Part 97

=HEATON, WILLIAM=, Private, No. 5698, 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, eldest _s._ of William Heaton, of 1/11, Stoke Street, Birmingham, by his wife, Alice, dau. of John Gregson; _b._ Birmingham, co. Warwick, 8 Sept. 1883; educ. Severn Street Council School, Birmingham; enlisted, 1 Sept. 1904; served in Egypt, 29 Sept. 1906 to 23 March, 1911; went to France, 12 Aug. 1914; died in No. 12 General Hospital, Rouen, 6 Nov. 1914, of wounds received in action at Soupir; _unm._ Buried in the Cemetière des Brugeres, Rouen.

=HEDEN, ALFRED HOWARD=, Sergt., No. 1226, 13th Battn. (Princess Louise’s Kensington) The London Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of Alfred Henry Heden, of 11, Grove Road, Barnes, S.W., by his wife, Hannah, dau. of Samuel Skeats; _b._ Peckham, 25 Oct. 1894; educ. Wandsworth Secondary School; was a Clerk; joined the Kensingtons, Oct. 1911, and on the outbreak of war volunteered for active service; trained at Abbots Langley, and went to France, 3 Nov. 1914. He took part in the actions at Neuve Chapelle in March and at Aubers Ridge on 9 May, 1915, and was seen to fall shot through the lungs at the latter, and was reported killed. Two months later a letter was received from him saying he was wounded and a prisoner of war; he died of his wounds at Valenciennes, 25 July, 1915, and was buried there; _unm._

=HEDGE, LEONARD AUGUSTUS=, L.-Corpl., No. 2471, and Dispatch Rider, 2nd Montgomery Yeomanry (T.F.), 3rd _s._ of the late Charles Edward Hedge, of Stoke-on-Trent, Brewer, by his wife, Mary Ann (54, Broomhill Road, Ipswich), dau. of George Thomas William Mugliston, M.D., of Hatch End, Pinner, Middlesex; _b._ Stoke-on-Trent, 14 June, 1888; educ. Dean Close School, Cheltenham; and when war broke out was Senior Bank Clerk at the United Counties Bank, Ltd., Brecon, South Wales. He volunteered, and joined the Montgomery Yeomanry, 29 Sept. 1914, and was killed in a motor cycle accident at Welshpool, co. Salop, 16 June, 1915, while going through his course of training; _unm._

=HEDGES, HENRY THOMAS=, Private, R.M.L.I., Po. 8916, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=HEDGES, HERBERT=, Private, No. 9798, 1st Battn. East Kent Regt. (The Buffs); served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; died 20 Oct. 1914, of wounds received in action.

=HEDGES, RONALD EGERTON=, Rifleman, No. 2869, 12th Battn. (The Rangers) The London Regt. (T.F.), 2nd _s._ of Frederick John Hedges, of The Shrubberies, George Lane, South Woodford, by his wife, Charlotte Elizabeth, dau. of John Abraham, of Dunstable, Beds; _b._ South Woodford, co. Essex, 9 Dec. 1896; educ. Woodford College and Loughton School; was a Marine Engineer; volunteered on the outbreak of war and joined the London Rangers, 9 Sept. 1914; went to France, 9 March, 1915, and was killed in action at the Second Battle of Ypres, 29 April, 1915; _unm._ Buried at Verlórenhock. His Adjutant wrote of him that: “He was brave and cheerful, one of our best ... a keen soldier, eager at all times to do his duty.”

=HEELEY, ARNOLD=, Private, No. 3426, 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of Abraham Heeley, of 20, Eastfield Place, Sutton Mill, near Keighley, Yorks; _b._ co. York; enlisted 10 March, 1900; served in South Africa, 15 April, 1902, to 4 Oct. 1902 (Queen’s medal with two clasps, “Cape Colony,” “South Africa, 1902”), and in Egypt, 16 Jan. 1908 to 23 March, 1911; obtained his discharge, 9 March, 1912; re-enlisted following the outbreak of the European War, 22 Aug. 1914; went to France, 11 Sept., and died 23 Oct. following, of wounds received in action at St. Julien; _unm._ Buried in St. Julien Churchyard.

