Butcombe (Somerset): Church of St Michael and All Angels; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/50126917672
By Royal Warrant, the Heavy Branch of the Machine Gun Corps became the Tank Corps on the 28th July 1917. A few days later it would go into action on the opening day of the Third Battle of Ypres.
One of those that died on the 31st July 1917 was Lieutenant Neville Ernest Baker, the son of a solicitor from Weston-super-Mare. Lieutenant Baker was serving with the Corps of Royal Engineers, but at the time of his death was attached to the Tank Corps as Signals Officer of the 2nd Tank Brigade.
Lieutenant Baker’s older brother, Captain Aubrey Halliwell Baker, had died the previous year, having being killed in action in Mesopotamia on the 8th March 1916 while serving with the 4th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry.
Butcombe (Somerset): Chancel screen in the Church of St Michael and All Angels; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/52250455449
The chancel screen at Butcombe:
After the war, a chancel screen in the Church of St Michael and All Angels at Butcome (Somerset) was erected to the brothers’ memory by their parents, Ernest Edward and Beatrice Baker of Weston-super-Mare [1]. The screen ultimately came from the church at Blagdon, but it had previously been built into the wall of a farm building at nearby Aldwick [2]. The most recent Pevsner volume for North Somerset and Bristol describes the screen as follows [3]:
SCREEN of c. 1500 from Blagdon, installed 1921, no doubt with new work. Two-light divisions with extremely delicate tracery. Handsomely carved cornice, three bands of vines.
A little more context about the screen was included in an obituary of Ernest Edward Baker that was published in the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society after his death in 1931. Ernest Edward was a historian of the Weston-super-Mare area and also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA) [4]:
His long and extensive practice as a solicitor brought him into close relation with many owners of property and he was always on the alert for any opportunity of securing the preservation of anything of antiquarian or historic importance. One of his most notable successes in this direction was the rescue and restoration of the original carved screen of Blagdon Church which he and Mrs Baker gave to the church at Butcombe, where it now is, in memory of their sons Aubrey Baker and Neville Baker who were killed in action in the Great War.
Butcombe (Somerset): Memorial plaque for Capt Aubrey Halliwell Baker and Lieut Neville Ernest Baker in the Church of St Michael and All Angels; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/50126693986
Adjacent the screen is a brass plaque with the regimental badges of the Somerset Light Infantry and the Royal Engineers. It is inscribed:
The Chancel screen was
erected by their Parents
in loving memory of
Capt Aubrey Halliwell Baker
1/4 Somerset L.I. aged 26
who fell in Action in
Mesopotamia March 8th 1916.
and of his Brother
Lt. Neville Ernest Baker R.E.
aged 21, who fell in Action
near Ypres July 31st 1917.“Be thou faithful unto death
and I will give thee
a crown of life”
Rev 11.10.
The Baker family lived in Weston-super-Mare, but there were family links with Butcombe. This post will provide a brief outline of the lives of Aubrey and Neville Baker based on the information provided by genealogical databases, military records, and old newspapers.
Family background:
Ernest Edward Baker was born at Weston-super-Mare in 1855, the son of Samuel and Louisa Baker. He married Beatrice Morgan at Wandsworth (registration district) in 1885. Beatrice had been born at Clapham (Surrey) in 1858, the daughter of Thomas and Fanny Alicia Morgan. At the time of the 1891 Census, they were living at “Caerleon,” Queens Road, Weston-super-Mare.
They would have four children, all of whom were born at Weston: Sybil Beatrice was born in 1886; Aubrey Halliwell in 1889; Eileen Mildred Morgan in ca. 1893; and Neville Ernest in 1895.
At the time of the 1901 Census, the Baker family were living at Brunswick House in Clevedon. Ernest was forty-six years old and working as a solicitor and notary, while his wife was forty-two. At the time they had three children, listed as: Aubrey H. (aged 11), Eileen M. M. (7), and Neville E. (5). Also staying with the household was a visitor: Agnes B. Curtois, a twenty-three year old who had been born at Hemingford Grey.
By the time of the 1911 Census, the family had moved to Glebe House in Weston-super-Mare. Ernest Edward Baker was by that time fifty-six years old and still working as a solicitor, while his wife Beatrice was fifty-two. The census return confirms that they had had four children, all of whom at the time were still living. Except for Aubrey (whose entry was crossed out and initialled), the children were still part of the household. In 1911, the children were listed as:
- Sybil Beatrice Baker, daughter, aged 24, single
Aubrey Halliwell Baker, son, aged 21, single, law student- Eileen Mildred Morgan Baker, daughter, aged 17, single
- Neville Ernest Baker, son, aged 15, single, school
In addition, the household in April 1911 also included a visitor and three servants:
- Olive Mary Fisher, visitor, aged 22, single, born Windermere, Westmorland
- Laura Winifred Hay, servant, aged 24, married, parlourmaid domestic, born Calne, Wiltshire
- Kate Hutchings, servant, aged 34, widow, cook domestic, born Litton, Somerset
- Emma Gladys Creek, servant, aged 19, single, housemaid domestic, born Wiveliscombe, Somerset
Elsewhere, the census records that Aubrey Halliwell Baker was one of three law students and a barrister-at-law who were boarding at a lodging house in Bude (Cornwall) called Summerleaze.
