Major, 8th Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment). Died of wounds 2nd October 1915. Aged 39. Son of Mr. and Mrs. George Brakspear, of Glenwood, Silverdale Rd., Eastbourne, Sussex, and of Copse Hill, Henley-on-Thames. Buried in ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France. Plot I. Row B. Grave 8. See also Lord's Cricket Ground Members World War 1 and Charterhouse school Memorial.

Captain, 3rd Battalion attached 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Rifles Killed in action 22 December 1914. Aged 39. Son of the late Rev. Havilland Durand (Vicar of Earley, Berks.), and Mrs. Durand, of Guernsey; husband of Geraldine Durand (nee Hawtrey), of 52, New St., Henley-on-Thames. Seconded under the Foreign Office to the Zanzibar Government, 1903-1913. Served in Maubeleland, 1896, and Mashonaland, 1897, Brilliant Star of Zanzibar 3rd Class, Order of El Aliyeh 4th Class. No known grave. Commemorated on LE TOURET MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, France. Panel 43 and 44.

Extract from Bond of Sacrifice: Officers Died in the Great War 1914-1916, Volume 1, page 175-176:

CAPTAIN FRANCIS WILLIAM DURAND, 3rd BATTN. ROYAL MUNSTER FUSILIERS. was born on the 29th January, 1875. at Earley Vicarage. Berkshire, the son of the Rev. Havilland Durand, M.A., Vicar of Earley. l le was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, where he won the quarter-mile, and was second in the one hundred yards race in 1889, winning two cups.

Captain Durand was gazetted to the 3rd Royal Guernsey Light Infantry (Militia) as 2nd Lieutenant in 1891, and in 1895 he joined the Rhodesian Horse. He served in the Matabeleland campaign with the Gwelo Field Force, receiving the Matabeleland medal, 1896 ; and in the Mashonaland campaign with the Mashonaland Field Force, receiving the clasp for Mashonaland, 1897.

From 1899-1901 he was employed in the African Transcontinental Survey through German East Africa, and in 1901-02 with the Tanganyika Concessions Expedition to Katanga, Congo Free State. In 1903 he served in the Zanzibar Protectorate under the Foreign Office, being Secretary and A.D.C. to the First Minister.

In 1906 he was promoted Captain in the 3rd Munster Fusiliers, remaining seconded for duty under the Foreign Office. In 1907 he was Acting Commandant of the Zanzibar Military Police, and Acting Governor, Central Jail. In this year he received the Zanzibar Order of " El Aliyeh."

Returning to England he, in 1908, passed the School of Musketry at Hythe. In 1909 he was again in civil employment in Zanzibar, as 2nd ( lass Magistrate and Governor of the District .Jail, and in 1911 was second in command of the Zanzibar Armed Constabulary. In 1912 he passed in all subjects for promotion to the rank of Field Officer, being one of only five officers specially mentioned in the Examiner's Report (May, 1912) to the Army Council. In 1914 he received the decoration of the 3rd Class Brilliant Star of Zanzibar.

On the mobilisation for the Great War, the 5th August, 1914, he joined the 3rd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers, and went to Bere Island. On the 8th September he joined the 2nd Battalion in France, and was present at the Battles of the Aisne and the Marne. He was killed on the 22nd September, 1914, while leading his men in an attempt to retake trenches between Givenchy and Festubert, near La Bassée.

Captain Durand was a member of the Naval and Military and of the Sports Clubs. While in Africa he enjoyed much big-game shooting. lie married, in 1903, Geraldine Vesey, daughter of the late Rev. John W. Ilawtrey, of Aldin House, Slough, and St. Michael's, Westgateon-Sea.

Extract from De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918, Volume 1, page 123.