=HEFFERNAN, WILLIAM PATRICK=, 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. Royal Irish Regt., attached 1st Gloucesters, 2nd _s._ of William Kickham Heffernan, of Riversdale, Killenaule, co. Tipperary, and Harlow Moor Drive, Harrogate, M.D., J.P. co. York; _b._ Riversdale, 10 Dec. 1885; educ. Ampleforth College, Yorkshire, and Trinity College, Dublin, where he took honours in Mathematics. On leaving Trinity he settled down at Brittas Cashel, co. Tipperary, and kept a number of hunters, but on the outbreak of war applied for a commission, and was gazetted to the 3rd Reserve Battn. of the Royal Irish Regt. 15 Aug. 1915, being later attached to the Gloucesters. He was wounded at La Bassée in Feb. and was invalided to the Hospital de Cimiz, Nice, but rejoined, and was killed in action at Festubert, 9 May, 1915, leading the company, his company officer having been previously killed. While at Trinity he won a number of prizes, including the ’Varsity heavyweight at boxing and the Viceroy’s quarter-mile, which in 1911 he did in 51 seconds. Lieut. Heffernan was a regular follower of the Tipperary Hounds, and was noted in the south of Ireland as a keen and fearless rider in the Point-to-Point.

=HEGARTY, DENNIS=, A.B., 234197, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=HELLIWELL, JOSEPH GRANT=, B.A.Sc., Capt., 1st Battn. 1st Infantry Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 2nd _s._ of Grant Helliwell, of 526, Confed. Life Building, Toronto, Canada, Architect, by his wife, Anna Maria, dau. of the late Isaac James Biggs Fitzsimons; _b._ Toronto, 26 Nov. 1888; educ. Toronto Public School, Collegiate Institute, and Toronto University, from which he graduated in the department of applied science with the degree of B.A.Sc. in 1910, and was an engineer. He was a member of the Cadet Corps at Jarvis Street Collegiate and of the Engineers Corps at the University, in which he held rank of Lieut., and joined the 21st (Essex Fusiliers) Regt. at Windsor, Ontario, in 1911. After taking his course at London, Ontario, he was gazetted Capt., 1 April, 1912, and on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, was the first officer in the Windsor Regt. to offer his services. He left Windsor with his regt. on 21 Aug., and after a few weeks at Valcartier, crossed to England with the 1st Contingent and went into training on Salisbury Plain, where he was given command of the Salisbury Piquet. They went to France in Feb., and he was killed in action at the Battle of Givenchy, 15 June, 1915; _unm._ Lieut. Brian Henderson wrote: “At Givenchy the 1st Battn. did the attack. His company and D Coy. were to start the attack. Our artillery had been shelling the German trench and had made a very good job of cutting the wire. On Tuesday, 15 June, the artillery opened up a terrific bombardment of the German trench and kept this up for three hours when at 5.58 p.m. a mine was blown up. One minute later these two companies went over our parapet and in a few seconds had arrived at the German trench which contained only a lot of dead; but machine guns on the flank were working, also the German artillery was doing terrific damage and the men began to fall in large numbers. At this trench Capt. Wilkinson was hit, and Joe took over the company and led them on to the next trench. An officer who saw him leading his men said it was magnificent, especially as he thought Joe had already been hit in the arm. He got as far as the next trench, but was seen to fall with a bullet through his head. The trenches taken had to be given up as the supporting divisions were unable to get on, and it was impossible to stay out with both flanks unprotected.” His younger brother, Lieut. M. R. Helliwell, is now (1916) on active service.

=HELLYER, GEORGE PEABODY=, Corpl., No. 1972, 1/5th Battn. King’s Liverpool Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of John William Hellyer, of Western, Kirk Ella, E. Yorks, by his wife, Sally May, dau. of John Harris, of Brixham, Devon, and the nephew of Charles Hellyer, of Brixham; _b._ Hull, 24 Nov. 1889, and educ. by a private tutor there. He enlisted the day war was declared, 4 Aug. 1914; was promoted Corpl., and died of wounds received in action at Boulogne Hospital, France, 21 May, 1915, and was buried in the Boulogne English cemetery; _unm._ Sergt. Benbow, of his Coy., wrote: “I was with Corpl. Hellyer when he received his wounds. It happened on Sunday, 16 May, when our company were ordered to charge the German position in front of us. It was while charging that he received a slight wound in the foot which compelled him to drop down. I was bringing in wounded comrades when I found him and a brother N.C.O. dragging a wounded sergt. of another regt., and I went to their assistance. While doing so a Maxim gun was turned upon us and poor George got it all. One through the right thigh and two in the arm. We dressed him in the open field and then brought him safely to our trench. He was then carried out by the stretcher-bearers to the dressing station, and it was with deep regret we heard of him dying of his wounds. He was a true soldier and bore his wounds with great strength as we fetched him in. He gave us every assistance and did not murmur. He was quite conscious and cheerful. He was well liked by the men of his section and platoon, and we all feel his loss greatly.” His cousin, Lieut. Sidney H. Hellyer, was killed in action, 28 April, 1915 (see his notice).