After the war, the 1921 Census recorded Ernest Edward and Beatrice Baker living at Sand Bay, just north of Weston-super-Mare. Their household also included a visitor: Emily Clutterbuck, a fifty-year old “professional nurse,” and a servant: Daisy Croker, a sixteen-year-old general domestic. Ernest Edward Baker died in 1931, aged 76; his widow Beatrice in 1942, aged 84.
Of their daughters, Eileen Mildred Morgan Baker would marry Frederick St George Tucker at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster in 1915. Frederick was a Major in the 10th (Service) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, but would sadly be killed in action at La Boisselle on the 3rd July 1916 (he is buried in Ovillers Military Cemetery, grave ref. VI. G. 4.). Eileen would then marry Arthur V. James in 1920. Sybil Beatrice Baker would marry Gerald John Davies at Kewstoke on the 18th November 1929.
See Appendix A for some more information on Major Tucker.
Captain Aubrey Halliwell Baker:
Aubrey Halliwell Baker was born at Weston-super-Mare in 1889. The young Aubrey studied at Clifton College and Trinity College, Oxford and was a cadet in the University of Oxford Officers Training Corps (OTC). He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry in February 1912 [5]. He was mobilised after the outbreak of war, his service being summarised as follows in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour [6]:
Captain Aubrey Halliwell Baker. Source: De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour; via Findmypast.
BAKER, AUBREY HALLIWELL, Capt., 1/4th (T.F.) Battn. Prince Albert’s (Somerset Light Infantry), eldest s. of Ernest Edward Baker, F.S.A., of the Glebe House, Weston-super-Mare, but his wife, Beatrice, dau. of Thomas Morgan, F.S.A.; b. Weston-super-Mare, 8 Aug. 1889; educ. At Duckworth’s, St. Peter’s, Weston-super-Mare; Clifton College (obtaining a Scholarship); Trinity College, Oxford (Second Class Final Honour School of Jurisprudence, and B.A. degree 1911; Second Class Honour Examination B.C.L. degree 1913; Final Examination of the Law Society 1914). At Clifton was a member of the O.T.C., and captain of the Shooting VIII. at Bisley, winning a bronze medal in the Ashburton Shield competition; whilst in the O.T.C. at Oxford, he shot in the ‘Varsity VIII. at Bisley, 1911; gazetted 2nd Lieut. 4th Battn. Somerset Light Infantry Feb. 1912; promoted Lieut. shortly afterwards, and Capt. 7 Oct. 1914; volunteered for foreign service, and embarked for India with his battalion in Oct. 1914; from there he went to Mesopotamia in Feb. 1916, and was killed in action at the Battle of Es Sinn 8 March 1916. The President of Trinity College, Oxford, wrote: “He charmed me from the first moment I saw him, and throughout he was a good member of the college and as admirable a young man as anyone could be.” A scholar who enlisted in the same battalion wrote from India: “He was a man one could die for.” His Commanding Officer wrote: “He was a gallant officer, and was very much liked by the officers and men of his battalion. To me personaly I feel that I have lost a friend to whom I was much attached.” – Unm.
The original Battle of Es Sinn had taken place on the 28th September 1915 during the advance of Indian Expeditionary Force “D” up the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. It proved to be the key to the capture of the town of Kut-al-Amara. The action took place several months before the 1/4th Somersets had even arrived in Mesopotamia, by which time General Townshend’s force had become trapped in Kut. While the action on the 8th March 1916 took place in the area around Es Sinn, it is usually now referred to as the Battle of Dujaila, named after the redoubt that was the focus of what was the second (unsuccessful) attempt of the Tigris Force to relieve the beseiged garrison in Kut. Captain Baker’s death is mentioned in Everard Wyrall’s regimental history of the Somerset Light Infantry, which I have included here as an appendix (Appendix B).
The death of Captain Baker and a solicitor colleague was reported in the Western Daily Press of the 15th March 1916 [7]:
LOCAL OFFICERS KILLED.
