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Nationality: Rank: Regiment: Age: Born : Date of Death: Additional information: Marital status : Schooling : Occupation : Cemetery : |
Brown William
Welsh Sapper No. 2. Siege Coy. Royal Engineers 34 Holyhead 6 may 1915 Son of John Brown and Grace Brown of Ucheldre Avenue, Holyhead Single Boatman Divisional Cemetery , Dickebusch Road Row B , Stone 6 * Enlisted August 1914 * Proceded to France 14 december 1914 |
Military Footsteps
December 1895 1899 1900-1901 1903 1905 February 1913 December 1913 2 november 1914 13 may 1915 |
Gazetted Second Lieutenant to the Leicestershire Yeomanry He was promoted to Lieutenant Served in the South African Campaign He held the honorary rank of Lieutenant in the Regular Army for services in the Boer War (1900-01) with the 4th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry (Leicestershire and Derbyshire) for which he received the Queen’s Medal with four clasps. Promoted Captain Promoted Major in 1905 "brevet" Lieutenant Colonel Full Lieutenant Colonel He embarked for Flanders Killed in action The following is that of a reliable eye witness:- “I was in the fight in which Colonel Freke was killed, in fact, I had been in personal touch with him up to five minutes before I saw him fall. Things were rather hot, and I happened to be one of a small party, who with Colonel Freke, had become detached from the main portion of the squadron who were holding a length of trench. We were in touch by signal, however, and a message came across that Major Ricardo was hit. Thereupon Colonel Freke walked out across the open to join the party in the trench about eighty yards away. He had covered the greater part of the distance when we saw he had been struck in the arm. He still went on to within five or six yards of the trench, when he fell.” He had been struck again. His soldier servant, who was in the trench, picked him up, but he was dead. His body lies buried in the cemetery close to Brielen Crossroads, near Ypres. A brave, absolutely fearless soldier, loved by all who knew him. An able commander, unsparing of himself, whose thoughts were always for the comfort and safety of those committed to his care, he sacrificed his life in the noblest cause – in defence of the honour of his country and of those who could not defend themselves. The War Diary records: 13 May 1915 - Bellewaerde Farm Position of Regiment at midnight 12th/13th May was 700 yards west of road joining Zonnebeke Road and Ypres – Menin Road, extreme right resting on railway running north east from Ypres, and extending to the farm about 300 yards north, north west of railway. “B” Squadron occupied north, “C” Squadron south part of the front line trenches. The trenches were bad, 5 feet deep and 2½ feet wide at the bottom. Parapets at the front and back slanted very much, and were made of loose soil. There were few sand bags, and no dug outs or other protection from shell fire. “A” Squadron occupied the Support trenches 300 yards in the rear of the advanced trenches and on the left flank of “B” Squadron. Machine gun section in “C” Squadron trench close to the railway. HQ in dug outs on road joining Zonnebeke Road and Menin Road, 150 yards north of the railway. During the night the trenches were somewhat improved. Heavy shell fire from 3.30am to 6.00am, but few casualties. The enemy then began to pour over their parapets with the evident intention of attacking, but being met by heavy fire from our men, they retired again to their trenches. A second and more violent bombardment began, and was kept up until 7.30am. Our losses during this bombardment were much heavier, and the machine guns were knocked out and a trench blown in. At 7.30am the enemy attacked and occupied the advanced trenches vacated by the Regiment on our left, from there they gained part of “B” Squadron trenches. They then advanced to within 200 yards of the Support trenches and dug themselves in, having steel shields as a protection. Those of the enemy who had occupied the “B” Squadron trench advanced along the trench, and Major B. R. Liebert, Lt. W. S. Fielding-Johnson and Squadron Sergeant Major J. P. Swain with what was left of “B” Squadron, retired down the trench and joined “C” Squadron. Here Major W. F. Martin ordered barricades of sand bags to be placed across the trench. Some of the trench party fired over this barricade at the enemy advancing from the flank, others at the enemy advancing from the front. Major Martin, Major Liebert, Lt. C. Peake and 2nd Lt. T. E. Brooks were all killed. The casualties were so heavy that Lt. Fielding-Johnson the only surviving officer decided to retire down the trench, to cross the railway and join the 3rd Dragoon Guards on the other side of it. He had great difficulty in crossing the railway, which was swept by the enemy’s machine guns. Finally the crossing was effected by building a sand bag parapet across the railway, and Lt. Fielding-Johnson joined the 3rd Dragoon Guards with Squadron Sergeant Major Swain and 14 men, the only survivors of the two Squadrons of Leicestershire Yeomanry who had occupied the advanced trenches. At about 6.00am Lt. Col the Hon. P. C. EVANS-FREKE decided to establish a small advanced post at a building about 150 yards in advance of the Support trenches. He personally placed 2nd Lt. T. H. Simpkin with 15 men in charge of this post. While returning to the Support trenches he was shot dead. The news that Lieut. Colonel the Hon. Percy Cecil Evans-Freke, in command of the First Leicestershire Yeomanry, has been killed, has occasioned extreme regret throughout Leicestershire and Rutland. Since going out in command of the regiment last November he has displayed the utmost fearlessness and bravery, and was actually standing on the parapet of a trench at the time he was shot through the head or neck. |
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Hawkes John Cornock
Irish Lieutenant Royal Army Medical Corps attd. 8th Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps 30 3 march 1885 , Castletown , Co. Cork 30 july 1915 Son of William and Martha Elizabeth Hawkes, of Castletown, Bere, Co. Cork Educated at : Cork Grammar School Edinburgh University * Qualified in 1910 Ship's Surgeon to West Africa and afterwards to Canada Divisional Cemetery , Dickebusch Road Row D , Stone 7 |
Military Footsteps
6 december 1914 May 1915 31 july 1915 |
Volunteered on the outbreak of war Gazetted Lieutenant to the Royal Army Medical Corps Proceeded to France Killed in action at Hooge by a shell His Colonel wrote: ' Your gallant son was beloved by oficers and men for his genial pleasant manner and his genuine Irish wit, and his devotion to the wounded. He was a splendid professional man, and the Battalion has suffered a severe loss by his death." Colonel Thompson , on behalf of Surgeon-General Porter , Director of Medical Service : ' He was killed instantaneously by a shellwhen advancing with his regiment near Hooge. They were about to take part in an assault on some trenches previously lost by another brigade. He bore the reputation of being a very gallant man, and one devoted to the care and succour of the wounded. He has now joined our band of heroes of the RAMC and his name will live on our annals and he himself in our memories as one who has conferred honour on the corps.' |
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Stansfeld-Smith Lyulph
British Second Lieutenant 1st Bn. Wiltshire Regiment 18 25 september 1896 13 june 1915 Son of Percy and Lilian Beatrice Stansfeld-Smith, of 86, Hazlewell Rd., Putney, London Single Educated at Dorset House Preparatory School , Littlehampton and Sherborne School ( January 1910-April 1914) Junior clerk from Putney with The Imperial Bank of Persia, London Divisional Cemetery , Dickebusch Road Row F , Stone 6 |
Military Footsteps
August 1914 September 1914 9 january 1915 13 june 1915 |
He was attested with the Honourable Artillery Company as Signaller Arrived in France with the 1st Battalion. He joined the Wiltshire's as a temporary 2nd Lieutenant Accidentally killed whilst holding a training session on the use of hand grenades, when he primed what he believed was a dummy but was in fact a live grenade |

Sherborne School