern about his wounded man. Brave, cool, and fearless himself, he would go out of his way to show me a safe way out of the trenches and where I could avoid ploughing through too much mud and water. I was talking to him a few minutes before he was hit, and it was a terrible blow to me that when I was called to him his condition was such that no treatment was available.” While a member of the Artists’ Rifles Sec. Lieut. Austin won cups with the Tent Pitching Team, and for five years was in the Bayonet Team, taking part in the Naval and Military Tournament at Olympia in 1913 and 1914, and winning many spoons and cups. The chairman of Reuter’s at the annual general meeting on 3 June, 1915, described him as “one of our most promising young editors.” He _m._ at St. Ippolyt’s, Herts, 27 Feb. 1915, Margaret Elizabeth (Gosmore, Hitchin), elder dau. of Samuel Bridgman Russell, of Gosmore, Hitchin, Herts.

=AUSTIN, FREDERICK WILLIAM=, Private, No. 9726, 2nd Battn. Royal Scots, _s._ of Edward Austin; _b._ Birmingham, 13 Dec. 1884; educ. St. Mary’s Schools there; served seven years in India; went to France with the first Expeditionary Force, and was killed in action during the retreat from Mons, 26 Aug. 1914; _unm._

=AUSTIN, GEORGE=, Stoker, R.N.R., 514 V., H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=AVELING, LANCELOT NEVILLE=, Lieut., 1st Battn. Connaught Rangers, only _s._ of Neville Clifford Aveling, temporary Capt. R.F.A., by his wife, Evelyn Mary, of St. Germans Hall, Norfolk, dau. of Capt. Hurton Barker, of Needham House, near Wisbech, and grandson of Stephen Thomas Aveling, of Restoration House, Rochester; _b._ Rochester, 20 March, 1892; educ. Gresham’s Holt School; was for four years in the O.T.C., and shot at Bisley for school; joined the Surrey (Queen Mary’s Own) Yeomanry 1911, and the Special Reserve of Officers (3rd Connaught Rangers) 13 June, 1913, and passed third in qualifying examination for Regular Army on mobilisation, being gazetted 1 Sept. He left with the Expeditionary Force for the Front at the end of August; was wounded (two bullet wounds) at the Battle of the Aisne, 14 Sept.; again at Ypres, 7 Nov. (mentioned in Despatches, Feb. 1915); and a third time at the same place, 26 April, and _d._ in hospital at Hazebrouck three days later, being buried in the cemetery there; _unm._ His colonel wrote: “He was such a splendid officer and so charming a fellow. He is, indeed, an almost irreparable loss to my battalion.... He came to us with a very high reputation from the 2nd Battalion, and more than made it good. Gen. Egerton had especially asked for your boy’s services for the day as orderly officer.”

=AVERILL, ALBERT=, Private, No. 9974, 1st Battn. North Staffordshire Regt., _s._ of Alfred John Averill, Officer’s Waiter, 11th South Staffs. Regt., by his wife, Hannah, dau. of Hiram Pritchard; _b._ Hanley and Stoke (N. Stafford), 6 Aug. 1891; educ. Cauldon Road Elementary School there, enlisted in Sept. 1913; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, and was killed in action at Armentières, 2 Nov. 1914; _unm._