DURAND, FRANCIS WILLIAM, Capt., 3rd, attached 2nd, Battn. Royal Munster Fusiliers, eldest s. of the late Rev. Havilland Durand, for 13 years Vicar of Earley, co. Berks, by his wife, Mary (Moulin Huet House, Guernsey), dau. of the Rev. Montague John Gregg Hawtrey ; b. Earley Vicarage, 29 Jan. 1875; educ. Elizabeth College, Guernsey ; gazettes 2nd Lieut. 3rd Royal Guernsey L.I. (Militia), 1891; joined the Rhodesian Horse in 1895, and took part in the Matabeleland Campaign with Gwelo Field Force in 1896 (medal, "Matabeleland, 1896") and the Mashonaland Campaign in 1897 (clasp, "Mashonaland, 1897"). From 1899 to 1901 he served with the African Transcontinental Telegraph Survey through German East Africa, under 0. Berringer, . Chief Surveyor, Northern Rhodesia, and in 1901-2 with the Tanganyika Concessions Expedition to Katanga, Congo Free State. In 1903 he was employed as Secretary and A.D.C. to the. First Minister of the Zanzibar Government. He obtained his company in the 3rd Battn. Royal Munster Fusiliers, 10 Feb. 1906, to remain seconded under the Foreign Office for service in Zanzibar. He was employed under both the military and civil administration of Zanzibar until 1913, being successively Acting-Commandant, Zanzibar Military Police, and Acting-Governor, Central Jail, 1907; 2nd Class Magistrate and Governor of District Jail, 1909 ; 2nd in Command. Zanzibar Armed Constabulary, 1911. He received the Zanzibar Orders of El Aliyeh (4th class) in 1907 and the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar (3rd class) in 1913, in which year he retired on a pension. He had passed the School of Musketry at Hythe in 1908 and in all subjects for promotion to rank of Field Officer in 1912, being one of only five officers specially mentioned in the Examiner's Report (May) to the Army Council. On mobilisation, 5 Aug. 1914, he joined his regt., the 3rd Munster Fusiliers, and on 8 Sept. 1914, was attached to the 2nd Battn. in France. He was present at the Battles of the Aisne and the Marne, and also at Ypres, and was killed in action between Givenchy and Festubert, 22 Dec. 1914, while leading his men in an attack to retake trenches lost the day before. On the evening of 20 Dec. 1914, the 2nd Monsters, commanded by Col. A. M. Bent, were billeted in the outskirts of Bailleul, when at 5 p.m. an urgent message was received by Col. Bent that the 3rd Brigade, to which the battn. belonged, was to be ready to march " as soon as possible." They started at 6.15 p.m., and after marching for six hours in a tearing blizzard of rain and hail, over roads ankle deep in mud, they reached Merville. where a short halt was called. At 8 am., outside Bethune, the battn. halted again, awaiting orders. By 3 p.m. orders were received that the battn. was to occupy the trenches at Festubert vacated by the Indians ; the leading brigade deployed for attack and, shortly after, the 3rd Brigade, consisting of the 2nd Welsh Regt., the 1st Gloucesters, the Munsters, the 1st South Wales Borderers and the 4th (T.) Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was placed on the left of the 1st Guards Brigade. The brigade then resumed its march, through Gorre to Festubert, where the battn. remained in reserve, but, on the night of the 21st received orders that there was to be a general attack upon the German line. All that night the Monsters waited, anti all that night it rained and snowed and stormed, until the hour arrived when the battn., led by Col. Bent, started to the attack. The men swarmed over the parapets and raced across the fields, carrying their heavy equipment and following their officers over the shell-scarred, churned-up earth. Strands of barbed wire beset their way and the ground was broken by great shell holes. Before them, from the German trenches, the machine guns hammered out their deadly message of welcome ; and the men went gamely on, most splendidly led by their officers. Major Thomson, second in command, fell across the first German trench, but would not permit himself to be removed, continuing to issue orders from where he lay ; he was wounded again, the second wound proving fatal. Col. Bent. fell in the earlier part of the charge, desperately wounded ; Major Day was killed a little later, and Capt. Hugh O'Brien fell as he shouted to his company, " Get a bit of your own back, boys." Not 20 yards from where Capt. O'Brien fell, Capt. Durand met his death, leading at the extreme point of the advance made by C Coy., under fierce enfilading fire. Men fell on the right and left, and again and again they rallied and stumbled over the broken ground, holding steadily on under the wall of tearing shrapnel, and at last the Munsters reached their goal, the given point, and in the fierce counter-attack they did not lose an inch of what they had taken. Capt. Durand m. at St. Mary Abbotts Church, Kensington, 4 June. 1903, Geraldine Vesey (40, Arundel Gardens, Kensington Park (Road, W.), yst. dau. of the late Rev. John William Hawtrey, of Aldin House, Slough ; s.p.

