Sedbergh Military Timeline
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O.T.C. 1908 Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth SEDBERGH MILITARY TIMELINE Duncan DSO (2nd Bar) Cadet corps 1903 Campbell receiving the Victoria Cross, 1941 While Sedbergh is not seen as a ‘military school’, there is a distinguished (H 1896-1903) France 1915-1919. Mentioned history of military service by Old Sedberghians, a source of great pride to in Despatches 5 times. the School. Perhaps that sense of service stems from the values and standards Pre 1900 1930s 1970s Wounded 1915. embedded in a Sedbergh education and encapsulated in our motto, Dura 1980s Virum Nutrix – ‘Stern Nurse of Men’. It is brought most starkly into focus by 1900s 1940s Lieutenant Colonel Vice Admiral George Creswell the bravery exhibited by Old Sedberghians – especially by the four individuals 1910s 1950s 1990s Captain Jonathan Knowles Second Lieutenant (S 1897-98) Alfred Irwin DSO (2nd Bar) CB, DSO, DSC, RN 1904: Private Edward Herd MM (Bar) awarded the Victoria Cross but by many others too, and by their sacrifice, School branch of Navy 2000s Claude Worthington DSO Edward Hamilton MM Served in the Boer War, India and (SH 1901-06) (SH 1902-02) (DB 1908-10) particularly the 448 old boys and 4 masters who died in the service of this 1920s 1960s (L 1891-94) (L 1893-97) Burma. He was the first OS to lose East Surrey Regt. Wounded 1916, Staff, Mediterranean Station. League founded. Lieutenant Miles Thursby MM Liverpool Scottish; France Nation and are recorded on the Memorial Cloisters. Lieutenant General Died in the final victory West Yorkshire Regiment; his life in WW1, dying just a matter 1918. Mentioned in despatches Mentioned in Despatches. (E 1907-12) 1915-1917; Taken prisoner Andrew Gregory CB push October 1918. France 1915-1918. of weeks after the conflict began. 4 times. Canadian Machine Gun Corps. 1917-1918 but survived. Brigadier General General Sir John Shea GCB, Lieutenant General Sir Matthew Fell Lieutenant Robert Digby Jones VC Private Harold Thorp MM Corporal William Shaw MM September 1901: 1902: July 1904: Major General Jock Campbell VC, DSO, MC 1908: C. Hotham KCMG, DSO KCB, CMG, FRCS (S 1890-93) (S 1895-99) (SH 1898-1900) Sedbergh Rifle Corps First Armoury built. Boer War memorial cross unveiled by General Sir (E 1907-12) Officer Training Corps (O.T.C) (c1679) (S 1880-85) (L 1885-91) On 6 January 1900 during the attack Joined the Royal Medical Corps in North Auckland Regt., N.Z.E.F. founded. John Shea in memory of the six Old Sedberghian’s Royal Horse Artillery. Perhaps the most famous established at Sedbergh. Colonel of Royal Shea served in World War I. After the War he went First Head of House. First Director of Medical on Wagon Hill (Ladysmith), South Africa, Lieutenant Digby 1915. During operations in France Wounded 1915, 1917. who lost their lives in the conflict. The King’s Own of all “Desert Rats”, his name being Regiment Dragoons. on to be Adjutant-General, India in 1924 and Services R.A.F, mentioned in dispatches eight Jones and a trooper of the Imperial Light Horse led the force in 1916 he received the MM for Regiment Band played at the service. a byword for courage through the division. MP for Beverley. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern times. A barracks in Blackpool has been named which re-occupied the top of the hill at a critical moment, just as ‘bravery in the field’. In September He was awarded the Victoria Cross at Sidi Command, India in 1928 before retiring in 1932. after him in honour of his the three foremost attacking Boers reached it. The leader was 1917 he received a penetrating Rezegh in November 1941, whilst commanding Captain Percy Bentley MC (3rd Bar) He was very involved with Sedbergh School services to the armed forces. shot by Lieutenant Digby Jones. He wound to the chest and leg and Boer War Memorial, the Support Group. Accidently killed on active (H 1908-10) serving on the board of Governors from 1935 until was awarded the VC for his actions. died in the Casualty Clearing Sedbergh School service. Buried in Cairo War Cemetery. Yorks. Light Infantry. Wounded his death in May 1966 regularly attending speech Station from which it had been 1915, 1917; Mentioned in Dedication the Bisley 1914. The first time Sedbergh day and supporting other school events. impossible to move him. Despatches. Cloisters 1924 won the Ashburton Shield Major General Henry Alexander CB, CBE, DSO Major General Harold Hodges CBE 1923: Brigadier Harold Dimoline CBE, MBE, DSO, Harold Ashworth Corporal Fred Flatow MM Lieutenant Wilfred Turner MM 1910: (H 1925-29) (L 1924-28) Current Armoury built. DT, CPM Commemorations of (H 1915-20) (E 1914-16) (H 1910-12) Crook Rifle range Saw action in WW2 in North Africa, Italy, India, Brigadier Royal Artillery