A general sense of regret was experienced throughout the Weston-super-Mare district yesterday afternoon, when it became known that Captain Aubrey Halliwell Baker, 1/4th Somerset Regiment, elder son of Mr and Mrs Ernest Baker of Glebe House, and Lieutenant Conrad Ivan Lillington, of the same regiment – only son of Mr and Mrs Wadsworth B. Lillington, of Elm Grove – had fallen in action on the 8th inst. While serving in Mesopotamia. The dead officers, who were respectively aged 26 and 24, were the sons of partners in the well-known legal firm of Baker and Co., and had there served their articles. Captain Baker was educated at Clifton College – where he captained the rifle team for several seasons – and at Trinity College, Oxford, where he took the degrees of B.A. and B.C.L., and had held a commission in “E” Company, 4th S.L.I., for a considerable while prior to the outbreak of war. Lieut. Lillington was educated at St. Peter’s School and at Clifton College, and had passed his preliminary London LL.B. He had shot for his College rifle team at Bisley, and was a clever billiard player and Association footballer.
The obituary published shortly afterwards in the Oxford Chronicle repeats much of the same information that was published in other accounts, and seems to be based on that published in The Times [8]:
Captain A. H. Baker.
Captain Aubrey Halliwell Baker, 1/4th Somerset Light Infantry (T.F.), as already announced in the “Oxford Chronicle,” was killed in Mesopotamia on March 8th. The “Times” gives the following biographical particulars: Born in 1889, he was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Baker of The Glebe House, Weston-super-Mare. He was educated at Clifton College and at Trinity College, Oxford; he took his B.A. degree in the Honour School of Jurisprudence in 1911, and obtained second-class Honours in the examination at Oxford for the B.C.L. degree in 1913. In June, 1914, he passed the Law Society’s Final Examination. He belonged both to the Clifton College and Univeristy O.T.C. and successively was a member of their Shooting Eights and shot for both at Bisley. After leaving Oxford he took a commission in E Company of the 4th Somerset Light Infantry, and on the outbreak of the war he volunteered for foreign service, was promoted to the rank of captain, and went to India with his battalion in October, 1914.
Compared with these other accounts, Captain Baker’s entry in the Record of Service of Solicitors and Articled Clerks with His Majesty’s forces, 1914-1919 provides the barest outline of his military career [9]:
AUBREY HALLIWELL BAKER.
Articled to E. E. Baker, of Weston-super-Mare. Mobilised Aug. 1914 as Lieut., 4th Batt. Somerset Light Infantry (T.). Promoted Capt. Oct. 1914. Served in India, chiefly on frontier, Oct. 1914 to Feb. 1916, and in Mesopotamia Feb. and March 1916. Killed in action in the advance to Kut March 8, 1916.
The Record of Service also contains an entry for Lieutenant Lillington [10]:
CONRAD IVAN LILLINGTON.
Articled to G. C. Woods, of 6 Lancaster Place, Strand, W.C. Joined Aug. 22, 1914, as Private, 4th Batt. Somerset Light Infantry. Gazetted Lieut, in same Regt. Oct. 7, 1914. Served at Home, in India, and in Mesopotamia. Killed in action at Es Sinn, Mesopotamia, March 8, 1916, in an attempt to relieve Kut.
Lieutenant Neville Ernest Baker:
Neville Ernest Baker was born at Weston-super-Mare in 1895. Neville’s own entry in the Record of Service of Solicitors and Articled Clerks provides a very broad outline of his life and war service [11]:
NEVILLE ERNEST BAKER.
Articled to E. E. Baker, of Weston-super-Mare. Joined Aug. 1914 as Motor Cyclist Despatch Rider-Corporal, Royal Engineers (Signals). Sailed for France with First Division Aug. 1914, gazetted 2nd Lieut. Royal Engineers Jan. 1915, Brigade Signal Officer 1915, promoted Lieut., attached to Headquarters 2nd Brigade Tank Corps, 1917. Served in France and Belgium 1914 to 1917. Died of wounds at Voormezeele near Yypres [sic], Belgium, July 31, 1917.
Like his older brother, Neville had studied at Clifton College and Trinity College, Oxford, where he was a member of the University of Oxford OTC. He joined the Royal Engineers shortly after the outbreak of war, was commissioned in early 1915, and became a brigade signal officer, eventually being attached to 2nd Tank Brigade at some point in 1917.
The Western Daily Press published an obituary on the 7th August 1917 [12]:
ROLL OF HONOUR.
BAKER. – Killed in action on the 31st July, 2nd Lieut. Neville Ernest Baker, R.E. (Signals), attached to Tank Corps, the only surviving son of Mr and Mrs Ernest Baker, of The Glebe House, Weston-super-Mare. Aged 21.
A slightly-longer tribute appeared in the same newspaper the following day [13]:
WESTON “OLD CLIFTONIAN” KILLED IN ACTION.