=AVIS, HARRY=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4659), S.S. 103859, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=AVIS, RALPH CUTTS=, Yeoman of Signals (R.F.R., Ch. B. 6683), 191425, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=AVIS, WILLIAM=, Sergt., R.M.L.I., Ch. 10913, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=AWDRY, CAROL EDWARD VERE=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Royal Munster Fusiliers, _s._ of the Rev. Vere Awdry, Vicar of Ampfield, Romsey, by his wife, Mary Louisa, dau. of Edward Desborough Man; _b._ Broad-Hinton Vicarage, co. Wilts, 11 June, 1894; educ. Marlborough House School, Hove (April, 1903–Dec. 1907), Marlborough College (Foundation Scholar, Jan. 1908–June, 1912), and Royal Military College, Sandhurst (G Coy., June, 1912–June, 1913); gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Munster Fusiliers, Sept. 1913; joined the 2nd Battn. at Aldershot, 15 Oct. 1913; went to the Front with them 13 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action near Etreux, 27 Aug. 1914, during the retreat from Mons. Writing to his father, the senior surviving officer, Capt. H. S. Jervis, who was himself taken prisoner, said: “Your boy lost his life that day while leading his men against overwhelming odds. The Army was at the time withdrawing, and the battn. was occupying an important position covering the movement. In order to better safeguard the retreat of the remainder our withdrawal was delayed by some hours. We were attacked on three sides, and when we moved off finally it was found that the greatly superior forces of the Germans had enabled them to cut us off from our main body. Faced by odds of 6 or 8 to 1 we put up the best fight we could until compelled by fire from all sides to surrender. C Coy--to which your son belonged, of course--was chosen to watch our right rear (on the north-east) as the battn. withdrew to the south, and Capt. Rawlinson selected your son to take his platoon (No. 9) out to an exposed position the far end of a village named Fesmy, through which our line of retreat lay. He performed the duty in a most able manner, and although harassed with a nasty fire, he held on until the battn. withdrew, and then rejoined with his little force intact. It was a commendable performance, worthy of one of far greater age and experience than your son. His company then continued the withdrawal until we came to the next village (Oisy), when it was detailed to act as rearguard. Again they were sharply engaged by largely increased forces this time, but they gallantly held their own, your son again holding a detached position at an important cross roads, and again the battn. was able to withdraw in safety. Your boy’s party was the last to come in, and though he lost a few men he saved many more. It was now six o’clock (p.m.), and it was now discovered that we were cut off from the main body. The battn. shook out to the attack in an endeavour to break through, every officer doing good work, your son no less than the others. With sword drawn he led his men in support of the attack which was in progress in front (to the south), and as he advanced he fell shot through the lungs. His death was painless and practically instantaneous. He was buried with his eight brother officers who fell the same day, 28 Aug. 1914. I write as a prisoner in German hands. The grave is near the railway station of Etreux, 400 yards to north of the level-crossing, right-hand side of the road.” It seems clear that from the first the situation was so critical that to enable the Army to escape the sacrifice of a regt. might possibly prove to be inevitable. Major Charrier, in command of the Munsters, fully recognised this, and, according to a survivor, in the absence of definite orders to retire, felt it his duty to hold on to the last at all costs. Though they had had two little “scraps” with the Germans lasting a few minutes on 24 and 26 Aug., the Munsters’ first serious fighting was on the 27th. The morning was very misty, and while waiting for the Germans a German aeroplane came over them, quite close, about 10 a.m. It flew back at once, and shortly afterwards a heavy fire was opened on them, rendering their position untenable. They therefore retired through Fesmy, where Awdry with his platoon held a detached position and succeeded in holding the Germans back till the regt. was safe, and then rejoined. He received a slight flesh wound here. Next they came to Oisy. Here they had to cross a canal, a little distance in rear of which was an important cross roads. Attacked in flank, in danger of being cut off in front, a cavalry attack now threatened them in rear, and Awdry was sent to the cross roads with his platoon. He left about 12 men under a sergt. at the canal bridge while he with the rest went forward and succeeded in holding the Germans at bay for some three-quarters of an hour. The sergt. and nearly all the detachment at the bridge were killed, and a corpl. went forward to get instructions, and as he got up he saw Awdry put his hand up to his chest and fall. Private C.... says he was hit high up on the left side. The corpl. thought he was killed, and as nearly all that party were _hors de combat_ he returned to the bridge, where, finding no one left, he thought all was over and escaped as best he could with a few stragglers who joined him and worked round to St. Quentin, where they eventually joined the remnant of the regt. (about 260) who had escaped destruction or capture. Awdry was not, however, killed then, and held on; but his numbers were so reduced that he signalled for reinforcement, and though none could be sent then, he refused to leave the post till assured that the battn. was safe. Eventually a few men from another platoon came to his help, and finally they retired and rejoined, his party being the last to come in. Then about 6 p.m. the battn. found themselves attacked on three sides, and it was now in the last desperate attempt to break through that Awdry got his fatal wound, in the forehead. Private C. ... was again close to him, and though himself slightly wounded managed to get him back near the road, and was putting his own field dressing on the wound when his left shoulder was shattered and he fell over and Awdry fell on the top of him, and so about an hour later died in his arms. They lay there all night till a burial party composed of captured men of the Munsters under German guards brought them in. The nine officers of the Munsters who fell that day were buried in one grave, and the N.C.Os. and men in another, side by side, near the railway station of Etreux, on the right hand side of the road, 400 yards north of the level-crossing. A German Pastor read a funeral service over them and the Germans put up crosses to mark the spot. Two memorial windows have been put up in St. Mark’s Church, Ampfield, in memory of 2nd Lieut. Awdry and officers, N.C.O.s and men of the Munsters who fell that day.

=AXON, WALTER HENRY=, Ship’s Corpl., 1st Class, R.F.R., A. 1230, late Ports., A. 2045, 128826, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=AXUP, VICTOR EMMANUEL=, Leading Signaller, 215587, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=AYLING, WILLIAM=, L.-Corpl., No. 9330, 1st Battn. Hampshire Regt., _s._ of Horace Ayling, of Stubbington Lane, Stubbington, Fareham, Hants, Cowman, by his wife, Anne, dau. of Edward Etherington; _b._ Hindhead, co. Surrey, 18 Dec. 1895; educ. Fareham and Crofton Elementary School; enlisted April, 1912; went to France, 12 Aug. 1914; was seriously wounded near Ypres, 7 Nov. 1914, by a wounded Prussian, and was invalided home; but returned to the Front in May, appointed L.-Corpl. June, and was killed in action at Ypres, 9 July, 1915; _unm._ His commanding officer wrote that “he was killed instantly by a shell which burst in a trench”; adding, “He was an excellent fellow.... He was buried behind the trench. I am afraid it was only a rough grave, as we left that night.”

