An Unfortunate First

It is a sad fact that the very first British infantry officer to be killed in the war, of the many thousands who would die over the succeeding four years, was an Old Rugbeian and, indeed, is the first in our alphabetical list of casualties. Major William Henry Abell was born at Norton Hall, near Worcester (now a nursing home) on the 20th of September 1873, and joined School House at Rugby in 1887, a few days after his 14th birthday.In 1892 he left the school and went to Brasenose College, Oxford, after which he joined the 4th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment in 1896. In October 1899 he was promoted to Lieutenant and followed the battalion to fight the Boers in South Africa, but his military career was to take an unusual turn at this point. On the 27th of February 1900 Boer General Piet Cronje surrendered to Lord Roberts after the Battle of Paadeberg (in which fellow Old Rugbeian Hugh Hankey, brother of Maurice, who was to be the first ever Cabinet Secretary from 1916, was killed), and it was decided to imprison the Boer forces on the island of St Helena, earlier the site of Napoleon’s final exile. Captain Abell was chosen to command the guard force, and duly arrived with General Cronje and the first 514 prisoners onboard the troopship Milwaukee, escorted by the cruiser HMS Niobe (above). The transfer of prisoners across the island may be seen below, and the mounted officer leading the guard is presumably William Abell himself.

In July 1905 he married Lilian Hassall, and together they had one daughter and one son. The family followed the battalion to Devonport and William was promoted to Major in 1912, serving as Company commander of A Company. At the outbreak of war the Abell family returned to their old home, 3 Oswald Road, Leamington (below), in preparation for the British Expeditionary Force’s imminent departure for France. The 4th Bn The Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment) formed part of the 8th Infantry Brigade, serving in the 3rd Division of II Corps, where the GOC’s Chief of Staff was another Old Rugbeian, Brigadier General George Forestier-Walker.

The 4th Middlesex sailed from Southampton to Boulogne, and took up positions in the village of Bettignies, guarding the canal which runs north into Mons. On the 21st of August 1914 it was a member of William’s A Company, Private John Parr, who became the very first British soldier to be killed in the Great War, and two days later the battalion found itself in the thick of the fighting at the village of Obourg, near Mons. They held the line between the train station (below, held by B Company) to the canal (D Company), with William’s A Company initially in reserve. Late in the morning B Company, who had inflicted heavy losses on the advancing German troops, began to be overwhelmed, and their Company Commander, Lt Wilmot-Aliston, became the first British officer of the war to be captured. A Company began to advance in support but came under immediate and heavy fire as they approached the station. William, his second in command, Captain Knowles, and one of his Platoon Commanders were all killed. The company succeeded in reinforcing the station, which held out for several more hours, but Maj William Abell had become the first British infantry officer of the war to die, aged 40. It was in this same action that Lt Maurice Dease of the Royal Fusiliers became the first man of the war to be awarded the Victoria Cross, for his gallant defence of the Nimy Bridge after being wounded four times, though he was killed by the fifth.

William Abell was buried by the German Army in the beautiful St Symphorien Cemetery after the British Expeditionary Force had withdrawn towards the Marne. A visit to St Symphorien makes the scale of the 4th Middlesex’s losses on that day quite clear, as more gravestones bear their badge than any other. Private Parr is buried in the same cemetery, as is the very last British serviceman to be killed in the war, George Ellison of the 5th Lancers. By coincidence their graves are opposite each other, though separated by four years of horror.

William’s death was a shock to the school community, and no doubt spurred on the thirty pupils who left school early to join the army before term started again in September 1914, but it wasn’t long until the casualty numbers grew and grew. He may have been the first, but unfortunately he was not the last. An officer of his company wrote:

‘I had the opportunity, when I was taken taken prisoner, of seeing all our people who were wounded or died in hospital. I think you may be quite certain that he was buried on the ground that he defended and gave his life for. The men of his company have told me many stories of his bravery, but that is only what one would have expected.