=HELLYER, JAMES=, Btn. Leading Stoker, C.G., 308293, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=HELLYER, SIDNEY HANNAFORD=, 2nd Lieut., 4th Battn. The East Yorkshire Regt. (Machine Gun Section) (T.F.), yst. _s._ of Charles Hellyer, of Wolborough, Brixham, Devon, formerly of Lamwath Hall, Sutton-on-Hull, J.P., late Managing Director of Hellyer’s Steam Fishing Co., Ltd., Hull, by his wife, Jane Elizabeth, dau. of Capt. William Hannaford; _b._ Hull, 15 Aug. 1889; educ. Malvern College; was a director and partner in the well-known firm of Hellyer’s Steam Fishing Co., Hull, leaving on the outbreak of war to join the Territorial Force. Having taken an active part in the Cadet Corps at Malvern College, he soon qualified for a commission, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 4th Battn. The East Yorkshire Regt. 12 Sept. 1914. The 4th East Yorks first went into action on 24 April, 1915, in the neighbourhood of Pilkem and St. Julien. In a letter, written 26 April, Lieut. Hellyer gave the following description of this action: “On Thursday night we got the order to parade in full marching order just as we were turning in, and we could tell from the bombardment that was going on that something was doing. We marched the men immediately from our various billets to our alarm post, which was a grass field adjacent to Battn. Headquarters in the little village, and were there ordered to lie down and sleep as we were. Dawn came, and we unstiffened our dew-damp limbs and got some coffee. I then commenced to shave, and was just wetting my brush when the order came to march off immediately. In went our mess tins and gear, rolled our coats, and marched down the road where (Friday morning) rations (a little tin of beef each, six biscuits, bacon, cheese, tea and sugar) were issued. A train of 40 London motor buses came up marvellously from somewhere, and we were run out to a town which was being heavily bombarded, where we lay down in some huts. At 2 a.m. on Saturday morning we were ordered out to line some trenches by a canal which were bombarded with shrapnel at about 8 a.m. At 11 a.m. we were marched to a concentration point under shrapnel fire, causing some casualties. At the point of concentration one of the Divisional Staff Officers ordered me back again to guide up as quickly as possible another battn. of our brigade, as the situation was critical. This I did in as quick time as I could, and I was lucky enough to get back with them to the concentration point before our battn. was in action. As soon as I arrived back our battn. went into action in the open (not in trenches) against a section of the enemy who were occupying a village on a ridge and who were backed by excellent artillery--by this time I was tired. The 4th East Yorks went into action at about 4 o’clock on that afternoon (Saturday, 24 April, 1915) for the first time in the history of the battn., and a bloody battle it was. We advanced in artillery formation across half a mile of open country and under a very heavy bombardment both of shrapnel and high explosive shells, and many men fell--fell absolutely heroically, there is no other word for it. I would never have believed that hardened men would have marched on under that bombardment, and these men, already very tired and two nights sleepless, having carried a load weighing 60–70 lbs. since we left Newcastle, and hardly having their boots off since that time, saw battle for the first time as if they were just going to the barber’s for a shave. Three times within 20 minutes a shell struck the ground near the men I have the honour to lead, once within 10 yards, and when the high explosive shells strike they dive into the earth and the end of the world seems to come. They blow a hole just about the size of the pond in the back field at Lamwath, and the contents of the hole are blown right up into the skies, much higher than a trawler’s mast, so high that one has to lie on one’s face what seems like 20 seconds until all the earth and fragments have fallen. When one strikes as near as that one is covered with earth, so that there is a little difficulty in rising under the weight of it. The noise deafens and slightly stuns one. One shell blew us down in a body without killing one of us. This bombardment went on incessantly, not a shell now and then, but all the time shells bursting, sometimes two or three coming near the same spot at once. After the third time we were covered with earth, and a man of mine shouted to me: ‘If these B----s don’t ring the bell soon we’ll go and give them their money back.’ After advancing 20 minutes thus the high explosive shells ceased, and we went into the zone of the rifle and machine-gun fire, still in daylight and over open fallow land. They never worried a bit, never faltered, never even laid down to the shrapnel, a moment longer than was essential; when they heard the shriek of a coming shell just walked determinedly on into the jaws of it. Col. Shaw was shot dead at about this stage. My Capt., B. Farrel, was shot through the heart a minute or two after. Major Thielmann met instant death, and the man who went to help him was shot as he rose to do it. When we had advanced in rushes sufficiently near to the village, bayonets were fixed, and the Germans went back from the village without waiting for the assault. It was then dusk. We collected our men, gathered up and carried back what poor fellows we could, and