Mr and Mrs Ernest E. Baker, of The Glebe House, Weston-super-Mare – whose elder son, Captain Aubrey H. Baker, Somerset L.I., perished in action in Mesopotamia last year – have been notified of the death, killed by shell fire on the 31st ult., of their younger and only remaining son, Second Lieut. Neville Ernest Baker, Royal Engineers (Signals), but recently attached to the “Tanks” Corps. In a letter to the bereaved parents, his colonel wrote: “We had all learnt to love him. He was always cheerful and ready for work, and the gap he has left in our mess will be felt for a very long time, while feelings of regards and regret have been expressed throughout the battalions of this brigade. He had a cheery and loving disposition and was cheerful to the last. A gallant soul, beloved by all.” The dead officer was educated at Clifton College, where he was a member of the O.T.C. and captain of the shooting eight, and later proceeded to Trinity College, Oxford, where he joined the ‘Varsity O.T.C. On the declaration of war he at once proffered his services, and on August 16, 1914, proceeded to France as a motor despatch rider, and took part in the battles of Mons, the Marne, and the Aisne. In January, 1915, he was given a commission in the R.E. (Signals), and having fulfilled his training course, returned to France in November of the same years, where he had since served. His colonel added that his promotion as captain had been thoroughly well won and had been expected any day. He was 22 years of age.
Without reference to Lieutenant Baker’s service records, it is not possible to note which units he served with before he was attached to the 2nd Tank Brigade.
Lieutenant Baker died of wounds on the 31st July 1917, which was the opening day of the offensive in the Ypres salient that became known as the Third Battle of Ypres. The 2nd Tank Brigade had two battalions of the newly-formed Tank Corps, “A” and “B” Battalions.
A post-war view of derelict tanks at ‘Stirling Castle’ between Gheluvelt and Hooge, 1920 (Q 37263). Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205271935
The Brigade was assigned to II Corps, which included the 24th, 30th, 18th (Eastern), 8th and 25th Divisions. On the 31st July 1917, they would attack in the Hooge area south of the Ypres-Roulers railway, with their main objective the Broodseinde Ridge. The area was guarded by the shattered remains of several woods, including Shrewsbury Forest, Inverness Copse, and Glencorse Wood. The Williams-Ellises history of the Tank Corps noted that the “ground in this area was broken by swamps and woods; only three approaches were possible for Tanks, and these formed dangerous defiles“ [14]. It is no surprise, especially in retrospect, that the Broodseinde Ridge would not be captured until October.
The “War History of the 2nd Tank Brigade,” which can be found in the Brigade War Diary (WO 95/102/4), contains a succinct (and very well-written) summary of its involvement in the Third Battle of Ypres [15]:
THE HOOGE BATTLE, July 31, 1917.
On the face of it, this was one of the least successful actions in which 2nd Brigade Tanks took part. But only those who have known the Ypres salient at its worst can appreciate what a strain it was to get Tanks into action at all. In bad weather, on ground rendered almost hopeless by shelling and rain, against an enemy with good observation and fully warned of the attack, the marvel is that so many Tanks ever reached the German trenches.
The 2nd Brigade, still composed of “A” and “B” Battalions were allotted to the IInd Corps, and they were to work north and south of what was left of Hooge, the general objective being the Broodsinde [sic] ridge. The amount of shattered woodland in the area of the attack left only three avenues of approach up which Tanks could come, and one of these, the Hooge gap came in for very heavy shelling all the time. The Brigade Tanks lay up north and east of Zillebeke village; but so many guns were concentrated in this area that great difficulty […] able for reconnaissance and preparating of routes before the attack came off. In the approach marches a great deal of gas and H.E. shelling was met with, and one company moving up two nights before the attack had 6 officers and 15 other ranks knocked out.
The attack itself for various reasons was not a great success. Tanks ditched again and again, a large number received direct hits and those that did struggle on were able to make little headway. The 2nd Brigade objectived [sic] were roughly on a line from Shrewsbury Forest through Inverness Copse and Glencorse Wood to Westhoek. The route round north of Bellewaarde Lake proved very bad going and the southern routes came in for very heavy shelling. To quote a contemporary report, “a good deal of very gallant work was carried on under exceptionally adverse circumstances”, casualties amounted to 24 killed and 180 wounded. Tanks took part in several minor operations in the same area later on but of these no records exist. The story seems to run on much the same lines: heavy shelling, bad ground, constant ditching and success as elusive as ever. Only the ground and men’s memories can tell what that fighting was like.
“Si monumentum requiris, curcumspice”. Tank Officers of a later day, stumbling round Bellewaarde or Glencorse Wood, where their predecessors fought their quaint old Tanks, may well think their effors as amazing as we do the crossing of the Alps by Hannibal.
