Player Portraits A-L - Rosslyn Park Memorial Rugby Tour 2009

Extraordinary stories of ordinary men

Here you can read more about the Rosslyn Park players, as their stories come forward. If you know more about these men, please email info@rugbyremembers.co.uk

Please note that alphabetical order has not yet been strictly applied!

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Wellesley Roe Allen Died 11 March 1919

This London doctor’s son attended Trinity College Dublin, where he is commemorated in the Reading Hall.

A Captain in the RAMC, attached to the GHQ in Cairo. At the outbreak of War, Cairo was headquarters to the British garrison in Egypt. With Alexandria, it became the main hospital centre for Gallipoli in 1915 and later dealt with the sick and wounded from operations in Egypt and Palestine. He was at Gallipoli in Sept 1915. He never returned to Britain after the war, dying in Cairo of illness aged 35 in March 1919.

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Basil Claudius Ash 25 Apr 1886 - 20 Sept 1914

Basil Ash, educated at Uppingham, is an example of the divided loyalties enjoyed by players in the amateur Corinthian days. Despite being a Rosslyn Park member, on one occasion in 1909 he played for Old Uppinghamians against his own Club.
As a Lieutenant in the 2nd Bn, Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) he died very early in the war at the age of 28. No doubt, like many of his comrades in the late summer of 1914, the outbreak of war would have caused him great excitement. The majority of soldiers going to France in 1914 expected to help the French win the war quickly and give the Kaiser of Germany a 'bloody nose'.
At 7.32pm on August 4th a telegram ordered the 2nd to be mobilised in Sheffield. They shuttled from Edinburgh to Cambridge, and on 7th September received orders to embark for France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Following a six-hour route march the battalion left Newmarket station for Southampton. The next day they boarded the SS. Georgian and arrived at St. Nazaire on the 10th. The next 24 hours were uncomfortable as the volume of transport ships in the harbour forced the battalion to stay on board and wait their turn to unload.
The initial German advances of the Schlieffen Plan had been checked and there were hopes of pushing the Germans out of France and Belgium and fulfilling the predictions of ending the war by Christmas. The Battle of the Aisne had begun on 12 September and the Foresters must have guessed that they would soon be participating in it. It was on the Aisne that the defining characteristic of the Great War, long lines of static trench systems, appeared for the first time, and with them two new enemies, the weather and enemy artillery.
20 September dawned cold and wet as 'a chill rain was falling'. When two advancing companies of the Sherwood Foresters emerged from the cover of the few trees they "were caught in relatively open terrain with only some corn stooks providing any form of concealment and were greeted with heavy, hostile machine gun fire. Casualties were rapidly incurred".
Faced with a bayonet charge the Germans fled, and a number of junior officers, including Lt Ash, bravely pushed on and: "made their way into the trenches, Wilsher having the satisfaction of bayoneting a German; poor Murray... gallantly led his men taking every advantage of dead ground, and was eventually shot as he was standing up in the trenches shouting to the men behind which way to come up. Ash and Milner also admirably led their men up the valley, but were killed, with most of their fellows, by the deadly machine guns; the advance thus came to an end... "
The Official History sums up the day with grim satisfaction: "Altogether the 20th September was a successful day for the British, though it cost the B.E.F. nearly 2200 killed, wounded and missing. The Germans had delivered four serious attacks at four different points and had, after first gaining some little advantage, been everywhere repulsed."
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Charles George Gordon Bayly 30 May 1891 - 22 Aug 1914

Born in Rondebosch, Cape Colony, South Africa. Educated at Diocesan College,SA, St Edmund's Prep Hindhead, St Paul's School (where he won a scholarship) and Woolwich Academy, which he entered in Feb 1910 as a Gentleman Cadet. He was one of the first casualties of the War on the British side, and the first Park player to be killed in action.

He passed out into the Royal Engineers at Chatham, where he played football and cricket. In May 1914, he took a flying course at Upavon, having applied for the Royal Flying Corps. He was interested in the study of wireless telegraphy from aeroplanes.

Reported as "very good indeed as a pilot and his capabilities as an officer being above the average", he joined 5th Squadron RFC and flew to Amiens on 12 Aug 1914 and thence to Mauberge. He was killed on Aug 22, in an Avro 504 No 390, while on reconnaissance as an observer over the German lines near Enghien Bassily. He and his pilot 2nd Lieut V Waterfall were hastily buried by the Germans in 10cms of soil, but later exhumed and placed in zinc coffins to await a decent burial. He is buried at Tournai Communal Cemetery. The downing of his plane was probably the first proof to the Germans that the British had joined the war in France.

Bayly, front row left, was one of six players in the 1909-10 team below to be killed in the War. The others were Monaghan, Houghton, Glover, Purser and Jesson.

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John Edward Cyril Bodenham 1890 - 1 July 1916
A Rifleman in the 1/16th Bn London Regt, Queen's Westminster Rifles was killed in front of Gommecourt on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. John Bodenham was the youngest of sixteen children born to James and Mary Anne (nee Floris) Bodenham, and worked for the family firm of perfumers, J Floris of 89 Jermyn Street, which thrives today at the same premises.
He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bearing the names of over 73,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave.
The QWR was a Territorial regiment before the war. They landed in France in November 1914 and fought at Armentieres and Ypres, before moving to the Somme for the great offensive in 1916. Bodenham competed in the Regimental sports day on May 2nd, coming a close second in the hurdles.
On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. Some 60,000 were killed or wounded in one day alone. 600 of the 750 from the Queens Westminster rifles were casualties.
Details and maps of the 1/16th Bn action can be found at www.gommecourt.co.uk
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Sydney Burdekin 16 Oct 1885 - 28 Sept 1915
'Syd' Burdekin came from a noted Australian family in Sydney. He attended The Armidale School, and Merton College Oxford, and played on the wing for Park. In 1912 he returned to Sydney via America to take up a post as a freight manager.
He was gazetted as a 2nd Lieut in the Royal Field Artillery in Feb 1915, but killed only 7 months later, aged 29. He has no known grave and is commemorated along with 20,000 others, on the Loos Memorial, NW of Lens.
Few Park players can boast a Queensland river, a hotel and an Australian warship named after their family. His grandfather Thomas arrived in 1829 and made a fortune in ironmongery and property. His wife Mary Ann funded the 1845 expedition that discovered the river named in her honour. His father Sydney was a noted politican and Mayor of Sydney in 1890, and the family home at 197 Macquarie Street was the centre of high society, becoming known as Burdekin House, 'the most handsome in Sydney'. Its demolition in 1933 provoked changes in conservation laws in Australia
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Charles Augustus Button, Croix de Guerre 1884- 27 May 1918

