Tower and Town, February 2019

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In Memoriam 1918

Private Albert Henry Choules. 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment. Killed in action. 21st March 1918.

Private Ernest John Hutchins. 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment. Killed in action. 21st March 1918.

These two Marlborough soldiers were killed on the same day and the same action on the Western Front. Both were serving in the 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment. The Battalion was manning a forward zone redoubt on 21st March when the British front line was hit by a massive and overwhelming assault by the enemy. The British in total disarray were driven back some fifty miles before they managed to steady the position. The 2nd Wilts redoubt held out for some hours before it was surrounded and overrun. Such was the confusion of the situation that a roll call was not taken until 2nd April when it was discovered that 597 soldiers were missing. Both Ernest's and Albert's bodies were never recovered.

Second Lieutenant Sydney Napier Hillier. 6th Battalion, South Wales Borderers. Killed in action. 25th March 1918.

Private Henry Hutchins. 2nd /4th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment. Killed in action. 6th April 1918 in Palestine.

Private Augustus William Bell.18th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. Killed in action. 12th April 1918.

Company Quartermaster Sergeant Charles Monro Devis. 2nd Regiment, South African Infantry. Killed in action. 20th April 1918.

Lieutenant Christopher Lancelot Usher. 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment. Killed in action. 23rd April 1918.,Christopher was another casualty of the massive assault on 21st March. He only joined the battalion on 10th January 1918. He was noted on the roll call on 2nd April as wounded. It is believed he died whilst a prisoner of war. He was the son of the Rector of St Peters.

Private Frederick Dunford. 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment. Killed in action. 8th May 1918. Following the disaster of 21st, March the 2nd Wilts was withdrawn to the Ypres sector to rest and reform. The battalion was linked to the 2nd Bedfords as a composite battalion. In this state the battalion was again in action as the enemy shifted its point of attack. Thirty seven men were listed as missing in action. Frederick was amongst them and his body was never recovered.

Sapper Cyril Victor Jiggle. 17th Division Signal, Company Royal Engineers. Killed in action. 31st May 1918 in Iraq.

Private William Harly Eden. 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. Killed in action. 6th June 1918.

Sapper William Thomas Dobson. 490th Field Company, Royal Engineers. Died of wounds. 9th June 1918.

Corporal David William Jennings. 20th (TF) Depot, Royal Engineers. Kent Fortress Battalion. Died at home from shell shock and mustard gas poisoning. David is buried in Marlborough Old Cemetery. David played first class cricket for Kent before the War. He played at Lords in 1917 against the Australian and South African Imperial Forces.

Private Frederick Evans Hulbert. 6th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment. Killed in action. 23rd August 1918.

Private Geoffrey Lionel Brooke. 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. Died as a prisoner of war in Germany on 3rd September 1918. Geoffrey was reported missing in action on 27th May. Postcards were received from him as a prisoner, informing the family he was in hospital.

Able Seaman Ernest Gough. Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division. Killed in action. 3rd September 1918.

Private Sydney Beard. 6th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. Sidney was accidentally shot and killed by a comrade on 12th September 1918.

Corporal David Charles Rogers. 6th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Killed in action. 27th September 1918.

Private Richard Henry Wyatt. Machine Gun Corps (Infantry). Killed in action. 27th September 1918.

Private William George Dance. 1st /4th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment. Died of Malaria in Egypt on 9th October. William was among a large group of Marlborough men who enlisted at the outbreak of war and were immediately sent out to India.

Gunner Gerald Granville Glass. 134th Battery, Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action. 11th October 1918. His older brother was killed in 1917.

Engineer Commander PCA Hillier. HMS Colombo, Royal Navy. Died at home on 30th October. He is buried in Marlborough Old Cemetery.

Private William Mundy. 6th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment. Killed in action. 31st October.

Private Albert Victor Robbins. 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment. Killed in action. 4th November 1918. With the Armistice only one week away the British fought the last large-scale action of the Great War, the Battle of Sambre, the objective being finally to break the German resistance. Three Marlborough soldiers were lost in this battle.

Guardsman Sidney George Salter. 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards. Killed in action. 4th November. Sidney was the son of a College butler, and a Marlborough Grammar School boy. His battalion was part of the elite Guards Division. He was mortally wounded early in the morning.

Second Lieutenant Charles John Norman Adams. 2rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards. Killed in action. 4th November. He was an assistant master at the College. Like Sidney, Charles also fell early in the morning when his company was caught in the open by devasting machine gun fire. Charles was evacuated to a base hospital at Rouen where he died from his wounds several days later.

Andrew Ross

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