marched the remainder back to some trenches about 500 yards in rear, leaving the position to be occupied by other troops, who dug themselves in. We laid down in some shallow trenches in a wood in the rain that night too tired to eat. Next morning (Sunday) we called our rolls, and then marched our weary, stiff heroes to occupy some trenches about a mile away, 500 yards in rear of some trenches which were being heavily attacked. We had to march to these trenches over a shrapnel-swept road, doubling over the most dangerous portion--at this stage Major Easton and Capt. Easton were both slightly wounded in the head, just grazes and not serious--and resting in the ditches occasionally at the sides. The Germans saw that we were entering these unoccupied trenches and bombarded them heavily. The trench my platoon occupied was dug in a clean grass field. Before we had been in it one hour there was not a blade of grass to be seen growing for 30 yards in rear of it; the front of it we could not see. A dug-out at one end disappeared in the air. Another dug-out in which were Lieut. Grindell (a fellow-subaltern of A Coy.), myself and about five men was blown in on us. I had to extricate poor old Grindell from the wreckage, and his knees were badly bruised, but he will be about again in a day or two. As soon as dusk came they ceased shelling us, and we then set to and worked like blazes to rebuild the broken parts of the trench. We could also get some doubtful water then, and sent Grindell to the dressing station. Water has been our trouble. At 11 p.m. (Sunday night) we were ordered to come out of the trenches and march back to a rest camp five miles in rear, and a terrible march it was. The road was swept with shrapnel for three of the miles. The villages which in times of peace had been on it were mere broken skeletons of their former selves. Many of the houses were in flames. The road had great shell holes in it, which parties of men were filling in with the broken houses in order to make it passable for transport, which crossed it at the gallop. Capt. Morrill, at about this stage, I think, got three shrapnel holes in one leg. Dead horses, broken wagons, mules, and occasionally men, strewed the road throughout its length, and the smell of them was sickening. The men at this stage were so tired that every time we got into the ditches for a rest we had difficulty in waking them to move on again, even in the roar of the shell bursts; many were being helped along by their pals. At 1 a.m. this morning (Monday, 26 April) we arrived at this camp for our well-earned rest. We walked into our huts, put our heads on our packs, and fell asleep with the roar of the battle still going on, and our artillery, part of which has a position near here, roaring away for all it was worth. I woke 10 hours afterwards stiff and hungry, and with a thirst I haven’t yet succeeded in quenching, in spite of the eight pint-mugs of tea I have drunk at intervals to-day.” Two days later, 28 April, his platoon had orders to entrench west of Gedde’s detachment, between the canal and the Pilkem road, supported by a brigade of a north country Territorial Division, which had arrived from England only three days before. He was encouraging his men to dig themselves into the ground when a shell fell in their midst, killing four outright and wounding eight, including 2nd Lieut. Hellyer, who died in consequence of his wounds at No. 7 Stationary Hospital, Boulogne, France, 8 May, 1915; _unm._ His body was brought home and buried at Brixham, South Devon. Sergt. T. Hurd, A Coy., 4th Battn. East Yorkshires, thus wrote of his death: “No doubt you have heard of Lieut. Sidney Hellyer being wounded. I will tell you how it happened. We had been in the trenches two days, when we received orders to move nearer the enemy’s lines. Just as we reached the new position and were digging ourselves in, shrapnel shells burst right into the middle of our company, killing four outright and wounding eight, including Lieut. Hellyer, who had his arm blown off at the shoulder, the other arm, both legs and cheek injured. But wounded as he was, he would not let any one touch him until all the others had been attended to. I have never met a braver man in my life, and men in our platoon owed their lives to him time and time again by the way he handled them. After he fell he still exhorted his men to hurry up and cut themselves into the ground. I have gleaned that he was courageously fetched from the exposed position to the trench, where every possible care was exerted to alleviate his terrible sufferings. On a trench ambulance he was carried towards the clearing hospital, but in the darkness the bearers lost their way. No portion or stump of the left arm remaining, the men of the Medical Corps strove to stop the bleeding by pressing their fingers to the wounds. At the clearing hospital he dictated a letter to his parents, telling them he was wounded, but that he should find his way to England by easy stages, and not to worry about him. But not one word as to the terrible nature of his injuries nor of the awful sufferings during the tedious and prolonged transference from the battlefield to the hospital.” Numerous other letters from his superior officers and men attest in the highest terms his lovable qualities and ability as a leader of men in camp, in trench, and in action. His cousin, Corpl. G. P. Hellyer, also died of wounds (see his notice).

