Westminster School and the First World War

Alexander Stewart Forbes

Alexander Forbes was born on the 29^th March 1894. His parents were Patrick Lewis Forbes, of Hampstead, and Sara Mildred Leckie of Blackheath, Kent. He was admitted as a Homeboarders in January 1909 and threw himself into the sports scene.

The Elizabethan regularly mentions his sporting achievements in Cricket, Shooting and Gym throughout his time at the school. According to the House Notes in February 1912, Alexander was, along with W.M. Frankish (Homeboarders 1907-12), “often to be seen in the Gym disporting themselves with skipping-ropes.” He won the Brinton Medal for Shooting in June 1913 and his athletic career was only interrupted when he contracted scarlet fever in March 1912.

After leaving the school in July 1913, Alexander joined an Anglo-Russian cotton manufacturing company, which enabled him to travel to Russia, which is where he was when he heard the news that war had broken out. He returned to London in and became 2^nd Lieutenant in the 10^th (Reserve) Battalion the Seaworth Highlanders in November 1914.

The following October, he was promoted to Lieutenant and, undoubtedly due to his shooting experience at school, was attached to the 181^st Machine Gun Company. The company joined the 60^th 2/2^nd London Division and by the 29^th June 1916 had gone with them to France.

Alexander had not been at the western front two months when he was wounded in action near Albert. He died the following day — 17^th August 1916 — at the age of 22.

Photograph showing Officers of the 10th Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders. A.S. Forbes is first from the left in the middle row.

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Harold Herbert Tanner

Harold Herbert Tanner was at the school for just two years between the ages of 14 and 16, in Homeboarders house. His father was a surgeon and it was clear that he was going to enter the family profession. He joined the London University in 1903 to begin his medical studies.

He was trained at St. Mary’s Hospital and, in 1912, after holding resident appointments there and at the Hampstead Hospital and Royal Albert Hospital, Devonport he joined the staff of Sir Almroth Wright’s for bacteriological research.

Sir Almroth Wright led the Inoculation Department at St. Mary’s Hospital. This was still a developing branch of medicine. Wholesale inoculation of British troops was attempted in the South African War but due to bitter opposition from influential persons less than 4% of the soldiers received the vaccine. As a result of this blunder the Army had some 58,000 cases of typhoid and about 9000 deaths. During the whole of the Great War there were 7423 British cases, with 266 deaths, in an average strength of 1.2 million.

Sir Almroth Wright continued his research during the First World War, moving his research laboratory to No. 13 General Hospital at Boulogne. Tanner received a commission as lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps in June 1915 and joined Sir Almroth in Boulogne from August. He married Minnie Bennett in October 1915 and was promoted to the rank of Captain in June 1916.

On August 16^th he accidentally drowned whilst bathing at Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Sir Almroth Wright wrote ‘I was proud of having him work with me: he did some excellent good work, and would have gone on doing really good things, and that and his kindliness and helpfulness endeared him to me’.

Captain Inman, a colleague in France wrote ‘He had great gifts as a draughtsman, and I have encouraged him to develop them as regards macro and microscopic medical objects; he illustrated my chapter in the Medical Annual of 1916, and very well he did it. The rose irrigator he designed for septic wounds has been a great success. His ability has been very generously recognized by all who came in contact with him, and I feel sure that a career of great promise and ability has been cut short’.

No. 13 General Hospital at Boulogne (IWM)

Posted in The Fallen | Tagged Boulogne-sur-Mer, Inoculation, Royal Army Medical Corps, Sir Almroth Wright, St. MaryÔÇÖs Hospital | Leave a comment

Archibald Keltie Gilmour

Archibald Gilmour was the eldest son of the barrister Thomas Gilmour and his wife Elizabeth of Hampstead. He was born on the 21^st July 1892 and arrived up Grant’s in January 1906.

Gilmour was involved in all kinds of activities within the school community. At the Play Supper in 1908, he was called upon to perform a song, and gamely gave his rendition of ‘A More Humane Mikado’ from the Mikado. On another occasion, in January 1909, he was spotted creeping into breakfast “somewhat late in felt slippers!”

He was elected to the Debating Society in Play 1909 and in the October of that term, they met to discuss the recent claim made by Dr Frederick Albert Cook (1865-1940) that he had reached the North Pole on 21^st April 1908. Gilmour opposed the motion, pointing out that Dr Cook had set off with insufficient provisions and that, according to two men who accompanied Cook, he had “never killed any game, never went out of sight of land, and returned with his sledge load of provisions intact”. The motion was lost by 8 votes to 7.

After leaving the school in July 1911, Gilmour joined Balliol College, Oxford. He was admitted to the Middle Temple in April 1913.