the Royal visit RAMC Acting Brigadier (Substantive Major). East Yorks, Regt. Tank Corps; France, 1915-1918 acquired and set up July 1924: (H 1918-21) Burma and North West Europe. Commanding of 1917 Manchester University Rugby Team to tour Service of dedication at Memorial Mentioned in Despatches twice. Served May 1917 Officer 1 Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Germany after the WW1. Founder Fellow of Cloisters. Designed by Old Sedberghian in India 4th Infantry in North Africa and King George V and Queen Mary visited and commanded 26 Gurkha Infantry Brigade. Field day 1930 the Society of Anaethetists. Major General Ronald McAlister. OBE J. Hubert Worthington the Cloisters feature Italian campaign, Acting Sedbergh School to inspect Officer Former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana (S 1936-41) five arches, one for each house that lost Commander in Battle of Training Corps. The Military Medal awarded Armed Forces. Monte Casino where to F.W. Flatow in 1918 3rd, 10th Brigade of Gurkha Rifles. boys in WW1. The names of 257 boys and Bursar, Wellesley House Prep School. master were inscribed on the panels. Allies suffered 55,000 casualties. Retired editor 10th Gurkhas Regimental Journal. Frederick Spencer Flying Officer Laurence Reavell-Carter Flying Officer John Stower Brigadier Alastair Pearson Kenneth William Gemmell Alexander MBE Air Vice Marshall Peter Chapman DSO (Bar) (L 1928-31) (H 1930-31) CB, OBE,MC, DSO Campbell VC (L 1932-36) Furniss DFC Second Lieutenant (L 1926) Reavell-Carter was an Olympic Athlete for Great Britain. He took part in the famous ‘Great Escape’. Stower (W 1930-33) (S 1931-35) After reading law at Oxford he served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the (SH 1933-37) George Gunn VC, MC Chapman was commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders in 1939 and He took part in the famous ‘Great Escape’. He was succeeded in getting from Sagan into Switzerland, Pearson took command of 1st Flying Officer, 22 Squadron Coastal 51st Infantry Division. He served in France until the Dunkirk Commanded a Spitfire (S 1926-30) due to his exploration experience was chosen to train Australian, New caught at the exit from the tunnel and put back inside the and after four days, unknowingly, walked back Parachute Battalion and 8th Command. Killed in action in Brest evacuation where he had to escape in full uniform. He escaped squadron in Italian and Balkan Royal Horse Artillery. Killed in action. Buried Zealand and Singaporean forces in guerrilla warfare. During a mission camp when he tried to save others by distracting the through the frontier into German territory, and was unscathed after the attempted bombing of a ship he was asleep on. (Midlands) Parachute Battalion flying a Beaufort Torpedo Bomber campaign in WW2. Drill practice in Winder behind Japanese lines in Malay the entire party except Chapman in Knightbridge Cemetary, Lybia. Won VC guard who was about to shoot them. Perhaps this helped seized by a German patrol. He was amongst the 50 fighting in Battle of France, in a successful attack on Battlecruiser On his return from WW2 he was posted to Africa with the Eighth House Yard c.1937 Sidi Rezegh 21/11/41, Gunn held off an succumbed to starvation, disease and attack by Japanese forces. save his life, for had he been re-taken at large, he would prisoners who were shot by the Germans on 31st Tunisian Campaign, Invasion of Gneisenau. Buried at Brest. Army. He was involved in desert fighting and took part in beach attack on Sidi Rezegh with single unarmoured Chapman spent 18 months in hiding in the jungle sabotaging Japanese most probably have been one of the 50 who were shot by March 1944. Sicily and Normandy landings. landings in Sicily and Italy. He was present at the capture of the gun when rest of battery had been destroyed military efforts. In 1946 he was awarded the Distinguished Service the Germans after being recaptured. Belsen concentration camp. In 1946, he began several years of or disabled. Order backdated to 31 March 1944. A Bar to D. S. O followed in 1946. CCF Band 1951-52 travelling the world with the Colonial Service. Lieutenant Colonel Mathew Straker Major General Christopher Wilson CB, CBE Rear Admiral Robin Admiral Sir Jock Slater March 1951: Major General Michael Walsh CB, 1940: (W 1968-73) (L 1967-72) Shiffner GCB, LVO, DL, RN Victoria Cross Memorial unveiled above CBE, DSO, DL Junior Training Commissioned into The 15th/19th The King’s Wilson was commissioned into the Royal Artillery (SH 1955-59) (SH 1951-56) Cloisters. Three Old Sedberghians were (SH 1941-44) Corps (J.T.C) Royal Hussars in 1974. Service with the Regular in 1973. He was appointed the Senior Army Shiffner served with the Royal Navy Served in the Royal Navy awarded the Victoria Cross in WW2, two T.