=BABER, THOMAS EDWARD=, Petty Officer (N.S.), 154395, H.M.S. Hawke; lost in action in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=BACHELOR, FRANK=, Gunner, R.M.A., 12282, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BACK, JOHN RICHARD=, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 2843), 199592, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BACON, BASIL KENRICK WING=, Major, D Coy., 1st Battn. Worcestershire Regt., 4th _s._ of Kenrick Verulam Bacon, of The Lodge, Hale, Farnham, J.P., late Capt. Worcestershire Regt. (with which he served in the Indian Mutiny, 1857–8), by his wife, Jessie, dau. of the late T. Wing, Gray’s Inn; _b._ Eastbourne, 28 May, 1872; educ. United Services College, Westward Ho! was gazetted as 2nd Lieut. to the 2nd Battn. of the Worcesters, from the Militia, 4 Oct. 1893, and promoted Lieut. 14 Dec. 1896, and Capt. 14 Feb. 1900, and Major 1 April, 1909. When the Boer war broke out he was with his regt. in Bermuda. They came home to Aldershot in order to mobilise, and then went to South Africa. He served with the 2nd Battn. in the South African war of 1899–1902, took part in the operations in Cape Colony, south of the Orange River, 1899–1900, including action at Colesberg (1 Jan.-12 Feb.); in the Transvaal, west of Pretoria, and Orange Free State, May-Feb. 1901, and in the Orange Free State, Feb.-May, 1902; was mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 10 Sept. 1901], and obtained the Queen’s medal with three clasps, and the King’s medal with two clasps. After the war he continued to serve with the 2nd Battn. in South Africa, subsequently moving with it to Ceylon and thence to India. He obtained his Majority in the 3rd Battn. at Dover, but afterwards was posted to the 1st, which was at Cairo when the European War broke out. He was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 13 Dec. 1914; _unm._ A memorial brass was erected in Hale Parish Church by the N.C.Os. and men of his company “in token of their esteem and affection.”

=BADDELEY, EDWARD LAWRENCE=, Major, 8th Battn. Lancashire Fusiliers (T.F.), eldest _s._ of the late John Bratton Baddeley, of Whalley, co. Lancaster, M.D., by his wife, Marion (afterwards wife of Charles Edward Emmet, of Southport), dau. of (--) Brewer; _b._ Whalley, 12 July, 1870; educ. at Macclesfield, and was admitted a solicitor in June, 1893, but did not practise, being secretary to Messrs. W. T. Glover & Co., of Trafford Park, Manchester, Cable Makers. Major Baddeley joined the Halifax (1st Volunteer Battn. Duke of Wellington’s) Volunteers as a Private in 1888, and obtained his commission, 21 March, 1900, in the 3rd Volunteer Battn. The King’s Liverpool Regt., and afterwards transferred into the Lancashire Fusiliers; Southport Volunteers, 13 June, 1903; and on 24 Jan. 1914, obtained his majority in the 8th Territorial Battn. of the Lancashire Fusiliers. On the outbreak of war he volunteered for Imperial service, went out to Egypt with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, and was killed in action at Gallipoli, 6 June, 1915, being then second in command. He helped to form one of the first cycle corps in England. He held the Volunteer Long Service medal. Major Baddeley was a leading member of the Southport Yachting Club. He _m._ at Halifax, 4 July, 1911, May, only dau. of John Oakley, of Halifax, M.D., J.P.; _s.p._

=BADDELEY, LIONEL RICHARD LOGAN=, Corpl., No. 11/566, Queen Alexandra’s 2nd Squadron, Wellington Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, _s._ of Richard Baddeley, of Kakatahi, Wanganui, New Zealand, Runholder, by his wife, J..., dau. of Thomas Logan Williamson, grandson of Capt. Frederick Clinton Herman Stuart Baddeley, 40th Regt., and great-grandson of General Frederick Henry Baddeley, R.E.; _b._ Wanganui, New Zealand, 4 Dec. 1887; educ. Wanganui College. On the outbreak of war he joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles on 20 May, 1915; _unm._

=BADDER, SIDNEY JOSEPH=, A.B., J. 6017, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BADENOCH, JAMES=, Leading Stoker, R.F.R., Ch. B. 9396, 296586, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=BAGLEY, ARTHUR DAVIES=, Private, No. 107, 5th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of Frederick Bagley, Master Draughtsman, by his wife, Ann, dau. of the late Stephen Davies; _b._ Broseley, co. Salop, 22 Nov. 1889; educ. there, and emigrated to Australia in 1911. At the outbreak of war he volunteered, and was killed in action during the landing operations in Gallipoli, 25 April, 1915; _unm._ A comrade writing said that he was shot through the head by a sniper whilst going to the assistance of a wounded officer.