In the August of 1914, he enlisted in the London Scottish. The following month, he was made 2^nd Lieutenant in the 7^th (Service) Battalion, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and was stationed at Bordon, Hampshire. He was promoted to Lieutenant in February 1915, and sent out to the western front in June 1915.

He was wounded during the Battle of Loos, and was invalided home. By the end of September 1915, he had been made Captain. Between January and March 1916, he undertook home service with the 9^th Batt. King’s Own Scottish Borderers at Catterick, Yorkshire. He attended a company commanders course in March 1916, before returning to the front in April 1916, re-joining the 7^th Battalion. He served as a company commander in the Somme Sector, a role he found stressful, as he reveals in a collection of letters and papers that is now held in the archives at the Imperial War Museum.

On the 15^th August 1916, in the trenches between Fricourt and Bicourt, Archibald Gilmour was hit by a shell fragment and died at the age of 24.

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Dallas Gerard le Doux-Veitch

19160804_DouxVietch — Dallas Gerard le Doux-Veitch from the IWM Collection

Dallas Gerard le Doux was born in Glamorgan in 1897. He took the additional name of ‘Veitch’ from his stepfather, John Gould Veitch, who married Dallas’ mother, Dorothy, when Dallas was six years old. It was natural that Dallas would attend Westminster School as his maternal uncle and stepfather were both Old Westminsters. He joined the school on 22^nd September 1910 as a member of Grant’s House, the same house his stepfather had attended in the 1880s.

He also followed in his stepfather’s footsteps onto the football pitch. Veitch senior was a football Blue and played for England against Wales in 1894, scoring three goals in the match. Veitch junior was a Cricket and Football pink, captaining the Cricket 1^st XI in his final year at school, 1914.

1914 was a difficult year for the family. In October, Veitch senior died, aged only 45, after problems with his health, particularly his lungs. Dallas left school in December and entered a firm of chartered accountants, perhaps wanting to help support his mother and sister. However by April 1915 he was gazetted to the Royal Sussex Regiment as a 2^nd Lieutenant. In June 1916 he was attached to the 7^th Battalion and went out to the western front.

He was killed in the early morning of 4^th August whilst gallantly attacking a German bombing post as part of an attempt to take the town of Pozieres. He was barely nineteen years of age.

The 7th Sussex Regiment war diary entry for that day reads:

“At 3am received orders to send one company over to RATION TRENCH to get in touch with 8th Royal Fusiliers and work up to the right, also one platoon to attack Strong Point on the right, after this had been captured they were to work down RATION and get in touch with ‘A’ Coy. ‘A’ Coy went too much to the left but reached RATION TRENCH finding the Buffs already there, Col Cope, (O.C. Buffs) ordered ‘A’ Coy to push forward and take the ridge which they reached without any difficulty but were heavily counter attacked and obliged to fall back to RATION TRANCH. The platoon on the right came under heavy Machine Gun fire and were not able to capture the Strong Point. Later in the day orders were received for two Companies to attack the right of RATION TRENCH in conjunction with attack of 9th Royal Fusiliers. Two platoons were again to attack Strong Point on right from POZIERES TRENCH ‘B & ‘D’ Coy’s attacked across the open but lost direction, some however reached their objective and got in touch with 9th Royal Fusiliers. The two platoons of ‘C’ Coy were unable to capture Strong Point owing to heavy Machine Gun fire. The result of this operation was that practically the whole of RATION TRENCH was captured and consolidated. Casualties during this two days, 2nd Lts WOOD & LE DOUX VEITCH killed, 2nd Lt’s COOKE, FITZSIMONS & ROLFE missing, Captain TROWER wounded. Other Ranks 18 killed, 25 missing, 109 wounded.”

Posted in The Fallen | Tagged Cricket, Football, Grant's, John Gould Veitch, Pozieres, Royal Sussex Regiment | Leave a comment

Laurence Grant Robertson

Laurence Grant Robertson was born in London on 5^th May 1877 to William and Mary Robertson. He had two elder brothers — William Alexander and Norman Cairns — who both attended Westminster school before him.

When Laurence arrived at the school in May 1891 he, like his brothers, was assigned to Homeboarders, the house for non-boarding pupils.

After leaving the school in April 1895, Laurence trained as a chartered accountant and worked for the Local Government Board as a member of the District Audit Staff.

In February 1915, he obtained a commission as 2^nd Lieutenant in the Army Ordinance Department, which had responsibility for equipment, ammunition and clothing. However, the Elizabethan notes that “he did not consider that he was doing sufficiently active work” and so requested to be transferred to the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in July 1915. He landed with them at Boulogne-sur-Mer in July 1915 and fought at the Battle of Loos the following September.

He was killed in action at Delville Wood in the Battle of the Somme, France, on 30^th July 1916 at the age of 36.

