Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History Bookm._ Major McLaurin wrote: "He was a splendid soldier and much beloved by the regt." =TOVEY, FREDERICK JOHN=, Private, No. 10724, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of John Tovey, of Walk Cottages, Heythorpe, co. Oxon, Farm Labourer, by his wife, Jane, dau. of Reuben Stanger; _b._ Milton under Wychwood, co. Oxon, 22 Oct. 1898; educ. Village School there; enlisted in the Coldstreams, 1914 at Coventry; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc., and was reported missing, 25 Jan. 1915 and is now assumed to have been killed in action about that date. =TOWLE, JOHN=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 4859), S.S. 1767, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =TOWNEND, FRANCIS WHITCHURCH=, Capt., 35th Divisional Signal Coy. Royal Engineers, 3rd _s._ of the Rev. Alfred John Townend, Chaplain to the Forces, by his wife, Margaret Wiseman, dau. of the late William James Stairs, of Nova Scotia; _b._ Halifax, Nova Scotia, 10 July, 1885; educ. Dulwich College, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and on leaving there spent two years at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham; gazetted 2nd Lieut. R.E., 21 Jan. 1904, and promoted Lieut. 24 Sept. 1906, and Capt. 30 Oct. 1914; went to India in 1906, and was there attached to the 3rd Sappers and Miners; left for France with the Indian Expeditionary Force after the outbreak of war, reaching the front in Oct. and died at Bethune, 29 March, 1915, of wounds received in action the previous day, while laying telephone wires; _unm._ Buried in Bethune Cemetery. A motor ambulance driver wrote the following account of the incident to his Mother [Morning Post, 12 April, 1915]: "After dinner I commenced a letter, but was interrupted by a shell bursting somewhere in the vicinity and a man yelling for bandages. Of course I rushed to see if I could be of any use, and found that the shell had burst at the side of the road about forty yards away, right in the midst of a party of Indian engineers who were inspecting the telegraph wires. T. and I grabbed stretchers from our car, and with some others rushed for the Indians. I was late in starting owing to my litter, and all the Indians were being attended to when I arrived on the scene. However, I saw someone in the shell hole which was on the side of the road opposite from where the men had been hit, and so had escaped notice. In it was a man, the white officer of the Indians, who appeared to have his legs half buried in the debris of the hole. He told us to attend to the others first; he was all right. And then as we moved him we saw that he was standing on the stumps of his legs. Both had been shot off at the knee. (I'm telling you this story, horrible as it is, because of the extraordinary courage the man showed--such courage as I've never seen before, and hardly imagined. It's worth while bearing the horror of it to realise that we are officered by such men.) He was perfectly conscious and calm, and spoke as though he were a medical officer and someone else the victim. He looked at his legs as we moved him on to the stretcher and asked me quietly (he was not in the least excited, and his handsome face showed no pain) to tie something tight round both thighs to stop the bleeding. I did what I could with my handkerchief, and another I requisitioned, and we took him to our billet. We had to move hurriedly, of course, as a second shell had followed and we wanted cover in case any more arrived. There were two R.A.M.C. men with us, and they attended to the subsequent first aid. They discovered another horrible wound in his arm, and while they were dressing it he told them that he thought he would give up football next year. We then took him to the nearest hospital; he was still conscious and perfectly collected, and laughed quietly and talked, apologising for the trouble he was causing, while on the way to the hospital. And I came back thinking of that tag in some book or other 'I have seen a man.' The poor fellow died in hospital." While at Woolwich he played for the Association Football XI, and was a well-known Army cricketer, having several times represented the Royal Engineers against the Royal Artillery at Lord's; he also played for the Free Foresters, the Bombay Presidency, and the Indian Army. Capt. Townend was mentioned in Despatches by F.M. Sir John French [London Gazette, 22 June, 1915]. [Illustration: =Francis W. Townend.=] =TOWNER, FREDERICK ARTHUR ALBERT=, Private, Signaller, No. 148, 7th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of Horace Frederick Towner, of 22, Alfred Street, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Cabinet Maker, by his wife, Isabel, dau. of William McLeod; _b._ St. Leonards, 6 July, 1890; educ. Christ Church School there; went to sea in 1906 and was twice wrecked, first on the John Shelley, in Nov. 1907, and secondly with the sailing ship Enterprise, in the North Sea, Oct. 1908, being on this last occasion the sole survivor; in 1912 went to Australia and took up farming, but after the outbreak of war enlisted in the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, 4 Sept. 1914, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles, 3 June, 1915; _unm._ =TOWNSEND, CHARLES=, Armourer's Mate (Pensioner), 342373, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =TOWNSEND, HENRY CHARLES WILLIAM=, A.B., 239251, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =TOWNSHEND, ALFRED=, A.B., 236174, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =TOWNSHEND, CHARLES HENRY=, A.B., 229079, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =TRACEY, ALBERT JAMES FREDERICK=, Private, No. 1940, 15th Battn. (Prince of Wales's Own Civil Service Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), 4th _s._ of Joseph Thomas Tracey, of 24, Belmont Road, South Norwood, S.E., formerly Sergt. 1st Border (34th) Regt., by his wife, Caroline, dau. of Richard Frederick Hill; _b._ Caterham, co. Surrey, 11 April, 1891; educ. Garrison School, Fort George, N.B.; South Norwood Council School, and Whitgift Middle School, Croydon; served as a registered Boy Clerk at the Board of Education, Whitehall, from 27 May, 1907, to 16 July, 1911, and as an assistant clerk, 17 July, 1911, to Aug. 1914. He joined the 23rd London Territorials in March, 1909; became Sergt. in Sept. 1912, but transferred to the Civil Service Rifles, April, 1914, giving up his stripes; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war; went to France, 17 March, 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, 25 May following, while bombing a German trench; _unm._ He was buried at Festubert. Capt. H. H. Kemble, of his Coy., wrote: "Your son led the way along the parapet and used his bombs with such effect, that the trench was taken the next day. A report of his bravery has been forwarded to Head Quarters. He was always thorough and efficient, and always quiet and gentle"; and Sergt. F. C. Robertson said that when they found him next day he had used all his bombs. |