Born in Llanstadwell, Neyland Pembrokeshire, Charles was one of five brothers, all rugby players in this Welsh town, whose team is one of only two in the world to wear the silver fern badge on a black shirt, and is known as the Pembrokeshire All Blacks. He can be seen here, second from left, with his brothers: John (who won the Military Medal), Frank (twin Frederick is not present) and Matthew (seated) who was a polio sufferer and could not take up arms but served in the army in a clerical role.

Charles worked as a bank clerk in London and lived in lodgings around the St Margaret's and East Twickenham area. His walk to and from the nearby Rosslyn Park ground in Old Deer Park would be a short but pleasant stroll along the Thames towpath, past the White Cross and White Swan public houses.

Lt C A Button was a section commander in 5th Battery, 45th Brigade, RFA in the 8th Division on the Aisne on 27th May 1918 when he took part in one of the most heroic actions by a battery during the Great War, during the great Spring Offensive by the Germans.

Just before midnight on 26 May 1918 the battery was ordered to 'Stand To' because of an imminent enemy attack. At approx. 1:00 am the enemy opened up with an extensive bombardment of gas, High Explosive and shrapnel. Almost immediately the battery received an SOS call from 23rd Infantry Brigade and began serving the guns wearing gas masks. During this firing Lt . J E Large and 2/Lt C A Button frequently took their places with the gunners.

At about 6:45 am the enemy barrage lifted clear of the battery position and large numbers of German infantry were seen less than 200 yards from the battery position and the battery resorted to rifles and Lewis guns for protection. Captain Massey moved off with four gunners and a Lewis gun in the direction of Wagram in an attempt to protect the flank. Shortly afterwards 2/Lt Button was seen moving off with a rifle to assist Capt. Massey but he was not seen again.
The remainder of the battery fought to the last with their rifles but were overwhelmed by the German infantry. Out of 5 officers and 50 NCOs and men only five gunners and one telephonist returned to British lines. The battery was specially commended by General Berthelot, GOC V French Army in Ordre General No. 351 of 16 July 1918 and received the French Croix de Guerre in a ceremony at Tournai on 3 December 1918.
Charles' body was never found and he is remembered on the Soissons Memorial.
I am indebted to his great nephew Jimmy Button for the photos and information.
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Jonathan Maxwell Bruce                          22 June 1873 - 24 Nov 1914
A senior Park man, dying early in the war at age 41, he is memorialised in de Ruvigny's Roll of Honour. Indian born, educated at Haileybury and Sandhurst, this Major in the Indian pioneers was a career soldier.
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Charles Isaacs Coburn                                                1885 - 31 July 1917
Educated at St. Paul's School and Merton College, Oxford, where he obtained his BA and BCL, he became a lawyer like his father. He enlisted in December 1915 and after passing through the Inns of Court OTC Cadet School at Berkhamsted, obtained a temporary commission in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) in April 1917, and was posted to the 18th Battalion. He went to France in July, and was reported missing after going into action for his first venture against the village of Hollebeke, on July 31st, 1917. KRRC Chronicle War records 1917:
On the 31 Jul 1917 the attack was launched under the most unfavourable conditions - the weather had broken on 27 Jul and the ground had become so churned up it was almost impossible to move. A thick mist and drizzling rain made progress slow. The enemy held their line by machine gun posts cleverly hidden in shell holes and brought a withering fire to bear on the attacking party. All this combined to bring the attack to a standstill just short of the objective - Hollebeke. Losses were so heavy that the battalion had to be withdrawn the same night.
The adjutant of his Battalion writes: "During the short time he was with us he showed himself to be a gallant, reliable, and devoted officer." He was 32, has no known grave and is named on the Menin Gate at Ypres. He left a widow, Dorothy.
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Jean-Jacques Conilh de Beyssac               12 avril 1890 -13 juin 1918
A French international lock, capped 5 times for France in 1912-14 including the match against England at Racing Club's Stade de Colombes in April 1914, (French team below with de Beyssac second from left in back row) playing against two Rosslyn Park England players, Arthur Dingle and Arthur Harrison. Of the 3o players in this match, 11 died in the Great War, and three were Park players.
Born in Cauderan, Gironde, and descended from one of Napoleon's generals, he played for Stade Bordelais Universite Club (SBUC), French champions in 1911, and runners-up 1910. Rosslyn Park played Bordeaux on a French tour on Dec 28th, 1913 ,when de Beyssac was described as 'the most brilliant player on the field'. The record is silent on how he came to play for Park, although he is in the Club minutes book and SBUC did tour to England at Easter 1909, playing Rosslyn Park. A dinner was held at the Waldorf and it is easy to imagine the convivial recruitment drive for this 1.85m, 90 kg forward.
He studied philosophy at University, and joined the 81er Artilleries Lourdes, then became a sous-lieutenant in the 501st Tank Regiment. In April 1917, he played in a French military XV against a combined Australian/New Zealand forces team at the La Cipale velodrome in Vincennes, in a rare wartime rugby 'international'. This challenge for the 'Coupe de la Somme' was won 40-0 by the ANZACs.
John Griffiths in his The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records (1987) says of him: “De Beyssac was reputed to be the most complete French forward before the war. A skilful dribbler, he was a good line-out technician and a sound scrummager.”
His bravery was commended in Army Orders in March 1918. He died of his wounds in June of that year at St Remy l'Eau, Oise aged 28 years.