This chalk drawing by William Roberts shows British infantry men armed with rifles attacking the remains of Delville Wood. It was commissioned in 1918 by the Ministry of Information.

19160730_Robertson,LG — ┬® IWM (Art.IWM ART 1887)

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Noel Marshall Vernham

Noel Marshall Vernham was a member of Rigaud’s house from 1910 until he left to join the army after the outbreak of war in 1914. Whilst at the school he was an accomplished gymnast, helping Rigaud’s to secure second place in the Senior House competition and representing Westminster at Aldershot. He was also represented the House at fives and football.

Vernham’s athletic antics appear to have got him into some scrapes — in July 1913 he broke his nose, but made a speedy recovery and in November 1913 he injured an eye. He took part in the Officer Training Corps and advanced through the ranks whilst at school, helping to prepare himself for his military career. Initially he enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment, but was transferred to the East Surrey Regiment in March 1915. He first went out to the western front on 19^th March 1916.

After his death his father received a letter from another member of his son’s regiment which was printed in The Elizabethan:

SIR,—With reference to the death of 2nd Lieut. Vernham, I wish to describe what I saw of it. At 4 a.m. on the morning of July 28 the regiment proceeded into action at Longueval. Mr. Vernham was then commanding No. 14 Platoon, No. 4 Company. This platoon was immediately in front of me in a communication trench, which was being very badly knocked about, owing to the very severe shelling which was prevailing at the time. Mr. Vernham, however, highly indifferent and utterly regardless of all danger, stood and walked about on top of the trench, organising and generally looking after his men. He stood on top that he might more easily do this, fully aware that every second his life was in danger, as there was no pause whatever between one shell and another. However, he was not the least disturbed, but added greatly to the safety of his platoon by moving them every moment to places of safety (such places as existed); of these, there were very, very few. About 5.30 a.m. to 6 o’clock he was killed by a very powerful shrapnel shell which burst above his head, a piece striking him on top of the head. Death was instantaneous. Owing to his bravery and zeal and continued thought of the welfare of his men, his platoon looked to him as their chief protector and thought the very world of him. It was chiefly owing to his zealousness and great care for his men that he met his death in this way. I can assure you, his loss was felt very acutely by his company, more especially by the platoon he commanded, and they offer their deepest sympathy to you in the loss of such a gallant son. His body was buried at Longueval.

Yours obediently,

E. HAYES, C.S.M.

Q 4010 — Black Watch back at rest after delivering a counter-attack at Longueval on the morning of 19th July 1916.

Posted in The Fallen | Tagged Aldershot, East Surrey Regiment, Fives, Football, Gymnastics, Longueval, Middlesex Regiment, Rigaud's | Leave a comment

William Vernon Rayner

William Vernon Rayner was in Homeboarders house from 1894 until 1898. Rayner played cricket for the school, although it is difficult to see why he was included on the team as he was not a good fielder and the most runs he is recorded as scoring is 4! He played for the school against Charterhouse and Eton, as well as in a special match against a team made up of members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. In football, he played as a forward for Homeboarders. He scored their only goal in a 4-1 loss against Rigaud’s in the house football final in 1897. He performed even better in goal and in a match against the Old Carthusians in 1898 played ‘splendidly, saving shot after shot in fine style’ ensuring his team won 6-0.

After leaving school he became a solicitor and practiced in Smith Square. In the 1911 census he is noted as boarding at No. 10 Vincent Square. He then moved to Buenos Aires where he worked for the British Consulate. On the declaration of war, he returned to England and enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers. He served as a Lance-Corporal in France but was sent home wounded in March 1916. He returned to the front in late June 1916, and reported ‘missing’ three weeks later, when the advance was made near Bethune; presumed killed in action July 23, 1916.

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Roland Gerard Garvin

The only child of James Louis Garvin, editor of The Observer, Garvin attended Homeboarder’s House from 1908-1914. At school he was a talented fencer, winning the Public Schools Foils Championship at Aldershot in 1913. He was an active member of the debating society, speaking for the motion ‘this House deplores the modern tendency to vegetarianism’ and against a motion welcoming ‘the building of a Channel Tunnel’ according to The Elizabethan ‘pacing to and fro in oratorical frenzy, [Garvin] spoke grimly of financial loss, and said the expense would be unjustifiable’. He took part in play readings, although it was noted that when he recited an extract of Henry VIII he was ‘too low in pitch and too melancholy’.

He was going up to Christ Church with a History Scholarship when the War broke out, and he joined the South Lancashire Regiment. The Elizabethan records that

‘He was killed in the Battle of the Somme on the night of July 22 during an intense bombardment, in which he gave a noble example of courage, resourcefulness, and coolness, and even after he was hit his one message was ‘ to carry on with the Company.’ Although somewhat reserved, his personality made an unusual impression on those with whom he came in contact. By his death a life of literary promise is cut short.’