That the Second Corps realised this to the full is shown by the following message sent to the Brigade in September.
“The Corps Commanders desires to thank all ranks of the 2nd Brigade, Tank Corps, for the fine work they performed during recent operations.
The weather and the ground were as unfavourable as it was possible to meet with for operations by “The Tanks”, but thanks to good reconnaissance, careful study of maps and aeroplane photos and the great gallantry and devotion to duty shown by all ranks, the 2nd Brigade, Tank Corps, was able to render material assistance to the Infantry throughout the operations.
The Corps Commander wishes all ranks of the 2nd Brigade, Tank Corps, every success, and hopes that when the II Corps again comes into the line he may be fortunate enough again to have the 2nd Brigade to assist in the operations.
(Sgd) STANHOPE. Major.
for B.G.G.S. [i.e. Brigadier-General, General Staff]”The two V.Cs. which the Brigade won at this time [neither awarded for actions on the 31st July] were both given for exceptional gallantry under the worst difficulties of ground and shelling.
All this time the Brigade remained in the neighbourhood of Ypres. Ouderdom knew them, Dickebusch knew them, and they were in and around Poperinghe for some time. Perhaps they wondered a little that Tanks were still used at the slimy wastes of the Passchendaele salient, but their chance was to come. Farther south, where the going was good, and the enemy sat peacefully and unexpectant in the fastnesses of the Hindenburg Line, a plan was already maturing.”
This final sentence looked forwards to the Battle of Cambrai, which was to follow in November 1917.
Extract from Appendix “F” in 2nd Tank Brigade “Report on Tank Operations, 31st July 1917,” WO 95/101/4, The National Archives, Kew. © Crown Copyright
There is no further information available on how Lieutenant Baker died, except that he was hit by shellfire, and died of wounds at Voormezeele, just south of Ypres. His name appears in the Roll of Honour attached to the Brigade War Diary (WO 95/101/4) [16]. Lieutenant Baker was buried in Voormezeele Enclosures No. 1 and No. 2 (grave ref: I. E. 27.).
Lieutenant Baker is the only one of the five officers in 2nd Tank Brigade that died on the 31st July to be buried at Voormezeele. The graves of three others were concentrated after the war into either Hooge Crater Cemetery (Lieut Walter Lennox Blackwood, Royal Scots Fusiliers; Lieut Charles Norman Innes Dunman, Middlesex Regiment) or Birr Cross Roads Cemetery (Lieut Sidney Joseph Cottle, Devonshire Regiment). The fourth (2nd Lieut Herbert Edward Boag, Machine Gun Corps) is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing.
Voormezeele. Detail of Trench Map 28.NW; scale: 1:20000; edition: 6A; published: July 1917; trenches corrected to 30 June 1917; reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (CC-BY): https://maps.nls.uk/view/101464903
Memorials:
As well as the chancel screen at Butcome, Aubrey and Neville Baker are also commemorated on several other war memorials in the UK:
- Clifton College, Bristol [17]
- Trinity College, Oxford (War Memorial Library) [18]
- Solicitors and Articled Clerks memorial, The Law Society, Holborn [19]
- Grove Park War Memorial, Weston-super-Mare [20]
- Church of St John the Baptist, Weston-super-Mare [21]
- Church of All Saints, Weston-super-Mare [22]
In the Church of All Saints, Weston-super-Mare, there is also a memorial window commemorating both Aubrey Baker and his brother-in-law, Frederick St. George Tucker [23].
Aubrey Baker is also commemorated on the 4th Somerset Light Infantry memorial in Bath Abbey.
Both Aubrey and Neville Baker also feature in the Trinity College lists published in the University of Oxford Roll of Service [24] and (as already quoted) the Record of Service of Solicitors and Articled Clerks with His Majesty’s Forces.
Extract from the Trinity College list in the University of Oxford Roll of Service (1920), p. 396; via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/oxforduniversity00univuoft/page/n415
References:
[1] IWM War Memorials Register: Capt A H Baker And Lt N E Baker – Chancel Screen (WMR 30021), Butcombe, Somerset: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/30021
[2] Andrew Plaster, Butcombe, B&AFHS Journal 144, June 2011: https://bafhs.org.uk/butcombe/?v=79cba1185463
[3] Andrew Foyle and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Somerset: North and Bristol (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 2011), p. 434.
[4] Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, Vol. LXXVII, 1931, pp. 144-145: https://sanhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/22-Obits.pdf
[5] London Gazette, 12 March 1912, p. 1833; via Findmypast.
[6] De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour; via Findmypast.
[7] Western Daily Press, 15 March 1916, p. 8; via British Newspaper Archive.
[8] Oxford Chronicle, 24 March 1916, p. 8; via British Newspaper Archive.