Percival Corban-Lucas                                          Killed 15 Dec 1916
Captain Corban Lucas of the 1st Bn Royal Sussex Regt was attached to the 9th Bn Worcestershire Regt. In 1915 he served in India, stationed at Poona with 40 men of the Royal Sussex as an instructional party. He died in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and is named on the Basra Memorial, which commemorates over 40,000 Commonwealth soldiers whose graves are not known.
Like Gallipoli, conditions in Mesopotamia defy description. Extremes of temperature (120 degrees F was common); arid desert and regular flooding; flies, mosquitoes and other vermin: all led to appalling levels of sickness and death through disease. Under these conditions, units fell short of officers and men, and all too often the reinforcements were half-trained and ill-equipped. Medical arrangements were quite shocking, with wounded men spending up to two weeks on boats before reaching any kind of hospital. These factors, plus of course the unexpectedly determined Turkish resistance, contributed to high casualty rates.
Corban-Lucas played for Bedford School XV for 3 years 1907-10.
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Bruce Duffus Costin                                   20 June 1889 - 24 Oct 1914

Born in Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia, and educated Bedford and Sandhurst. Commissioned into The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regt in September 1909, and promoted Lieut 16 April 1910. He died in hospital at Boulogne, 24 October 1914, of wounds received in the battle of Ypres on 20 October, and was buried in Boulogne Cemetery. His commanding officer wrote:
"You know without my telling you what a favourite he was with all ranks of the regt, and how we shall all miss him. He had done splendidly throughout the war, and was invaluable to us. He was always cool and cheery under fire, quite fearless, and had done very well on the 20th under an appalling shell fire. He is a great loss in every way to the regt, and the mess, so keen on both work and play, and the Rugby team will be nothing without him."
And the Chaplain: "He was a splendid officer, and a splendid man. I had many opportunities for forming an estimate of his character, for I knew him well, and I know he was a man of highest qualities and ideals, brave, honourable, respected by all who knew him, and loved by his brother officers and men under his command. His loss is a loss to the whole Army, and the cutting off of a keen soldier, who had promise of a brilliant career."
Lieut. Costin was good at all sports, a splendid rider and a keen follower to hounds in the South Staffordshire country. He played Rugby for the college fifteen at Sandhurst and for Rosslyn Park, and was capt. of the regimental football team. At Sandhurst he was in the winning teams for rifle and revolver shooting, and for riding. (de Ruvigny)

Cecil Crosley                                                 29 Oct 1892 - 16 August 1915
Born in Purley to stockbroker John Mechi Crosley and Mary May Crosley, he attended Uppingham and then McGill University, Montreal reading engineering and playing a lot of sport. He introduced the rules of rugby and organised the University team and won the amateur middleweight boxing championship of Canada.
Hi engineering studies were abandoned and he retuned to London and his father's stockbroking firm in 1913 and joined the Special Reserve of Officers. On the outbreak of war he was commissioned into the 5th Lancers, training with them in Dublin. In his haste to get to the front, he transferred to the 5th Royal Irish Fusiliers, and went out to the Dardanelles and the landing at Suvla Bay. Lt Gen Mahon, commanding 10th Irish Division, wrote prosnally to him commending him on his 'good work in the field'. He was killed at Keretech Tepe on 16th August 1915.
Accounts of his death vary, but he appears to have been hit in the head by shrapnel. The dry scrub on the ridge was set ablaze by shellfire and the bodies there were incinerated. His name is on the Helles memorial.
He was mentioned in Gen Sir Ian Hamilton's Despatch of 11 December
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Herbert Hyde Hedges De La Cour                          1892(?) - 3 Dec 1919
Little is known of this player beyond his splendid name. He was educated at Bedford School. He was a cavalryman in the Royal North Devon Hussars, a Territorial regiment formed in Barnstaple in August 1914. Cavalry soon proved an outmoded fighting force, and the Regiment was 'dismounted' and moved to Gallipoli as infantry Yeomanry in October 1915, withdrawing to Egypt in December.
He was gazetted from Cadet to 2nd Lt on 26 Sept 1916 and then became full Lieutenant on 26 March 1918. His Regiment was further merged and became the 16th Bn, Devonshire Regt, which landed in France on 7 May 1918. He died long after the war had ended on 3 Dec 1919 in St George's Hospital, Tooting, presumably of wounds suffered at the front from which he never recovered. He was 27.
He is buried in Mitcham Burial Ground, a long way from Devon.
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Arthur Tulloch Cull                                                    1885 - 11 May 1917
Born in Colombo, Ceylon, Captain Arthur Tulloch Cull was seconded from the 1st Seaforth Highlanders for service with the 48th Squadron Royal Flying Corps in January 1916. He was killed in action on 11 May 1917 whilst on an offensive patrol East of Arras, when his machine was shot down in flames. He was claimed as a victim by Wilhelm, brother of the German fighter ace Karl Allmenroder, a member of the famous Jasta 11, Richthofen's 'Flying Circus', below. During May Karl downed thirteen RFC planes, far more than any other German pilot, while Wilhelm claimed one plane only and two balloons. Arthur Cull and his observer Arthur Trusson seem to have been unlucky!
A report by 2/Lt W.O.B. Winkler who was shot down in the same action as Cull, (he fell victim to Lothar Freiherr Von Richthofen, brother of the Red Baron, but fortunately survived his forced landing and was taken prisoner of war) says: 'I wrote a p.c. off immediately to Geneva last night about Captain Cull. I am very sorry to say that both he and his observer Trusson are killed....they came down in flames from about 6,000 feet, so there was not much chance of their coming out of it. It was very hard luck, because he was one of our best. I think he was hit right at the beginning of the fight, judging from the way the machine flew.... The German's confirmed his death after we were taken.'
Some sources suggest from the location of the kills that it may have been Richtofen who downed Cull, not Allmenroeder.
Tull attended the Knoll School, Aspley Heath, Bedfordshire and was Captain of Uppingham School. He is commemorated on the Arras Flying Services Memorial. He trained in the Inns of Court OTC and was a bank officer. And surely he was the A Tulloch Cull who published in 1913 a volume of 'Poems to Pavlova' in praise of the Russian ballerina, a copy of which was in Rudolph Valentino's library. Pilot, lawyer, rugby player and balletomane, Cull was clearly a man of many and varied facets.

