Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookM.G. and rifle fire, it was awful; time after time fresh troops went on but all suffered the same, nobody got to the objective, and we had to give it up. Our Battn. had over 300 casualties, all who tried suffered the same; the dead and wounded had to be left till dark. The wounded were got down by degrees; it took days to bury the dead. Every movement brought a deadly fire, they were within a 100 yards. This happened at Gaba Tepe where we reinforced the Australians and New Zealand forces on their first landing; we afterwards were shipped to this end, Sedd-ul-Bahr, and are having some tough work still. I expect we are in for a winter of it. Trench fighting is awful slow work, and you are kept on a tension all the time; the devils have plenty of grit and put up a fair fight, no gas or gas shells at present and no white flag incidents since the first, when we weren't having any, and nipped them all. About the difference in date, many of the dead were not buried by our own people, and their effects are not gathered properly. They are reported missing until their bodies are found and identity discs are sent in; facts known to people near one get mixed or reported wrongly because it is impossible to thoroughly inquire into every case unless a doubt is raised. Dead often have to be left even for weeks when an attack fails. You may take my date as correct; it is the date in my book, also in the Battn. records. I don't know where the other date came from, we had re-embarked and started afresh elsewhere before then, so it is obviously incorrect. I am an old China bird myself, but I came home in 1897," and another: "He was killed on 3 May at Quinn's Post; Gaba Tepe, where the Australians landed, and buried in a little trench with others of his comrades. You see he was some 300 to 400 feet up the cliffs, and it was practically useless bringing the dead down in the gully where we had to depend on water running. He was accorded a Christian burial, and a very decent one considering the time and space allotted. I myself buried 14 in one grave, and read the Burial Service." Scougall had the Long Service, and Good Conduct medals. He was a good all-round sportsman, played cricket and football, and was in the winning tug-of-war team in Shorncliffe District Tournament in 1897. [Illustration: =Alexander Scougall.=] =SCRIVENER, CYRIL ALFRED=, Sapper, No. 4/344, New Zealand Field Engineers, _s._ of Alfred Thomas Scrivener, of Hamilton, New Zealand, Farmer; _b._ Stratford, New Zealand, 2 July, 1893; educ. Public schools there; joined the New Zealand Engineers in Sept. 1914; served in Egypt and at the Dardanelles, and died at Mudros, Lemnos Island, 13 June, 1915, of enteric fever contracted while on active service; _unm._ Buried there. =SCRUTTON, FRANK RICHARDS=, Leading Seaman (R.F.R., B. 3347), 212547, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =SCULLY, CHARLES RICHARD=, E.R.A., 3rd Class, 345433, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._ =SEABROOK, JAMES HERBERT=, 2nd Lieut. and Despatch Rider, attd., 5th Cavalry Brigade, 4th _s._ of William Seabrook, of the Nurseries, Chelmsford, by his wife, Elizabeth Mary Ann, dau. of James Pertwee (of a Huguenot family originally named Pertuis); _b._ Brent Hall, Boreham, co. Essex, 30 Oct. 1883; educ. Chelmsford College, was before the war associated with his father in the well-known horticultural business of Messrs. W. Seabrook & Sons, but on mobilisation volunteered as a Despatch Rider, was given a commission as 2nd Lieut., and attached to the 5th Cavalry Brigade. He left England with the Expeditionary Force, 12 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action at the Battle of the Marne, 10 Sept. 1914; _unm._ Buried at Grandelu, about 18 miles north-east of Meaux. Writing to his mother, Lieut. F. F. Blake, Commanding 5th Signal Corps, Royal Engineers, said: "Your son was killed yesterday, while carrying out his duty. He was sent to me some weeks ago as a motor cyclist despatch rider, and he had done splendid work for me and was immensely popular with all.... We were in touch with the Germans early in the morning and moved to turn their flank. I sent your son to Headquarters of 2nd Army with a message before this, and when he returned to the point of despatch, we had gone. He was told by another of my motor cyclists where we had gone, and which road to take, but he appears to have missed his way, coming in contact with the enemy. The end must have come very quickly and painlessly, as he was shot in the head, two other bullets also found their mark. All this we found later in the day, as we were in action all the forenoon, and I was not informed of his death till late in the evening, when I am glad to say we had gained a decisive success. Your son died a glorious death, which we must all be prepared for, doing his duty in the service of his country." [Illustration: =James Herbert Seabrook.=] =SEAGER, THOMAS=, Stoker, Petty Officer, 294712, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914. =SEAMAN, HENRY=, Private, No. 4608, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of James Seaman; _b._ Westminster, 11 April, 1888; enlisted after the outbreak of war, 3 Sept. 1914; went to France, 4 Oct., and was reported missing between 29 Oct.-2 Nov. 1914, and is now assumed to have been killed between those dates. He _m._ at St. Andrew's Church, Peckham, 8 March, 1914, Ellen (7, Blackhouse Street, Canterbury Road, Old Kent Road, S.E.), dau. of Joseph (and Ellen) Mackey, and had a dau.: Ellen, _b._ posthumous, 10 Feb. 1915. =SEAR, JOSEPH SACKVILLE=, Private, No. 4359, 11th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, only _s._ of the late Frank Sear, Hay and Straw Dealer, by his wife, Sarah Ann, dau. of Thomas Kearsey, of Dustfield Farm, Charlbury, Oxon; _b._ Wendlebury, Oxon, 8 July, 1894; enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, 25 June, 1915; proceeded with the 11th Battn. to the Dardanelles, and was killed there by a bomb, 6 Aug. 1915, only 48 hours after his arrival at the Front; _unm._ [Illustration: =Joseph Sackville Sear.=] =SEARLE, GEORGE CHARLES=, Leading Stoker, 302485, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =SEARLE, GEORGE WILLIAM AUGUSTUS=, Boy, 1st Class, J. 25452, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914. =SEARLE, JOHN=, Ship's Corpl., 1st Class, 154450, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =SEARLES, EDWARD GREGORY=, A.B., J. 12270, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914. =SECKER, GEORGE VANE=, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./17010, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914. =SEDGELEY, FRANK=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 8768), S.S. 2013, Chatham, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =SEDGWICK, GEORGE=, Stoker, R.N.R., 20 |