Private 7707, 1st Battaolion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment). Killed in action 16 September 1914. Aged 28. Born Helnley-on-Thames, enlisted Reading. Son of Samuel and Eliza King, of 8, Hop Gardens, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon. Buried in VAILLY BRITISH CEMETERY, Aisne, France. Plot I. Row G. Grave 19.

The following biography is by Andrew King who is Alfred's great nephew:

Alfred William King – The First Henley Man Killed in the Great War

Alfred was born on the 13th September 1886 at Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire and was the second son of Samuel & Eliza King.

On 16 May 1904 Alfred enlisted in the Royal Berkshire Regiment at Brock Barracks, Reading, Berks as Private 7707 in the 2nd Battalion. Having completed seven years’ service where he saw service in India he returned home until his recall to the colours in August 1914 on the outbreak of WW1.

Alfred re-joined the 1st Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment and was part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 6th Infantry Brigade.

Sadly Alfred King’s war lasted just six weeks as he was wounded at the Battle of the Aisne and died on 16 September 1914 aged 28 years. The war diary of the battalion for that day records ‘Very misty morning followed by much rain, cleared 10.00 a.m. Germans on high ground very active. H.Q. remained at Le Metz Farm; Companies disposed as overnight. Relief made after dark. Incessant heavy shell fire. Casualties - Other ranks 3 killed, 10 wounded’.

Albert King died as a result of shell fire and this is confirmed in a letter published in the Henley and South Oxfordshire Standard on 9 October 1914 from Private T. Barrett also Royal Berkshire Regiment. The letter states ‘It is a miracle how I escaped with only two fingers injured, considering that my pals next to me in the trench were blown to pieces the day before. One of them, Pte King No.7707 as he lay dying, asked me to remember him to his sweetheart. Unfortunately I do not know her name, so I hope she will read this newspaper and know that his last thoughts were of her.’

Alfred’s death is also recorded in the personal diary of a colleague, Private Harry Wright of B Company 1st Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment who states, ‘Private Jones of my company was promoted Corporal and recommended for a V.C. for carrying the wounded out whilst the Hospital was under heavy fire. It was here I lost an old chum of mine Pte King, one of the “Coal Boxes” large shell 120lbs burst in our trench killing four and wounding twenty more’.

Alfred is buried in the Vailly-sur-Aisne British Cemetery in France near to where Le Metz Farm once stood. He was the first Henley man (including those named on this war memorial) who was killed in the Great War.

His mother Eliza King is seen in family photographs wearing Alfred’s the cap badge of the Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Berkshire) Regiment as a brooch many years after his death.

The only known photograph of Alfred was published in ‘Berkshire and the War’ Part 5 published by the Reading Standard.

Pioneer 495868, 10th Cavalry Brigade, Signal Troop Company, Royal Engineers. Died in Egypt 4th November 1918. Aged 28. Born [6] Stamford Hill, Middlesex, enlisted Reading, Berkshire, resident Henley-on-Thames. Only son of Francis Charles and Eliza Lenzer, of 91, Chester Terrace, Henley-on-Thames. Proceeded to Egypt in April, 1915. Formerly 34 Berkshire Yeomanry. According to his medal card he was Private 34, Berkshire Yeomanry, then Private 70489, Berkshire Yeomanry and finally 495869, Royal Engineers. Awarded the Military Medal (M.M.). Buried in BEIRUT WAR CEMETERY, Lebanese Republic. Grave 77.