Robert Jacomb Norris Dale                            13 Nov 1884 - 31 Jan 1918
Lieut. Robert Dale, from Wimbledon, was educated at Haileybury College , became an artist and joined the Manchester Regiment. He obtained his commission in June, 1915, and was promoted in July, 1917. He then served in the Royal Flying Corps, in the 33rd Balloon Section where he was killed on the Italian front, aged 33 and is buried in the British cemetery at Giavera in Treviso province, Italy.

Arthur James Dingle                              22 Nov 1891- 22 August 1915
Captain Jimmy 'Mud' Dingle was born in Hetton-le -Hole Co Durham in 1891, the son of Rev AT Dingle of Eaglescliffe Rectory, Co Durham. He excelled both academically and sportingly at Durham School and went up to Keble College, Oxford in 1910 with the intention of taking Holy Orders, and won his rugby 'Blue'. He graduated in 1913 and was a teacher at Durham School when war broke out.
He played rugby for Oxford, Durham County and Hartlepool Rovers, but played for both Park and Richmond while at Keble. He played three times on the wing for England in 1913-14, making his debut vs Ireland on Feb 8th 1913 at Lansdowne Rd, and Scotland, with his last game on April 13th, 1914 vs France at Stade Colombes, four months before the outbreak of war, alongside AL Harrison and facing Conilh de Beyssac, both Park players.http://therugbyhistorysociety.co.uk/dingle.html
He joined the 6th Bn, East Yorkshire Regt, was gazetted captain in August 1915, took part in the landings at Suvla Bay and was killed on 22nd August 1915 somewhere at Gallipoli, Turkey, aged 23. His body was never found. His name is on the Helles Memorial to those who have no known grave. In a series of letters to his father he wrote:
“We have been fighting for four days and nights without a stop and this is our first rest. We go out again tonight to dig trenches. We have suffered very heavy casualties, only six officers left and about 280 men out of 700. I have not been touched yet, but had some extraordinary escapes. We are doing fairly well”
“We advanced to the attack under very heavy rifle fire and machine gun fire and were also shelled. The men, though dog tired, behave splendidly...We fought our way back...I was unfortunately hit myself ...needless to say I saw no more of the fight that day, being on a hospital ship before 12 o’c.” (August 9th) [He was gazetted Captain on August 9th]
A letter from fellow officer, Lt TB Coultas follows:
“It was just before dawn on August 22nd. The Turks were making a counter attack in large numbers with bombs...Lieut Dingle had a lot of the battalion under him and made two lots of tea for them during the night. He was in the highest of spirits before going up. ... you can tell how much I feel his death. In the Battalion he was always a restless spirit of energy. At the end of a long march he would suggest rugger or hockey, and we always played, however tired we were. His good spirits seemed infectious. The men adored him and he could get anything out of them. One of his most admirable qualities was his extraordinary modesty."
The final words come from the men he led so well:
From Pte D.Tucker:
“He was a brave man and even went to the charge with a pipe in his mouth. He was also a kind hearted gentleman and a good soldier and he died a brave hero also. After we took the first line of trenches he even made some tea for ten of us, and we felt his death very much.”

From Pte A.Petfield:
“The last words I heard him say were, when he heard the ‘cease fire’ “Don’t cease fire, I am commanding here.”

And from Pte Wilkinson:
“Lieut Dingle raised his head above the parapet and was shot immediately”
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Humphrey Dowson MC 1889 - 15 Sept 1916

The younger son of Walter and Beatrice Dowson, of Alan Cottage, Wimbledon, and later of Bexhill. He was reported "wounded" on September 15th, 1916, at the capture of Gueudecourt during the battle of Flers/Courcelette. “The battalion received very effective machine gun fire just to the north of Delville Wood. The enemy position was eventually neutralised, but not before it had taken a heavy toll on the officers, including the CO, all the battalion signallers and T/Capt Dowson.”

He was educated at St. Andrew's School, Eastbourne, Uppingham School, and King's College, Cambridge. At school he held a classical scholarship and a leaving scholarship, and was in the cricket XI and rugby XV. At King's College, Cambridge, he was an exhibitioner, and took his degree with honours. He was articled to his father’s firm, and in July 1914 passed his final law examination.

On the outbreak of war he joined the Honourable Artillery Company, and in November obtained a temporary commission into the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, landing in Boulogne in May 1915 and going up to the Front with 9th Bn in August. He was mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig's despatches of April 1916, for his part in the attack on Bellewarde Farm, a diversionary attack for the battle of Loos. He gained the Military Cross during the capture of Delville Wood on 24th August 1916. The citation in the London Gazette 20/10/1916 reads:

Temp Lt Humphrey Dowson KRRC. For conspicuous gallantry in action. He took command of the company when another officer was wounded, organised his defences, and held his own with great determination.