[9] Record of Service of Solicitors and Articled Clerks with His Majesty’s forces, 1914-1919 (London: Spottiswoode, Ballantyne, 1920), p. 21; via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/recordofserviceo00soli/page/20
[10] Ibid., p. 339: https://archive.org/details/recordofserviceo00soli/page/338
[11] Ibid., p. 22: https://archive.org/details/recordofserviceo00soli/page/22
[12] Western Daily Press. 7 August 1917, p. 4; via British Newspaper Archive.
[13] Western Daily Press, 8 August 1917, p. 3; via British Newspaper Archive.
[14] Clough Williams-Ellis and A. Williams-Ellis, The Tank Corps (New York: George H. Doran Company, ca. 1919), p. 136; via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/tankcorps00clou/page/136
[15] “War History of the 2nd Tank Brigade,” in: WO 95/102/4, War Diary of 2nd Tank Brigade, The National Archives, Kew.
[16] WO 95/101/4, War Diary of 2nd Tank Brigade, The National Archives, Kew.
[17] IWM War Memorials Register: Clifton College – WW1 (WMR 56851), Bristol: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/56851
[18] IWM War Memorials Register: Trinity College, Oxford – WW1 (WMR 31985), the War Memorial Library: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/31985
[19] Solicitors and Articled Clerks – WW1 (WMR 11548), The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, Holborn, Westminster: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/11548
[20] IWM War Memorials Register: Weston-super-Mare, Uphill and Kewstoke (WMR 3142), the Grove Park War Memorial, Weston-super-Mare: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/3142
[21] IWM War Memorials Register: Weston-super-Mare – plaque (WMR 7439), in the Church of St John the Baptist, Weston-super-Mare: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/7439
[22] IWM War Memorials Register: All Saints Parishioners (WMR 29362), in the Church of All Saints, Weston-super-Mare: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/29362
[23] IWM War Memorials Register: A H Baker and F St G Tucker (WMR 29373), memorial window in the Church of All Saints, Weston-super-Mare: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/29373
[24] University of Oxford Roll of Service, ed. E. S. Craig and W. M. Gibson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1920), p. 396; via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/oxforduniversity00univuoft/page/n415
Appendix A: Major Frederick St George Tucker:
The grave marker of Major F. St G. Tucker in Ovillers Military Cemetery; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/49035809041
Major Frederick St. George Tucker has a brief biography in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour; via Findmypast:
TUCKER, FREDERICK ST. GEORGE, Major, The Worcestershire Regt., eldest s. of the late Frederick St. George Tucker, Lieut. R.A.; and gdson. of St. George Tucker, of the Bengal Civil Service (who served with other brothers through the Indian Mutiny, 1857); b. India, 27 Feb. 1883; educ. Heddon Court, Hampstead, N.W., and Haileybury College; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Worcester Regt. 18 Jan. 1902; promoted Lieut. 11 June, 1904; attached to the West African Regt. 25 June, 1907, to 21 March, 1912; Capt. 22 June, 1912; attached to the Royal Flying Corps 17 April, 1913, to 12 April, 1914; Temp. Major 10th Battn. 3 June, 1915; went to France July, 1915; killed in action 3 July, 1916, during the capture of La Boisselle, France. Buried at La Boisselle. Mentioned in General Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatch [London Gazette, 15 June, 1916], for gallantry in the field. One of his sergeants wrote: “He is loved, admired and respected by all ranks; he never sends an officer, N.C.O., or man to a post without first going himself and sampling it as to danger . . . . When the firing is the hottest, Major Tucker is found giving cheery words to his men and confidence by his presence.” Whilst serving in Sierra Leone, he saved a native from drowning in a crocodile-infested river, for which he received the Royal Humane Society’s Medal; he spent four months in elephant hunting in Africa, in British and French territory, securing six elephants in addition to other big game. In the Montrose to Dublin air flight during the manoeuvres in 1913, his machine unfortunately broke down just before reaching the coast. He m. at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, 19 June 1915, Eileen, dau. of Ernest Edward Baker, F.S.A., of The Glebe House, Weston-super-Mare; s.p.
The 10th (Service) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment was part of 57th Infantry Brigade in the 19th (Western) Division. Major Tucker was killed in action on the 3rd July 1916, when the 19th Division were engaged in the capture the village of La Boisselle, following up the assault of the 34th Division on the 1st July.
La Boisselle. Detail of Trench Map 57D.SE.4 (Ovillers); scale: 1:10000; edition: 3A; published: March 1917; trenches corrected to 1 September 1916; reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (CC-BY): https://maps.nls.uk/view/101464807
Newspaper obituaries do not really provide that much additional information, but the one in the Surrey Advertiser demonstrates Major Tucker’s link with Woking, where his name appears on the town’s war memorial.