=HELPS, FRANK BOVETT=, Rifleman, No. 2471, 16th Battn. (Queen’s Westminster Rifles), The London Regt. (T.F.), 2nd _s._ of Edward William Helps, of Westleigh, Durleigh Road, Bridgwater, Incorporated Accountant, Overseer for Borough of Bridgwater, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of E. J. Bovett, M.R.C.V.S.; _b._ Westfield, Bridgwater, co. Somerset, 11 May, 1894; educ. Dr. Morgan’s School, Bridgwater, and Royal Grammar School, Colchester, and on leaving there was apprenticed to Mr. A. J. Beare, of Taunton, Draper, and after serving his time, went to the Brixton Bon Marché; enlisted, 11 Aug. 1914; went to France, 24 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Ypres, 23 July, 1915, while on outpost duty; _unm._

=HELYAR, MAURICE HOWARD=, Capt., Rifle Brigade, elder _s._ of Francis John Helyar, of 11, Royal Crescent, Bath, late Royal Bodyguard, by his wife, the Hon. Ursula Georgiana, née Addington, 2nd dau. of William Wells, 3rd Viscount Sidmouth; _b._ 78, Eaton Place, London, S.W., 18 Nov. 1879; educ. Horris Hill, and Eton; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Rifle Brigade, from the Militia, 20 Dec. 1899, and promoted Lieut. 18 Dec. 1900, and Capt., 30 May, 1905; served in the South African War, 1902 (Queen’s medal with clasp), and Somaliland, 1903 (medal with clasp), and with the Expeditionary Force in France, 21 Dec. 1914, to 25 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action near Ypres on the latter date, and buried at Dickebusche. Capt. Helyar _m._ at Winchester, 21 Nov. 1914, Vera, dau. of Edward Evans-Lombe, of Bylaugh Park, and Rickthorn, Norwich, and had a dau., Maureen Howard, _b._ (posthumous), 25 Aug. 1915.

=HEMMING, FREDERICK THOMAS=, Private, R.M.L.I. (R.F.R.), Ch. 14309, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=HENCHER, JOSEPH=, Stoker, 2nd Class, K. 21848, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=HENDER, JOHN HENRY=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4914), S.S. 104378, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=HENDERSON, ALEC STEWART=, Capt., 1st Battn. (Royal Fusiliers) The London Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of Robert Stewart Henderson, of 18, Rutland Gate, London, S.W., by his wife, Laura, dau. of John Cooper Forster; _b._ Dacca, Eastern Bengal, 28 Jan. 1888; educ. Eton, and Trinity College, Cambridge; joined the Territorial Force in 1908, and was gazetted Capt. Territorial Reserve of Officers, 25 July, 1913, and posted to the 1st City of London Royal Fusiliers in Aug. 1914, after the outbreak of war, his appointment to rank as from 5 Aug. After eight months in Malta he went to France with his regt. on 10 March, 1915, and was shot through the head, 24 April, 1915, by a stray bullet, while in a trench superintending the throwing of bombs on the barbed wire entanglements, and died the next day, 25 April; _unm._ He was buried at Sailly-sur-Lys. His Colonel wrote: “The regt. lost in him one of its best officers. I do wish to express to you my highest appreciation of what he did for the regt. through his conscientious work and great ability. As such his memory will live in the regt.”; and the Adjutant: “He was a universal favourite, his company really loved him. He was a good keen soldier, and we can ill afford to lose an officer of his experience.” He had qualified for appointment as instructor of musketry.