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1891; Captain, 30 Jan. 1895; Major, 7 Sept. 1904; and Lieut.-Col., 12
March, 1912. He served through the Tirah Campaign, 1897-8, including
operations on the Samana, and received the medal with two clasps;
was Adjutant of the Bombay-Baroda Railway Volunteers, 17 May, 1899,
to 16 May, 1904, and Staff Capt. No. 12 (South Irish) District, 1
June, 1905, to 31 May, 1909. He succeeded to the command of the 1st
Battn., then serving in India, 12 March, 1912, and after the outbreak
of war came home with his regt., Nov. 1914; went to France, 18 Dec.
1914, and died at Bailleul, 17 March, 1915, of wounds received at St.
Eloi three days previously, and was buried at Bailleul. Col. Forbes
was mentioned in Field-Marshal Sir John French's despatch of 31 May,
1915, for distinguished conduct. He _m._ at Windsor, 4 Aug. 1904,
Agnes Margaret, dau. of the late Walter Ewing Crum, of Thornliebank,
Renfrewshire, and had a son, Walter Arthur Hastings Forbes, _b._
18 Dec. 1905.
=FORBES, SPENCER DUNDAS=, Commander, R.N., yr. _s._ of the
late George Edward Forbes, of Colinton, Queensland, by his wife, Louisa
Lillias (4, Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh), dau. of Archibald Trotter,
of Dreghorn, co. Midlothian; _b._ at Keswick, 29 May, 1874; educ.
at St. Ninian's, Moffat; Aysgarth, Yorks; and at Mr. Littlejohns';
entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in 1887, and became a Midshipman two
years later, serving in the Cordelia, on the Australian station, Feb.
1889, and in the Immortalité, in the Channel Squadron, Oct. 1891. As an
acting Sub-Lieut. he was lent to the Galatea for the naval manœuvres
of July, 1894, and in Feb. 1895, was confirmed as Sub-Lieut. and
appointed to the Collingwood, on the Mediterranean Station. He became
a Lieut. 30 Sept. 1896, and in the following month was transferred to
the Melita on the same station. For nearly four years he was associated
with the training service, as watch-keeper in the Volage, Dec. 1898,
and in the Juno, Oct. 1899 (both in the training squadron), and as 1st
Lieut. in the Cruiser, sailing training vessel for ordinary seamen in
the Mediterranean, April, 1900, to Aug. 1902. After a short course at
Whale Island he was first and (G.) of the Hermes in the Channel Fleet
and as tender to the Royal Naval College, Osborne, April, 1903, and of
the Eclipse, which relieved her in the latter duty, Jan. 1906. On 31
Dec. 1907 he was promoted Commander, and served in the Suffolk, in
the Mediterranean Cruiser Squadron, from April, 1908, to May, 1910. In
Sept. 1910, he joined the war course at Portsmouth, which was followed
by a course at the Military Staff College, Camberley, Jan. to June,
1911. He was Commander of the London, as flagship of Rear-Admiral
Cradock in the Atlantic Fleet, Aug. 1911, and of the Hibernia, as
flagship of the same officer and of Rear-Admiral Thursby in the Third
Battle Squadron, May, 1912, to Aug. 1913. During the last four months
of 1913 he was member of a Committee, presided over by Rear-Admiral
Hood, on the question of training young seamen and boys in sea-going
ships. Previous to her being commissioned by Capt. Brandt at the end
of July, he commanded the Monmouth, in the Third Fleet at Devonport,
from 30 Jan. 1914, and went down in her when, with the Good Hope,
Rear-Admiral Cradock's flagship, she was lost in action off Coronel, on
the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. He _m._ at Malta, 21 Feb. 1913,
Ethel, yst. dau. of Col. Selby Walker, late of the Black Watch, and had
a son, Spencer Malcolm Edward, _b._ 17 Nov. 1914.
[Illustration: =Spencer Dundas Forbes.=]
=FORD, ATHOLE STANLEY=, Rifleman, No. 1993, 16th Battn. (Queen's
Westminster Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of
Stanley Ford, of 1, Ardlui Road, West Norwood, S.E., by his wife,
Mary Elizabeth, dau. of William Armstrong; _b._ Dulwich, S.E.,
9 March, 1896; educ. Dulwich College, where he was a corpl. in the
O.T.C. and a member of the "Gym" Six; joined the Queen's Westminsters
for foreign service, 6 Aug. 1914, the day following the declaration of
war; trained at Hemel Hempstead, went to France, 1 Nov. 1914, and was
killed in action at Hooge, 9 Aug. 1915. One of his officers wrote that
he "made a fine, plucky little soldier and was universally popular";
and his Corpl.: "He was a good lad, a fearless soldier, a splendid
comrade--one I was proud to call my friend. By his courage, sympathy
and cheerfulness, even under the most trying circumstances during all
these months, he endeared himself to us all, and deeply we feel his
loss."
[Illustration: =Athole Stanley Ford.=]
=FORD, FRANCIS JOHN=, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., 3592), 196782,
H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1
Nov. 1914.
=FORD, FRANK=, Private, No. 6713, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards,
only _s._ of the late Elijah Ford, by his wife, Emily Jane
(Bathpool, near Taunton), dau. of John Wilkins, of West Monkton,
Somerset; _b._ Gosport, co. Hants, 21 March, 1888; educ. West
Monkton, Somerset; enlisted 22 March, 1906, and served seven years with
the Colours, then going to the Reserve. He joined the Cardiff City
Police, and prior to the war was stationed at Canton. On mobilisation
he rejoined, left Windsor for France on the last day of Aug. 1914, and
was killed in action at Ypres, 25 Oct. 1914; _unm._
=FORD, GEORGE=, Stoker, P.O., 285093, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in
action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
=FORD, HORACE FISHER ("RED")=, Private, No 12982, 5th Battn.
Canadian Expeditionary Force, eldest _s._ of George Robert
Fitzroy Ford, of 2, Cavendish Mansions, Langham Street, W., by his
first wife, Charlotte Diana, dau. of the late Capt. John Kendall, 4th
West Yorkshire Regt.; _b._ Hitchin, co. Herts, 14 Dec. 1889;
educ. privately; The Roan School, Greenwich, and St. Francis Xavier's
College, Bruges; went to Canada in 1906, and settled at Moose Jaw, and
had been Sporting Editor of the "Moose Jaw Morning News" since 1912,
and was, according to his editor, responsible for the initiation of
clean sport into Western Canada. It was in the Y.M.C.A. building at
Moose Jaw where his influence for good athletics was most felt. After
the declaration of war he enlisted in the 27th Light Horse, under
his friend Col. Tuxford, afterwards transferring with him to the 5th
Battn.; left for England with the first contingent in Oct. 1914; went
to the Front, 7 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, 24
May, 1915. Col. Tuxford wrote of him: "His conduct was always good and
he never gave trouble; during the Battle of Festubert, when we took
the German trenches and machine-gun emplacement at a cost of nearly
400 casualties, a position that had been attempted on three previous
occasions by other units and failed; Ford was wounded, not seriously,
and was walking down the trench to the dressing station when another
shell caught and killed him. His death was instantaneous;" and in his
letter to the "Moose Jaw Morning News," chronicling the events of the
Battle of Festubert, he said: "Private Fo |