Evesham Standard & West Midland Observer, 15 July 1916 (p. 7); via British Newspaper Archive:
MAJOR FREDERICK ST GEORGE TUCKER.
Major Frederick St. George Tucker, Worcestershire Regiment, killed on July 3, was the older son of Lieut. Frederick St. George Tucker, R.A., and grandson of St. George Tucker, Bengal Civil Service. He was educated at Haileybury, and obtained his commission in the 4th Worcestershire Regiment in January, 1902. From 1907 to 1912 he served with the West African Regiment, during which period he was presented with the Royal Humane Society’s medal for saving life in Sierra Leone and distinguished himself in big game shooting. In 1912 he qualified for the R.F.C. at Hendon, and served with the corps until 1914. At the outbreak of the war he was appointed to a service battalion, with whom he went to front in July, 1915, and was mentioned in dispatches in June last. He married, in June 1915, Eileen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Baker, of The Glebe House, Weston-super-Mare.
The Surrey Advertiser, 17 July 1916 (p. 2); via British Newspaper Archive:
Major Frederick St. George Tucker, Worcestershire Regiment, killed on July 3rd, was the elder son of the late Lieut. Frederick St. George Tucker, R.A., and grandson of St. George Tucker, Bengal Civil Service. He was well-known in Woking, where during the last five years he had frequently stayed with his aunts, the Misses Tucker, of Henfield, Claremont Avenue, with whom, since being left an orphan, he had made his home. In June, 1915, he married Eileen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Baker, of Weston-Super-Mare.
According his CWGC record, Major Tucker’s grave was concentrated from Trench Map reference 57d.14.c (La Boisselle) to Plot 6 of Ovillers Military Cemetery, Ovillers-la-Boisselle.
Appendix B: The Battle of Dujaila, 8th March 1916:
The 1/4th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry had arrived in India in November 1914. They would remain there until the 4th February 1916, when it received orders to join Indian Expeditionary Force “D” in Mesopotamia. Once there, they would become part of Lieutenant-General Fenton Aylmer’s Tigris Corps, which had been detailed to relieve the trapped garrison at Kut that was commanded by Major-General Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend. The battalion became part of 37th Indian Infantry Brigade in the 3rd Indian Division.
The Mesopotamian Campaign had commenced in November 1914 when a brigade from the 6th (Poona) Division landed at Fao and occupied the port of Basra. The initial British objective was to protect supplies of oil, but success at the Battle of Shaiba (12 April 1915) encouraged them to go on the offensive. The Poona Division, led by Major-General Townshend, therefore moved up the Tigris river and captured Amara on the 4th June. Another force, led by General George Frederick Gorringe advanced up the Euphrates and occupied Nasiriyah.
After the fall of Amara, Townshend was ordered to push on towards Kut-al-Amara and (if possible) Baghdad. He successfully captured Kut in September 1915, but heavy losses at the (indecisive) Battle of Ctesiphon in November persuaded him that it would not be possible to continue on to Baghdad. Townshend’s army, therefore, was forced to fall back upon the defences of Kut, where it eventually became besieged. There followed several failed attempts by the Tigris Corps to relieve the town, of which the Battle of Dujaila was the second. Townshend eventually surrendered to the Ottomans on the 29th April 1916. The Indian and British troops taken into captivity suffered terribly.
Detail from: Map 17. Map to illustrate the attack on the Dujaila Redoubt: 8th March, 1916, in: The Campaign in Mesopotamia 1914-1918, Volume II [322r], Ref: IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/2, f 322, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers; via Qatar Digital Library: https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100045738552.0x000036
THE SECOND ATTEMPT TO RELIEVE KUT, 7TH – 10TH MARCH 1916
The Battle of Ctesiphon in November 1915 and the subsequent retirement of General Townshend’s force to Kut on 3rd December, followed by the investment of the place by the Turks, completed by 7th December, had all taken place when the 1/4th Somersets (Lieut.-Col. W. C. Cox) landed at Basra towards the end of February 1916.
In the first attempt to relieve Kut (4th-23rd January), the Action of Shaikh Sa’ad (6th-8th January) ended in the Turks retiring up-stream followed by General Aylmer’s force. In the Action of the Wadi (13th-14th January) the enemy was again driven out of his positions and retired five miles farther west, entrenching himself across a defile bounded on the north by a marsh and on the south by the Tigris, but General Aylmer’s attack on Hanna on 21st January, owing to strong Turkish counter-attacks with overwhelming forces, was unsuccessful – the first attempt to relieve Kut had failed. Throughout the remainder of January and February preparations were made for resuming the offensive, and at the end of the latter month the situation was given briefly in the official despatches as follows:–
“On the left bank (of the Tigris) the enemy, having been reinforced, still held the Hannah position in force; farther in rear were other defensive lines at Falahiyah, Sannaiyat, Nakhailat and along the northern part of the Es Sinn position. All except the last named had been constructed since the Battle of Hannah on 21st January. They were all protected on both flanks by the Tigris and the Suwaikieh Marsh respectively. On the right bank the Es Sinn position constituted the Turkish main line of defence, with an advanced position near Beit Aiessa. The right flank of the Es Sinn position rested on the Dujailah Redoubt, which lay some 5 miles south of the river, and 14 miles south-west of the British lines on the right bank.”