The British Library holds a diary which Garvin kept whilst at the front. As a Captain, Garving was in charge of D Company of the 7th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment. On 20 July he recorded the company as having a fighting strength of three officers, six sergeants and 109 men in other ranks. The company was stationed near Bazentin-le-Petit in preparation for the attack on High Woods, which formed part of the Somme Offensive.

The British Library note that:

‘The diary extract shows the monotonous nature of life in the trenches. Captain Garvin records the detail for Friday 21 July starting at 4am with stand to and the cleaning and inspection of rifles. The soldiers spent the rest of the morning cleaning and improving their trenches with a break at 8am for breakfast and lunch at 12.30pm. In the afternoons they were allowed to rest. On the following day Captain Garvin noted down the formation and objectives of the company’s assault against the enemies’ forces. This was his last diary entry as Captain Garvin was killed by machine gun fire during the attack at 11.30pm that night.’

┬® From the Garvin archive, British Library, Add MS 88882/9/58

Posted in Debating Society, The Fallen | Tagged 7th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment, British Library, Christ Church, Homeboarders, Public Schools Foils Championship | Leave a comment

Herbert Day

Herbert was the middle son of Reverend Benjamin William Day, who was the Rector of St Peter’s Church, Sandwich, in Kent, and his wife Mary Sophia. He was born at the home of his maternal grandmother in Leinster Square, Paddington, on the 14^th November 1881.

In September 1894, both Herbert and his elder brother Harold were admitted to the school — Herbert as an exhibitioner – and joined Ashburnham. Herbert was made a monitor in 1899, and received his house colours in the same year. He represented Ashburnham in the winning football team in 1900 and also won the Fives Ties, along with Parker, “after a series of excellent games”.

In 1900, Herbert was elected to an exhibition at Christ Church, Oxford, with a Triplett scholarship. He earned his BA in 1905, and then went on to a career in “the scholastic profession”. He seems to have become a teacher at Wellesley House Prep School, Broadstairs, by 1911.

On the outbreak of war, the three Day brothers — Harold, Herbert and Maurice — joined the army. Herbert enlisted in the The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) and became a Lieutenant with the 11^th (Reserve) Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment on the 10^th March 1915. The following May, Herbert received the news that his younger brother Maurice, also a former pupil, had died on 9^th May 1915 at Aubers Ridge, France.

Herbert was sent out to the western front in June 1916, where he was attached to the 8^th Battalion of his regiment. The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment travelled from L├®alvillers to Forceville on the 1^st July 1916, and on to Aveluy Wood on the 2^nd. They spent some time manning reserve positions at Crucifix Corner before moving to the front line on 7^th July.

At La Boiselle on 10^th July 1916, the Regiment attacked a German trench. Herbert was killed in the counter-attacks that followed, along with 74 other members of the Lancashire regiment.

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Douglas Morley Griffin

The Elizabethan records that Douglas Morley Griffin was ‘the only son of the late William Hall Griffin, the biographer of Browning, was admitted a King’s Scholar in 1903, and left on his father’s death in 1907. He was a boy of character, and faced misfortune with the courage which he afterwards showed in war.’

Griffin had proved a successful athlete whilst at Westminster, representing the school in gymnastics, although his performance on the parallel bars was once described as ‘disappointing’. He was also in the Officer Training Corps and took part in shooting competitions, exceeding the school’s ‘highest hopes’ with an excellent performance at a training camp at Bisley in 1907 leading to promotion to the rank of Lance-Corporal. Upon his father’s death it clearly became impossible for his mother to pay the fees necessary for him to continue in his education. In order to support his family he joined an architect’s office, Harris and Hobson, in Liverpool, his mother’s home town. He attended Liverpool University School of Architecture and became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1910. He was elected Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1914.

On the outbreak of war Griffin enlisted, becoming a Lieutenant in the King’s Liverpool Regiment in November of 1914 and going out to the Western Front in 1915. His sister also joined the war effort and worked as a nurse in Rosslyn Lodge in Hampstead from 1916 and we know that Griffin gave her a photograph album to record her experiences.

We know little about Griffin’s death. His battalion were involved in the Battle of Albert, an offensive which formed part of the Battle of the Somme and ran from 1^st-13^th July. The French Sixth Army and the right wing of the British Fourth Army inflicted a considerable defeat on the German Second Army but from the Albert—Bapaume road to Gommecourt, the British attack was a disaster where most of the c.ÔÇë60,000 British casualties were incurred.

Posted in The Fallen | Tagged Bisley, Harris and Hobson, King's Scholar, KingÔÇÖs (Liverpool) Regiment, Officer Training Corps, Rosslyn Lodge, Royal Institute of British Architects | 2 Comments