Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookSept. 1914. =AUSTIN, CYRIL FREDERIC=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Queen's Royal West Surrey Regt., yst. _s._ of the late Louis Frederic Austin, of 48, Woodstock Road, Bedford Park, W., the well-known journalist, by his wife, Wilhelmina, dau. of Richard Robinson, C.E.; _b._ Bedford Park, W., 6 Oct. 1884; educ. in Belgium and Germany; was on Reuter's editorial staff, and had been a member of the Artists' Rifles since 1907. Went to the Front with them in Oct. 1914, and was given his commission as 2nd Lieut. in the Queen's 15 Nov. following; served continuously in the trenches during the winter of 1914-15, came home for the week-end in Feb. for his marriage, returning to the Front the following day, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 10 March, 1915; buried at Laventie. While serving at the Front he sent home several graphic sketches of soldier life, which were printed as "From a subaltern in the trenches." He was mentioned for important and dangerous reconnaissance work in ascertaining the whereabouts of enemy saps by F.M. Sir John French in his Despatch of 31 May, 1915. The Medical Officer of the battn., writing with reference to his death, said: "For some time he and his men occupied a small position of the utmost importance to our line, a position constantly sniped and bombarded by the enemy. I well remember going down to see a wounded man in this isolated post after the German trench mortars had blown the defences about their ears. Austin--wet, muddy, but cheerful--crawled out of the ruins and displayed the utmost concern about his wounded man. Brave, cool, and fearless himself, he would go out of his way to show me a safe way out of the trenches and where I could avoid ploughing through too much mud and water. I was talking to him a few minutes before he was hit, and it was a terrible blow to me that when I was called to him his condition was such that no treatment was available." While a member of the Artists' Rifles Sec. Lieut. Austin won cups with the Tent Pitching Team, and for five years was in the Bayonet Team, taking part in the Naval and Military Tournament at Olympia in 1913 and 1914, and winning many spoons and cups. The chairman of Reuter's at the annual general meeting on 3 June, 1915, described him as "one of our most promising young editors." He _m._ at St. Ippolyt's, Herts, 27 Feb. 1915, Margaret Elizabeth (Gosmore, Hitchin), elder dau. of Samuel Bridgman Russell, of Gosmore, Hitchin, Herts. [Illustration: =Cyril Frederic Austin.=] =AUSTIN, FREDERICK WILLIAM=, Private, No. 9726, 2nd Battn. Royal Scots, _s._ of Edward Austin; _b._ Birmingham, 13 Dec. 1884; educ. St. Mary's Schools there; served seven years in India; went to France with the first Expeditionary Force, and was killed in action during the retreat from Mons, 26 Aug. 1914; _unm._ =AUSTIN, GEORGE=, Stoker, R.N.R., 514 V., H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =AVELING, LANCELOT NEVILLE=, Lieut., 1st Battn. Connaught Rangers, only _s._ of Neville Clifford Aveling, temporary Capt. R.F.A., by his wife, Evelyn Mary, of St. Germans Hall, Norfolk, dau. of Capt. Hurton Barker, of Needham House, near Wisbech, and grandson of Stephen Thomas Aveling, of Restoration House, Rochester; _b._ Rochester, 20 March, 1892; educ. Gresham's Holt School; was for four years in the O.T.C., and shot at Bisley for school; joined the Surrey (Queen Mary's Own) Yeomanry 1911, and the Special Reserve of Officers (3rd Connaught Rangers) 13 June, 1913, and passed third in qualifying examination for Regular Army on mobilisation, being gazetted 1 Sept. He left with the Expeditionary Force for the Front at the end of August; was wounded (two bullet wounds) at the Battle of the Aisne, 14 Sept.; again at Ypres, 7 Nov. (mentioned in Despatches, Feb. 1915); and a third time at the same place, 26 April, and _d._ in hospital at Hazebrouck three days later, being buried in the cemetery there; _unm._ His colonel wrote: "He was such a splendid officer and so charming a fellow. He is, indeed, an almost irreparable loss to my battalion.... He came to us with a very high reputation from the 2nd Battalion, and more than made it good. Gen. Egerton had especially asked for your boy's services for the day as orderly officer." [Illustration: =Lancelot Neville Aveling.=] =AVERILL, ALBERT=, Private, No. 9974, 1st Battn. North Staffordshire Regt., _s._ of Alfred John Averill, Officer's Waiter, 11th South Staffs. Regt., by his wife, Hannah, dau. of Hiram Pritchard; _b._ Hanley and Stoke (N. Stafford), 6 Aug. 1891; educ. Cauldon Road Elementary School there, enlisted in Sept. 1913; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, and was killed in action at Armentières, 2 Nov. 1914; _unm._ =AVIS, HARRY=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 4659), S.S. 103859, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in the action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914. =AVIS, RALPH CUTTS=, Yeoman of Signals (R.F.R., Ch. B. 6683), 191425, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. =AVIS, WILLIAM=, Sergt., R.M.L.I., Ch. 10913, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914. =AWDRY, CAROL EDWARD VERE=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Royal Munster Fusiliers, _s._ of the Rev. Vere Awdry, Vicar of Ampfield, Romsey, by his wife, Mary Louisa, dau. of Edward Desborough Man; _b._ Broad-Hinton Vicarage, co. Wilts, 11 June, 1894; educ. Marlborough House School, Hove (April, 1903-Dec. 1907), Marlborough College (Foundation Scholar, Jan. 1908-June, 1912), and Royal Military College, Sandhurst (G Coy., June, 1912-June, 1913); gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Munster Fusiliers, Sept. 1913; joined the 2nd Battn. at Aldershot, 15 Oct. 1913; went to the Front with them 13 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action near Etreux, 27 Aug. 1914, during the retreat from Mons. Writing to his father, the senior surviving officer, Capt. H. S. Jervis, who was himself taken prisoner, said: "Your boy lost his life that day while leading his men against overwhelming odds. The Army was at the time withdrawing, and the battn. was occupying an important position covering the movement. In order to better safeguard the retreat of the remainder our withdrawal was delayed by some hours. We were attacked on three sides, and when we moved off finally it was found that the greatly superior forces of the Germans had enabled them to cut us off from our main body. Faced by odds of 6 or 8 to 1 we put up the best fight we could until compelled by fire from all sides to surrender. C Coy--to which your son belonged, of course--was chosen to watch our right rear (on the north-east) as the battn. withdrew to the south, and Capt. Rawlinson selected your son to take his platoon (No. 9) out to an exposed position the far end of a village named Fesmy, through which our line of retreat lay. He performed the duty in a most able manner, and although harassed with a nasty fire, he held on until the battn. withdrew, and then rejoined with hi |