Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History Books Thomas, _b._ 11 Aug. 1911. [Illustration: =Charles George Coles.=] =COLES, EDGAR RALPH=, Capt., 3rd (Prince of Wales') Dragoon Guards, 2nd _s._ of Ernest Harry Coles, of Arnolds, Holmwood, co. Surrey, by his wife, Adela Caroline, dau. of James Heslop Powell; _b._ Caterham, co. Surrey, 13 May, 1889; educ. Hazlewood (Limpsfield), Marlborough, and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, whence, having taken his degree, he entered the Army as a University candidate, being gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 3rd Dragoon Guards, 23 Feb. 1910. He was promoted Lieut. 28 March, 1911, and Capt. 18 Nov. 1914; was with his regt. in Cairo for two years, returning to England in the summer of 1914, when he went to Aldershot to learn signalling. On the outbreak of war he left with his regt. for the Front, served in France and Flanders, and was killed in action in the trenches near Hooge, late on the night of 12 May (the eve of his twenty-sixth birthday). He was buried at Witte Poort Farm, two miles east of Ypres; _unm._ Capt. Coles was mentioned in F.M. Sir John French's Despatch of 14 Jan. 1915, for exceedingly good work in carrying messages and maintaining communication under heavy shell fire at Zillebeke in Nov. 1914. His commanding officer, Major Burt, wrote: "His gallantry had already been recognised by the authorities, and his splendid example and comradeship will be greatly missed by all ranks in the regt." Lieut. Holt, Acting Adjutant, 3rd Dragoon Guards, said: "His gallantry was an inspiration to his men," and his soldier servant, Private Harvey, who had been with him ever since he joined the Army: "He was one of the coolest officers that was ever under fire." [Illustration: =Edgar Ralph Coles.=] =COLES, EWART JOHN=, Private, No. 876, 1/6th Battn. East Surrey Regt. (T.F.), attd. D. Coy. 2nd Battn. Norfolk Regt., _s._ of the late William Coles, House and Church Decorator [_b._ Cheddar, co. Somerset], by his wife, Eliza Ellen (7, Wilton Avenue, Richmond, Surrey), dau. of James Summerhayes; _b._ Paddington, London, 9 Aug. 1893; educ. Holy Trinity Church School, Richmond, Surrey, and was in the employ of the Pearl Assurance Co. He had joined the East Surrey Territorials in March, 1908, and on the outbreak of war volunteered for foreign service; mobilised 4 Aug. 1914; went to India 29 Oct. 1914, and in Sept. 1915, left with the British Expeditionary Force for the Persian Gulf, and was killed in action at Ctesiphon, 22 Nov. 1915; _unm._ Writing to Mrs. Coles, Lieut.-Col. A. P. Drayson said: "I have known your son for a good many years, and have always looked upon him as the right stamp of soldier, always willing, smart and keen in any work he had to do," adding that he felt that by his death they had "lost one of the best men in the regt." =COLES, ROBERT=, L.-Corpl., No. 7043, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of William Coles, of Eton Place, High Street, Crediton, by his wife, Emma, dau. of the late William Williams, of Llanvihangel, near Monmouth; _b._ Shobrooke, Crediton, co. Devon, 26 Jan. 1887; educ. there; enlisted 1907, and was killed in action at the Battle of the Aisne, 18 Sept. 1914, being buried in Soupir Cemetery; _unm._ He was well known as a crack shot, having taken part in the Army Competition at Bisley on several occasions, and had won a number of cups and medals. [Illustration: =Robert Coles.=] =COLLES, ARTHUR GROVE=, Capt., 4th Battn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers, only _s._ of Alexander Colles, of 3, Elgin Road, co. Dublin, Inspector, Registrar of Petty Sessions Office, Dublin Castle, by his wife, Georgina, dau. of Robert George Cullin; _b._ Dublin, 12 Feb. 1891; educ. St. Andrew's College, Dublin; joined the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 11 Nov. 1910, and was gazetted Lieut. April, 1912, and Capt. Dec. 1914. He was attached for a year to the Connaught Rangers at the Curragh. Shortly after the outbreak of war he was sent to the Front with the 1st Battn. Royal Irish Rifles, to which regt. he was gazetted 2 March, 1915. Capt. Colles fought at Neuve Chapelle, 10-12 March, 1915, and was killed in action in the village of that name on the last-mentioned date. He was buried in the orchard of the château at Neuve Chapelle; _unm._ Letters from his brother officers and the men of his battn. all bear testimony to his great capabilities and his fearlessness in the face of danger. A brother officer says that the last he saw of him was "charging for all he was worth at the head of his men." [Illustration: =Arthur Grove Colles.=] =COLLET, CHARLES HERBERT, D.S.O.=, Lieut., Royal Marine Artillery, and Flight Commander, Royal Naval Air Service, 2nd _s._ of James Francis Herbert Collet, of Millbrook, Southampton, late of the Public Works Department of the Government of India, Engineer, by his wife, Teresa, dau. of Francis (and Teresa) Pilley; _b._ Calcutta, 4 Feb. 1888; educ. Elizabeth College, Guernsey, and Dulwich College, London, S.E.; joined the Royal Marine Artillery, 1 Sept. 1905, and was promoted Lieut. 1 July. 1906, and transferred to the Naval Wing of Royal Flying Corps in 1913, in which he was gazetted Flight Commander 23 Feb. 1915. On the outbreak of war he served on the Western Front, taking part in the defence of Antwerp until the evacuation, and subsequently at the Dardanelles. On 23 Sept. British aeroplanes of the Naval Wing delivered an attack on the Zeppelin sheds at Düsseldorf. Conditions were rendered very difficult by the misty weather, but Flight Lieut. Collet, as he then was, flying a Sopwith tractor biplane, made a long flight, and dropped three bombs on the Zeppelin shed, approaching within 400 ft. His machine was struck by one projectile, but he returned safely to his point of departure. For this exploit, which was the pioneer exploit of its kind, he received the Distinguished Service Order, and the Director of the Air Department of the Admiralty, in a memorandum dated 11 Oct., described the "feat as notable--gliding down from 6,000 ft., the last 1,500 ft. in mist, he finally coming in sight of the airship shed, when at a height of 400 ft., and when only a quarter of a mile distant"; adding "The importance of this incident lies in the fact that it shows that in the event of further bombs being dropped into Antwerp or other Belgian towns measures of reprisal can certainly be adopted, if desired, to almost any extent." He was twice brought down in France, but managed to escape; on the first occasion being forced to alight between the firing lines. On the second occasion, his engine being damaged by shrapnel over the German lines, he had to volplane, just managing to reach the Belgian lines, and coming under fire from both sides, as the Belgians mistook him for a German and seized him as a prisoner. In the Dardanelles he participated in the landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula, 25 April, 1915, and engaged in several combats with hostile aeroplanes. He lost his life in the Eastern Mediterranean while on patrol duty, by an accident to his aeropla |