A measure of the futility of the repeated fighting over the same ground is that he was killed three weeks later, aged 27 – still at Delville Wood. He is buried at the Delville Wood Cemetery in Longueval. Humphrey Dowson’s name is inscribed alongside AL Harrison VC on the War Memorial on the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields, fittingly the site of the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens.

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George Eric Fairbairn 18 August 1888 – 20 June 1915

2nd Lieutenant George Eric Fairbairn, resident Westminster, London but a native of Victoria, Australia, joined the 10th Bn Durham Light Infantry and died at Bailleul, France in June 1915, aged 26. He was buried at the Bailleul Communal Cemetery.

Eric Fairbairn was the son of Thomas Fairbairn, a pastoralist from Australia, and his wife Lena Carmyle. He was also the nephew of Steve Fairbairn, the celebrated rower.

He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge and rowed for Cambridge in the Boat Race in 1908. At the 1908 Summer Olympics, most of the Cambridge crew competed in the eight which won the bronze medal, but Fairbairn went into the coxless pairs with Philip Verdon and won the silver medal.

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Donald Farquharson-Roberts MC                       1892 - 20 Nov 1917
Educated at St George's School, Windsor Castle and Bedford Grammar, he played rugby for Park and Bedford Town and cricket for Bedfordshire. He was working overseas in the Federated Malay States, when war broke out, but gave it up and returned to England. He enlisted as a private in the UPS Battalion (University and Public Schools) Royal Fusiliers, obtained his commission in the East Surreys in May 1915 and went to the Front in March 1916.
He was promoted Lieutenant and acting Captain in September, and full Captain by March 1917. He was awarded the Military Cross, but died aged 25 at the Battle of Cambrai, when the new weapon of tanks was first used. It seems likely that Capt Denis Monaghan's tanks were supporting Roberts and his men in their attack on November 20, and Monaghan would die days later.
"The proposed method of assault was new, with no preliminary artillery bombardment. Instead, tanks would be used to break through the German wire, with the infantry following under the cover of smoke barrages. The attack began early in the morning of 20 November 1917 and initial advances were remarkable. However, by 22 November, a halt was called for rest and reorganisation, allowing the Germans to reinforce."
His Colonel wrote: " He was shot through the head and killed instantly while gallantly leading his company. I cannot tell you how much I feel his loss. Personally I had the warmest feelings of friendship for him. He was a fine fellow and a gallant English gentleman. He was the most popular officer in the battalion and one of the best."
An Old Bedfordian and brother officer also wrote: " I never hope to meet a finer man's man - straight and genuine to the core."
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Roy Fazan                                                                  Killed 9 May 1915
Roy Fazan, a doctor's son, was educated at Epsom College and studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital. He joined the army shortly before the outbreak of war and did not complete his studies. A 2nd Lieutenant in the 5th(Cinque Ports)Royal Sussex Regt, he was killed aged 23 at the battle of Aubers on May 9th 1915 when 25 men from the village of Wadhurst all died in one day. He has no known grave.
At o530 the artillery bombardment of the German lines between Neuve Chapelle and Festubert along the Aubers Ridge stopped and the Royal Sussex went 'over the top'. By 1130 the remnants crawled back to their trenches - only 160 men and one officer were left. Roy Fazan was an officer in B Coy, and his brother Eric, was Captain commanding A Coy. He survived the War and his diary tells the story:
"In the Field 8 : 5 : 15. In case I am killed or die, finders please give the envelope marked X in pocket at end of this book to a brother officer to post to my wife. Of my personal effects out here I should like each surviving officer in 'A' Coy to be given some slight memento. Also my brother Roy [crossed out - Deceased May 9 EACF], the present Sergt Major, Company Sergt Major Heather, Capt Dawes servant & my servant BEALE (my new safety razor) [crossed out - believed deceased May 9 EACF]. Perhaps the senior surviving officer of 'A' Coy will kindly see to this? E A C Fazan Capt. 'A' Coy 5 R. Sx R
The fire was very hot. The distance between the German trenches & our own varied from about 150 yds to 400 yds, I think my little lot got about 1/2 way and the front line of the 2 Sx. about 3/4 way. Hobart was close to me. Bissenden lay with his head at my heels. Immediately to my left was Pte Kemp, 2 Sx. He & I exchanged baccy and Horlicks malted milk tablets under fire. On my right was Sergt. Bassett, who was soon wounded in the leg. I managed to pass him some morphia & atropine. Behind me was Martindale, who discovered that little Bissenden was dead. I had jokingly told him to take cover behind my heels, & he was very cheery. [Capt. Fazan was noted in the Regiment for the size of his feet and boots - so the comment is also serious]
On returning to the trenches, he discovers his brother has been killed:
"I had great fears for Roy & Grant with B Coy. About mid-day the CO told me poor Roy was killed. I could find out no details till later.... All poor old Roy's men say he was very cool & shouted "come on boys". B Coy had no officer left when they came out of action."
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Claude Henry Fischel                                              1890 - 14 Sept 1918
Claude Fischel, a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was within sixty days of surviving the war when killed in September 1918, aged 28.
A medical student from Streatham, he qualified before the war at the Middlesex Hospital (unlike fellow student Roy Fazan) and was on the Medical Register for 1915.
He was gazetted a Lieutenant in Nov 1914, was attached to the 7th Leicestershire Regiment and died at the Somme, most likely at the Ytres casualty clearing station, and is buried at Rocquigny-Equancourt Road Cemetery, Manancourt.
