Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookApril against the village of St. Julien, some 3 miles north of Ypres. He was with me throughout the day of the 25th, while we dug in on the ground gained on that day. I left him in command of the battn. on the night of the 25th, as I was slightly wounded myself. He was instantaneously killed by a rifle bullet on April 26th, during an attack made by another Brigade sent up to our assistance. He behaved with the greatest gallantry on 25 April, leading his men all the time." He _m._ at Pietermaritzburg, Natal, 19 Feb. 1906, Lettice Adelaide, eldest dau. of Charles Wriothesley Digby, of Meriden Hall, near Coventry [great-great-great-grandson of William, 5th Lord Digby], and had issue a son and two daus.: John Digby Hyde, _b._ 16 Nov. 1906; Adelaide Margery Dora, _b._ 21 Feb. 1908; and Lettice Monica, _b._ 12 April, 1909. [Illustration: =Edward Nugent Bankes.=] =BANKS, FRED LAKEMAN=, Corpl., No. 370, 5th Battn. (London Rifle Brigade) The London Regt., 2nd _s._ of Frederick Seymour Banks, of 4, St. John Street, Bedford Row, W.C., Commission Agent, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of (--) Belsham; _b._ Doughty Street, Mecklenburgh Square, London, 20 Jan. 1874; educ. Whitgift Grammar School, and on leaving school entered his father's business. He joined the London Rifle Brigade in 1892, and served all through the South African War in the C.I.V. Mounted Infantry, receiving the medal with four bars. On the outbreak of the European War he rejoined the Brigade with his old schoolfellow, J. L. Hampton, and arrived in the trenches about the middle of November. He was shot and died on 13 May 1915, near Ypres. Writing to his parents, the officer commanding his company stated that Hampton (who met his death ten days before Banks did) and he well helped to maintain a fine tradition by their spirit and experience, and that it was almost impossible to write any sort of appreciation of what those two men were to their company. They many times gave their officer comfort and courage in difficult times, and he adds, "When we get into the tight places again I know that many of us who had been taught by him will think of Freddy Banks and his cheery confidence, and take courage." On more than one occasion he was offered a commission, but preferred to remain in the ranks alongside his comrades. At the Whitgift Grammar School athletic sports he won the mile on three occasions, 1889, 1890 and 1891. A fourth win was obtained in 1893 when he secured the Old Boys' mile. He joined the Cadet Corps, and won the Spencer Cup for the champion shot of the Public Schools at Bisley in 1891, scoring 33 out of a possible 35 at 500 yards. He also won the Easty silver medal. He won the Whitgift Veterans in 1896. In 1892 he made a brave attempt to rescue a boy who had fallen into the river at Rainham. He was competing for his Regimental Bronze Badge at the time, and was waiting his turn to fire, when he plunged into the river and, after diving repeatedly, recovered the lifeless body of the boy. He afterwards resumed his shooting, and obtained second place, being beaten by only one point. He received the Royal Humane Society's certificate on vellum and a bronze medal, being also complimented by Lord E. Pelham Clinton (at an inspection by the Duke of Cambridge) on his deed. Corpl. Banks won the D Coy. Waldegrave Challenge Cup three times, when it became his, as also did the Moger Cup similarly thrice won. He shot in the winning team for the "Daily Telegraph" Cup in 1897 and 1898. On his return from the South African War the late Sir Walter Gilbey, Bt., presented him with a massive silver cup "as a token in appreciation of services rendered to his country." =BANKS, GEORGE EDWARD=, Stoker, P.O., 287551, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914. =BANKS, PERCY D'AGUILAR=, Capt., Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides, attd. 57th Wildes Rifles, only _s._ of Col. Samuel Henry O'Brien Banks, of 9, Eaton Place, Brighton, by his wife, Katherine Rosa, dau. of the Rev. John Burton D'Aguilar, late Senr. Chaplain of H.M. Forces; _b._ Bath, 9 May, 1885; educ. St. Peter's, Weston, and Cheltenham College and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. 2nd Battn. Wiltshire Regt., 10 Oct. 1903; joined 16 Nov. following, and left for India to join the 1st battn. in April, 1904. He was appointed to the Guides the following year; promoted Lieut. 10 Jan. 1906, and Capt. 10 Oct. 1912. He was A.D.C. to the Hon. A. D. Younghusband, C.S.I., Commissioner in Sind during the visit of the King, then Prince of Wales, to India in 1906, and afterwards served as transport officer with the Chitral Relief Force in Aug. 1907. He was killed 26 April, 1915, during the second Battle of Ypres only 50 yards from the German lines; _unm._ On this day Wilde's Rifles were in the front line of the Ferozepore Brigade. Capt. Banks' double company guides formed centre, and he, the only English officer, led them. The position to be assaulted was an extremely strong one, and the assaulting force laboured under heavy disadvantages. It had been impossible to reconnoitre the ground in a satisfactory manner, and little was known of the exact position of the German line beyond the fact that it was somewhere on the opposite ridge about 1,500 yards distance. The ground was devoid of cover, and rose slightly for the first 500 yards, then dipped and ended in a gradual upward slope towards the German position which commanded the whole line of advance. On crossing the first ridge the regt. came under an absolute tornado of fire of every description--shrapnel, machine-gun, rifle, and, last but not least, high explosive shells filled with asphyxiating gas. From this point onwards the men began to fall rapidly, but still the gallant regt. pushed on. The murderous nature of the fire can be gauged by the fact that when the bottom of the slope was reached, at a point some 900 yards from the start, the Commanding Officer, Major Willams, and four of his colleagues had been severely wounded. Still the attack was pressed to a point about 80 yards from the German trenches. Here Major Duhan, Capt. Mackie and Capt. Banks were all killed, as were also two of the Indian officers. Capt. Banks' orderly, a Sikh named Bhan Singh, had been severely wounded in the face early in the action. In spite of this he insisted in following Capt. Banks till he was killed. As soon as darkness set in, in the face of the appalling fire, and severely wounded as he was, his one thought was to bring back the body of his officer. Weak as he was from loss of blood, he staggered along carrying the body until he fell from exhaustion. They were both brought in, and Capt. Banks was buried near a farm house two miles north-east of Ypres. For this act of devotion and gallantry Bhan Singh received the Indian D.S.M. and later a Russian decoration. Col. Egerton wrote: "We were all very fond of him in the Guides, and he had a great many other friends besides who will feel hi |