Rugbeians Revisited

For much of the last week I have been in France and Belgium with the fantastic ‘Warwicks 1914-1918’, and the route of our journey took us to much of the Somme and Ypres battlefields, as well as Mons and (slightly differently) to Waterloo. The itinerary included a good number of CWGC cemeteries, as one might expect, the huge number of Rugbeians killed in the war meant that inevitably I stumbled across quite a few. It was a great privilege to be able to visit them as a member of the school that clearly played such a major part in forming them as the adults and, indeed, the soldiers that they became. As The Meteor (school magazine) of October 1916 declared, ‘Rugby will not forget’. Those I visited were:

The Ramparts Cemetery, Ypres:

 

Lt Charles Egerton – son of General Sir Charles Egerton, he was a career soldier and joined Sandhurst after leaving Rugby in 1904. In the first months of the war he fought at all of the major actions, including Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne, the Aisne and Ypres. He was killed at Hill 60 on the 18th of April 1915, when he was struck in the forehead by a large piece of shrapnel while serving with the 2nd Bn, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.

 

 

 

Maj George Walford – Son of Lt Col Henry Walford of the 20th Hussars. Brigade Major to the 84th Infantry Brigade, killed at Zonnebeke on the 19th of April 1915, the day after Charles Egerton. He joined the Suffolk Regiment, but was highly sought-after as an administrator; General Smith-Dorrien wrote of him ‘His loss is a great one to the cause, for he was a splendid staff officer and a gallant soldier.

 

 

 

 

Capt Edward ‘Sam’ Ozanne – Born on Guernsey, the son of the Island’s Attorney-General, Sam was an experienced veteran of the Boer War, and well-known for his sense of humour and stoicism under fire. He was killed in the trenches outside Ypres when a German rifle bullet came right through the sandbags of the parapet. His CO wrote ‘Everyone has lost a friend, and the battalion has lost a fine soldier’.

 

 

 

 

 

Voormezeele Enclosure No. 3:

2nd Lt Gilbert Venables – A native of Shropshire, he read History at University College, Oxford, after Rugby, and until the war was a Barrister and Justice of the Peace. He volunteered as soon as war began and was killed serving with the 3rd Battalion of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry on March the 17th 1915, shot while heading out of the trenches outside Ypres, having just finished his duty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pte Geoffrey Grundy – originally from Leeds, he spent several years as a solicitor in his home town before moving to the firm of Spyer and Sons in London. When war was declared he joined the Honourable Artillery Company and was sent to the 1st Battalion in France, though he spent some time guarding supply routes and on police duties in Paris before going to the front. He was shot in the head by a German sniper while on sentry duty near St Eloi on the night of the 14th of April 1915, the same week as Charles Egerton and George Walford, who are buried just a mile or so away.

 

 

 

Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery:

 

Lt Christian Carver – every mention of Christian is one of admiration and respect. He left the school early in order to join the Royal Field Artillery in October 1914, and served in three different batteries over nearly three years, including the whole of the Battle of the Somme from beginning to end. In July 1917 his battery was ordered to Flanders, where he was struck by a shell on the 23rd of that month. The battery commander was killed by the same explosion. He was 20. Letters poured in detailing his tenacity, cheerfulness and utter dependability.

 

 

 

Lt Cuthbert Savage – After Rugby and a degree in Law from New College, Oxford, Cuthbert moved to Canada but returned to Europe when war began. He was wounded in April 1916 while serving with the 10th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers, but returned to duty in time to take part in the Battle of the Somme that July. Eleven months later he was near Ypres, when a shell landed and exploded at his feet as he emerged from the door of battalion headquarters at Dickebusch. He died that evening, the 20th of June 1917, in the Casualty Clearing Station at Poperinghe.

 

 

2nd Lt Roger Hepburn MC – After Rugby and a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge, Roger served for a while as a motorcycle despatch rider before being commissioned into the Royal Engineers. For two years he was Signals Officer to the 71st Infantry Brigade, taking part in the Battle of the Somme, but was hit by a shell at the beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele and died at the same Casualty Clearing Station as Cuthbert Savage on the 3rd of August 1917. Many reports after his death commented on his coolness under fire and the business-like way in which he carried on with his signals duties when surrounded by dead colleagues.

 

 

 

 

Lt William Stobart – After Rugby William went to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he excelled as a rower. He was working in a bank but joined the 10th Bn Durham Light Infantry as soon as the war began. He was wounded twice in September 1915, and joined the Royal Flying Corps in April 1916, qualifying first in his pilots’ class. After again being wounded, he was killed when his aircraft was shot down over Flanders on the 21st of August 1916. He was 21.

 

 

 

 

Maj Heinrich ‘Harry’ Simon – One of the school’s best competitive shots of the 1890s, he had a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge and had already been a territorial artillery officer for eight years when the war began. For the first two years of the war he served in Egypt before transferring to France, and on the 1st of September 1917 he was severely wounded by shellfire outside Ypres. He died in a Casualty Clearing Station exactly a week later, aged 36.

 

 

 

 

Capt Ralph Homan – At 6′ 6″, with a big personality, Ralph was a memorable figure. A fantastic sportsman, he played for the XV at Rugby, and was also a champion high-jumper both at school and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned into the 1st Bn, The Buffs, in October 1911, and was promoted to Captain in February 1915. Having recovered from a sniper’s bullet through his thigh, he was severely wounded on the 10th of August 1915 during the recapture of Hooge, and died at Abeele Casualty Clearing Station the following day. His Company Commander wrote: ‘His influence was extraordinary and his energy and zeal were unflagging. I have lost not only one of my best officers but my best friend. He was straight as a die and as true as steel. We shall always keep his memory green.’