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Richard Bowie Gaskell Glover                              1884 - 5 Nov 1915
Captain Richard Glover of the 1st Bn, London Regiment and Kentish Town, London was educated at Uppingham, where he was head of the Cadet Corps as well as playing rugby, cricket and hockey. He took a commission in the Royal Fusiliers (TF) on leaving school and was a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers.
He was a stalwart 1st XV forward for Rosslyn Park from 1903 to 1910. A Times match report of the 1910 Blackheath game shows him playing in the pack alongside Carl Rudolf Baltzar von Braun, (a Swede who naturalised as British in 1914 and served in the RAMC) as well as Monaghan and Houghton. He is to the right of the skipper in the 1903-4 team below.
He volunteered for foreign service at the outbreak of war and after 5 months in Malta was sent to France with his regiment, landing in March 1915. He was Mentioned in Despatches and was killed on Nov 5th 1915, near Armentieres.
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Arthur Leyland Harrison VC                        3 Feb 1886 - 23 April 1918
Harrison was born in Torquay, educated at Dover College, and lived in Wimbledon. He joined the Royal Navy in 1902, and was promoted to Lieut Commander in 1916. He saw service at the battle of Jutland where he was Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette 15th Sept 1916) but was killed in action at Zeebrugge, Belgium in 1918, at the head of his men, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. His citation reads:
On 22nd/23rd April, 1918 at Zeebrugge, Belgium, Lieutenant Commander Harrison was in command of the Naval storming parties, but immediately before coming alongside the Mole he was struck on the head by a fragment of shell which broke his jaw and knocked him senseless. Regaining consciousness, he resumed command, leading his men in the attack on the seaward batteries, but was killed almost at once. Although severely wounded and in great pain he displayed indomitable resolution and courage of the highest order in pressing his attack, knowing that any delay in silencing the enemy guns might jeopardise the main object of the expedition.
His medal below was presented to his mother Adelaide Harrison by King George V at Buckingham Palace on the 17th May 1919. In 1967 it was donated by surviving relatives to the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, Devon. Exactly 82 years after the famous St George's Day raid on Zeebrugge, a limestone and granite tribute to Harrison was dedicated at Roundham Head, Paignton.
Captain AFB Carpenter of the cruiser Vindictive, from which the attack was launched, wrote in his 1921 account' The Blocking of Zeebrugge':
' Harrison's charge down that narrow gangway of death was a worthy finale to the large number of charges which, as a forward of the first rank, he had led down many a rugby football ground. He had "played the game" to the end...wuth Harrison's death the Navy lost an officer who was as popular and as keen as he had been invaluable to the success of this particular operation.'
He was capped twice as a forward for England in 1914, appearing alongside RPFC team-mate Arthur Dingle against France in April. As well as Park and England he represented the Royal Navy and the United Services. He is the only English Rugby international to be awarded the VC. He is back left in Park's 1913-14 XV photo.
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John Augustus Harman                                   15 June 1893 - 17 Nov 1917
Lt John Harman, the son of a London barrister, was educated at Edgeborough, Guildford and, like many Park players of his generation, Uppingham School (1907-11). In the summer of 1915, he returned from Ceylon,where he was on a tea plantation, and received a commission from the Army Service Corps, which ran the vital supply transports. He served at Suvla Bay, Egypt and Salonika with the ASC.
In early 1917, he joined the Royal Flying Corps, foreflyers of the RAF, and got his wings in Egypt. He returned to England in June and was attached to the Home Defence 33rd Squadron. According to an obituary in 'Flight', he was killed at the age of 24 in a 'flying accident' over Lincolnshire, and is buried in Gainsborough Cemetery.
An intriguing family story from a descendant tells a more vivid story of his 'Uncle Jack': the 33rd Squadron was the first established in Lincolnshire to intercept Zeppelins flying over the Humber-Wash region towards bombing targets in the industrial Midlands. They flew Royal Aircraft Factory BE2c planes, which were stable but not manoeuvrable enough for Western Front dogfights and so stayed on the home front.
However both engine and airframe performance were limited, and the plane was often flown solo with the front cockpit covered. Even with this modification the aircraft was incapable of reaching Zeppelin cruising altitude; if if did the raider usually had enough time to deliver its payload and depart, even before it had been sighted. In Harman's case, it is believed that he tried to reach a Zeppelin at over 15,000 feet when his plane broke up. It is unlikely that this would have been admitted in reports of the time.
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Conway John Hart                                                         1882 - 10 Oct 1916
A stalwart of Rosslyn Park, who captained the 'A' XV for 4 years and then became Treasurer and Vice President in 1912-13, he was an insurance broker at Lloyds for Willis Faber.
Commissioned into the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby), he was gazetted Lieutenant in 1915 with the 16th Bn(Chatsworth Rifles). He was killed in the latter stages of the Somme stalemate, in an attack on the Schwaben redoubt, a German stronghold, near Thiepval, where he is buried in the Mill Road Cemetery.
"On the evening of the 7th October the Germans made a counter attack on Schwaben Redoubt but this was successfully repulsed by the 16th and 17th Battalions of the Sherwood Foresters. Following this the Battalion were ordered to make an attack on the German held portion of Schwaben Redoubt at 4.30 am on 9th October.