Private 33234, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Killed in action 13 November 1916. Aged 35. Born Henley, enlisted Reading, resident Windsor. Son of Thomas and Millison Roberts, of Henley on Thames, Oxon; husband of Lilian M Roberts of 20 Charles Street, Windsor. Formerly 25937, Royal Berkshire Regiment. Buried in Redan Ridge Cemetery No.2, Beaumont-Hamel, Somme, France. Row/Plot/Section B Grave 1.

Charles Edward

Captain, 11th (Service) Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) attached 6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment. Killed in action 7 August 1915. Aged 19. Son of John Cecil and Mary Annie Tombs Walker, of "The Mount," Henley-on-Thames. Buried in REDOUBT CEMETERY, HELLES, Turkey (including Gallipoli). Plot XII. Row C. Grave 14.

Extract from De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918, Volume 2, page 303:

WALKER, ARTHUR JOHN, Capt., 11th (Service) Battn. Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regt.), attd. 6th Battn. The Manchester Regt. (T.F.), yst. s. of John Cecil Walker, of The Mount, Henley-on-Thames, by his wife, Mary, dau. of the late 'William Yells, of Highworth; b. Reading, co. Berks, 24 Dec. 1895 ; educ. Wellingborough School ; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war ; was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 11th Yorkshires 8 Oct. 1914 ; promoted Lieut. Nov. 1914, and Capt. 3 Dec. following ; went to the Dardanelles with a draft of officers in May, 1915, when he was attached to the 6th Manchesters ; was wounded 9 July, but returned to the firing line 6 Aug., and was killed in action the following day, while leading his men. Buried in Krithia Gully. The late Col. Aspinall, 1).S.O., of the Yorkshires, wrote : " It will be some consolation to you to know that in his short career as a soldier he has proved himself thoroughly capable of filling the rank which he had attained, and which in his ease must be almost, if not quite, a record in the annals of the army. I never once regretted giving him the promotion he merited," and the Adjutant of the Manchesters : " He always did his duty most unflinchingly." While at Wellingborough he passed all the school yearly examinations in turn, his best performances being in Dec. 1911 and 1913, when he obtained honours in the Cambridge Junior and Senior Examinations ,respectively. During his last year at school he passed his Responsions into Oxford University, and gained the Wickes Scholarship of £50 a year tenable at St. John's College, Oxford, where he should have entered last October to read for Holy Orders. At games he was equally to the fore. He obtained his cricket and football colours in the under 14," second eleven, and first eleven in rotation, and was a prominent member of the School first elevens in 1912, 1913 and 1914, when the School placed such strong elevens in the field at both games. He also represented the Old Wellingburians in their Dunn Cup matches in 1912 and 1913. As an athlete he was in the front rank. He won many prizes in the School sports, his best year being in the spring of 1914, when he broke the School record for the high jump with a fine leap Of five feet four inches, and only lost the championship by two points. He followed this up by winning the Public School high jump at Stamford Bridge with a jump of five feet three and one eighth inches. He was a good boxer, with a long reach and very hard punch, and was very fond of this sport. As a member of the O.T.C. for the last four years of his school career, he was chiefly instrumental in laying the foundation for the fine band the School now possesses, and he was a member of the School shooting eight in 1914, which won the Schools of the Empire Cup, the Colchester Shield for schools in Eastern Command, and which was placed seventh on the list for the Ashburton Shield at Bisley. He was very musical, and acted as organist in the School Chapel during his last two years, and also took part in the yearly School theatricals in the spring term. He was made a prefect in 1911, and held the office of head prefect during his last year—a position he held with great credit both to himself and the school ; unm.

"THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE"

THE 1939-1945 WAR
MEMORIAL TO THE FALLEN

Ordinary Signalman, C/JX214162, HMS "Walney", Royal Navy. Killed 8th November 1942 in Oran Harbour during the opening hours of 'Operation Torch'. Aged 26. Son of William and Sarah Saunders; husband of Joan Lesley Ward of Henley-on-Thames. No known grave. Commemorated on CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL, Kent. Column 58, Panel 3.