The assembly was successfully carried out and the four Companies attacked in depth under the cover of darkness. The attacking companies had gone half way across No Mans Land when they were swept by German machine gun fire. "B" Coy (with one platoon from 17/SF) reached its objective and consolidated the captured trench but suffered heavy casualties. "C" Coy were held up by wire in front of the German trench, while "D" Coy were held up by heavy machine gun fire. The fighting lasted about 2 hours by which time the attacking troops were exhausted and they were eventually forced back.
Casualties during the assault were very heavy, comprising 13 Officers and 224 Men and of these 29 Officers and men were killed. It is not surprising that many of these men are from the Derby area where the Battalion was raised locally by the Duke of Devonshire and the Derbyshire Territorial Force. However there is also a large nummber of men from Chesterfield and the surrounding towns and villages in particular Winster, Matlock and Bakewell where the Duke of Devonshire held land."
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Wilfred Henry Westcott Haslam         9 Dec 1886 - 7 Feb 1916
Wilfred Haslam, another Vicar's son, was educated at Marlborough 1900-1904 and played for the XV in his final year, winning the annual matches against Wellington and Clifton College. On leaving school he played for the Nomads, the Marlborough Old Boys team based in Surbiton, and a founding member of the RFU. In April 1911, the club merged with Rosslyn Park, which became the preferred London club for old Marlburians. The Nomads survive today as one of the Club sides at Park. He can be seen in the 1911-12 Park XV ( back, fifth from left) and is also to the right of the captain, Barry Wells, as team secretary, in the AL Harrison 1913-14 team above .
He served four years as a private in the Honorable Artillery Company, the ancient Territorial regiment in the City of London, while he worked as a Lloyds insurance broker for Dalgety & Co, then took his commission in the 4th Royal West Kents in Spring 1913. On the outbreak of War he was sent to India, then the Persian Gulf, attached to the 2nd Bn. He was killed in action in Mesopotamia, aged 29. His Times obituary appeared on 16 Feb 1916.
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Noel Houghton                                             25 Dec 1883- 13 Sept 1917
Born on Christnas day, hence the name Noel. Along with Guy du Maurier the senior Army man in the Park Roll of Honour, becoming Lieut Colonel of the 16/Sherwood Foresters (Chatsworth Rifles).
He came from Walthamstow, was educated at Glenalmond where he was captain of the XI and Victor Ludorum. He played rugby for both Rosslyn Park and Upper Clapton. He married a Parisienne, Mlle Bienvenu in 1912. He stands (moustache, second player from left, back row) next to Denis Monaghan in the 1909-10 team, of which six men died.
He was a solictor and joined the Inns of Court OTC in August 1914, and rose to be Sergeant. He was subsequently given a commission in the Sherwood Foresters, which he helped to recruit at Buxton. He went to the Front in April 1916 and rose quickly in rank to Lieut Colonel. In May 1917 he was Mentioned in Despatches. He was killed at Ypres, aged 34, and is buried at la Clytte Cemetery. He left a widow and a son aged 4. His obituary appeared in The Times on 20 Sept 1917.
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George Francis Juckes                                   19 July 1894 - 6 July 1915
Born at Milton, Sittingbourne to Frank and Henrietta Juckes, educated at King's Canterbury 1909-12, playing for the 1st XV and XI and winning sport colours in 1912. He studied medicine at Barts Hospital, where he played rugby for the hospital, Blackheath and Rosslyn Park. At the outbreak of war, he was commissioned as 2nd Lieut in 6th(Reserve) Bn Rifle Brigade on 15 August 1914.
He landed in France on New Year's Day 1915 and was attached to C Coy, 1st Bn. On 6th July, his company were to take the German trenches on the Cinq Chemins Estaminet -Boesinghe Road, some 50 yards away. Juckes was killed in the jumping off trench by an exploding shell just before they went over the top at 6am. The objective was successfully taken by his men. He is buried at Talana Farm cemetery, near Ypres.
Killed alongside him in the same explosion was 2nd Lieut Patrick Blair, a Cambridge Blue and Scottish rugby international with 5 caps. Rugby was probably discussed in the mess and the trenches.
George's younger brother Thomas was killed two months earlier with the 2nd Bn Royal Sussex Regt. His eldest brother Ralph, a Cambridge rugby player, survived the war to become Head of Junior King's from 1927-31. He is commemorated on his parent's grave at St Michael's, Bishops Cleeve.
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Arthur Douglas Garnett Odell Kerr         Oct 1894 - 3/14 Aug 1916
2nd Lt Arthur Kerr of Streatham was another son of Uppingham School from 1908-13. When war broke out he joined the London Rifle Brigade and went to the front in November 1914. He was severely wounded in the second battle of Ypres and on his recovery was given a commission in the 10th Bn Middlesex Regt.
In 1916, he was attached to the 1/5 Lancs Fusiliers at the battle of the Somme where he was killed. More than one date is given by sources for his death in August, a sign of the chaos that reigned in this bloodiest of conflicts. His body was never identified and he is therefore named on the Thiepval Memorial alongside fellow Park player John Bodenham.
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Ralph Imray Kirton AFC                              1 Oct 1895 - 22 Nov 1918
Ralph Kirton, also of the Royal Flying Corps was wounded on the Western Front and was later killed as a test pilot in 1918, aged 23. Born in Camberwell, he went to King's School Canterbury, and enlisted in 1914 in the 10th Bn (City of London) Royal Fusiliers. He then attended Sandhurst and was commissioned into the King's Own Scottish Borderers Regiment (KOSB).
He learned to fly at Farnborough, obtaining his Aero Certificate (no 1230) in May 1915, transferring to the RFC in Sept 1915 as a Flying Officer. After being wounded in action, he flew as a test pilot, but died in 1918 of his injuries in Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot after a serious accident in a Sopwith Dolphin. The announcement of his posthumous Air Force Cross appeared in the London Gazette on 1st January 1919 in the New Year's Honours List:
Lieutenant Ralph Imray Kirton joined the Bristol Aircraft Company in 1912 and joined the Royal Fusiliers on 29th August 1914 and was selected for a commission in April 1915. Joining the Royal Flying Corps and qualifying as a Pilot, he was posted to 20 Squadron flying the FE2B in France.
On the 4th February 1916 he was flying escort to a Reconnaissance Patrol, when his aircraft was attacked on three occasions by enemy aircraft. The first was by an Albatross biplane which after a short engagement flew off. The second attack was made by a Rumpler type machine, but again after Kirton’s Observer had fired a drum and a half of ammunition at it, it made off. The third attack was made by a then unknown twin-engined German aircraft, possibly a AEG GIV. The aircraft was attacked and was seen to dive away steeply.
Kirton’s last patrol took place on the 18th March 1916, again acting as escort to a reconnaissance mission, he was holding station to the rear of the formation. After a short time he was attacked by a Fokker monoplane, but quickly drove this away, From that time onwards he was continuously attacked by enemy aircraft, but the last attack by five enemy aircraft, Kirton turned his FE to engage the enemy head to head choosing the leader. In the attack he was wounded in the arm and leg, but with the aid of friendly aircraft was able to withdraw and return to his base.
Invalided back to the UK he was unfit to fly until September 1916 and then only under the height of 5,000 feet. With no chance of returning to France, in January 1917 he was posted to the Vickers factory as a Test Pilot and during his time here flew over 70 different types of machines, including Handley Page Seaplanes, Sopwith Types many being early examples of the type. Recommended for the Air Force Cross for his work, he was killed on the 22nd November when the Sopwith Dolphin he was flying crashed.
His parents added the following legend in The Times In Memoriam of 22nd Nov 1919.He is buried at Camberwell (Forest Hill Road) Cemetery in an unmarked grave but is named on a memorial of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at the Cemetery.
“Though years pass they cannot work thee ill, Age cannot mar not disillusion chill, Still young and strong, still gay and sorrow free, So shall we see thee still, dear heart, until the end.”
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Ralph Hawkesworth Legard                         29 July 1875 - 9 Aug 1915
Ralph Hawkesworth Legard came from a Yorkshire family which could trace roots back to the 12th Century. He was educated at Durham School from 1887 to 1889 and at Dulwich College from 1890 to 1892. He played Rugby for Harlequins and Rosslyn Park.
He was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant into the 3rd Bn Durham Light Infantry (DLI) in 1906; promoted to Lieutenant 14 May,1907; 4th Bn Captain, March,1914. Went to France with the 2nd Bn Sept.1914, and was killed in action on the enemy's parapet at Hooge, 9th August,1915. Life for Ralph ended at 40.
His older brother George also served in the DLI, was badly wounded, later to die of those wounds in 1924 while Headmaster at Bow School, Durham.
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Gerald David Lomax                                    6 Jan 1895 – 11 May 1915
Gerald was born in Manorbier, Pembrokeshire the son of Captain David and Annette Lomax. During the Boer War his father was killed at Driefontein in 1900, leaving Annette widowed with her young sons. She married Major Frank Towle, and they set up home in Regent's Park, London.
Gerald was educated at Marlborough College 1909 -11 and was gazetted into the 3rd Battalion, the Welsh Regiment on the 15th August, 1914. He was then attached to the 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, and suffered serious wounds whilst with them at Fromelles on the 9thMay, 1915. He Died of Wounds (DoW) two days later on the hospital barge and was buried at Estaires Communal Cemetery, near Armentieres. He was just 20 years old.
His Doctor wrote: " We did all we could to make him comfortable, but his wounds were so severe that medically speaking he never had a chance. Fortunately he suffered very little pain, and died as I fancy he must have lived, bravely thinking of others more than himself."
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William Herbert Lucas                              25 Sept 1890 - 21 Jan 1916
Wisden tells us that William Lucas from Sheffield played cricket at Dover College, and later for Sheffield Collegiate and Dronfield, Yorks. He also attended Chesterfield Grammar. Commissioned Lieutenant with the 8th Bn North Staffs, he landed in France in July 1915.
The War diary records his wounding: Croix-Barbee 17/1/16, relieved the Glosters in the trenches 58th Bde on our right 10th Royal Warwicks on our left. No 11 trench mortar battery was in the line with us and in three days fired about 100 rounds at the enemy parapet, breaching it well and not so well. Enemy brought up a small trench mortar in reply on 3rd day, but it did not do much harm, they also sent over rifle grenades and small bombs, we replied with rifle grenades. Enemy almost invariably retaliated for our gun fire & much mortar fire on battalion HQ, HQ being on Rue du bois with an artillery op almost 20yds to left front. on one occasion it was shelled heavily for one and a half hours. Total casualties during this tour, including two days when C Coy were up in trenches with the 8th glosters 1 officer ( Lt W H Lucas) 7 killed 14 wounded.
He died of his wounds four days later. He was 25. He lies in Merville Communal Cemetery near Bethune.
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Eustace Fernando Llarena                                      1892 – 18 June 1915
Born in South Norwood, with a Spanish father, he went to Guy's Hospital in October, 1910 from Dulwich College. In August, 1914, he joined the Artists' Rifles, and while in France obtained a commission in the Suffolk Regt. Killed in action while attacking a wood near Ypres on June 20th, 1915. Like Coburn his body was never found and he is remembered on the Menin Gate at Ypres. The Guy’s Memorial Roll records:
‘Larry’, as he was known to all his old friends up at the Hospital, received his early education at Dulwich College, where he was an enthusiastic Rugger player and a Sergeant in the Officers' Training Corps. Always to the fore in any sport, he gained his Rugger Blue in the 1912-1913 season, and played for the 1st XV regularly afterwards (with Parry -Jones). A member of the Water Polo Team in 1911, he captained the 1914 team which wrested the cup from the London Hospital.
He entered the Medical and Dental Schools in October, 1910, and passed his First Professional and First Conjoint Examinations in 1912. When the War began he was working for his Second Conjoint Examination, and he joined the Artists' Rifles in August, 1914. He obtained his commission while in France and became Second Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment.
By the death of E F Llarena the hospital has lost one of her best athletes who answered the call to arms during the first week of war and now must be added to the Roll of Honour of Guy's men, who have met that glorious end on the battlefield.
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