After the heavy fighting of 21st January G.H.Q. had received a report (dated 25th Jan.) from General Townshend to the effect that he could hold out for another 84 days [note-1]. On receipt of this information it was decided to attack the right flank of the Turkish position, i.e. the Dujailah Redoubt, as the first step towards the relief of Kut, for the flood season would arrive about the middle of March and if the Turks broke the banks so that the Tigris flooded the country, offensive operations would be impracticable.
By route-march and river steamer reinforcements were pushed up from the base at Basra, and amongst those to arrive were the 1/4th Somerset L.I. For several days after their arrival the Somerset men remained camped amidst pleasant surroundings at Basra. The Battalion now formed part of the 37th (Indian) Infantry Brigade (3rd Indian Division).
At midnight on 24th/25th February orders were received for the 1/4th Somersets to proceed up-country by river instead of by route-march, as previously ordered, and at 11.30 a.m. on 27th February B and D Companies embarked on Launch P11 and Barges 67 and 72 and Bn. H.Qs. and A and C Companies on Launch P12 and Barges 68 and R.F.C. The two former Companies got well away, but A and C Companies were delayed as Barge R.F.C. ran aground, which caused a delay of some 30 hours. But eventually Bn. H.Qs. with A and C Companies were able to resume the journey and early in the morning of the 1st March Ezra’s Tomb was passed, and Amara reached at dawn on the 2nd, where the launches and barges were tied up for a few hours. The journey was continued at 11 a.m., Shaik Sa’ad being reached at 6 p.m. on the 3rd. At 6.15 p.m. on the 4th March the delayed Companies and Bn.H.Qs. arrived at Orah and disembarked, marching to a camp previously prepared by B and D Companies who had arrived on 3rd.
Until the evening of 6th March the 1/4th Battalion remained at Orah, but at 7 p.m. on that date marched out to bivouac in the Senna position, arriving there at 2 a.m. on the 7th.
On the afternoon of the 7th March General Aylmer assembled his subordinate commanders and gave them final verbal instructions, laying particular stress on the point that the attack was to be a surprise and that the first important phase of the operation was the capture of the Dujailah Redoubt. Two columns – A and B – were to attack the Redoubt, B making a turning movement from the south, whilst A operated from due east. The 37th Brigade appears to have furnished Column C whose rôle was not to attack the Redoubt, but support the attacks of A and B by rifle and machine-gun fire; the Brigade was ordered under no circumstances to advance closer than 500 yards from the enemy. The maps and records are, unfortunately, quite inadequate, and it is impossible to define more closely the action by the Brigade, though all accounts state that the 1/4th Somersets acquitted themselves splendidly.
The Turkish forces on the left bank of the river were to be “contained,” A and B Columns marching to the rendezvous area, reaching that neighbourhood – the Ruined Hut – at 8.30 p.m. The Battalion had to be in position east of the Dujailah Redoubt from which to cover the attack of B Column at 6.15 a.m. on the following morning (8th March).
The assembly at the rendezvous and the night march across country absolutely unknown and previously untrodden by British was a truly remarkable performance, and should live long in the annals of the 1/4th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry.
Thousands of men were assembled from different points of the compass and moved off in a south-westerly direction in orderly columns without the slightest confusion, though it was impossible to see the nature of the country over which they must pass, owing to the darkness. It was a night march without precedent. A point had been selected at which the three columns were to bifurcate and take a new direction, Columns A and B making for a depression south by south-east of the Dujailah Redoubt and Column C for a point facing the Turkish position between the Dujailah and Sinn Abtar Redoubts. The 1/4th Somersets were the leading Battalion of C Column and moved off from the rendezvous in line of companies in fours, A Company leading.
After the bifurcation and marching off of the two Columns A and B, the Somersets were in the van of the latter. Almost noiselessly the Columns cautiously moved to their allotted positions, crossing here a sandhill and there a nullah, striking the Dujailah depression accurately, where in front of them beyond the Turkish lines and the Redoubt, the flash of General Townshend’s guns in Kut could be seen. So surprised were the enemy that the British flank guards passed among the Arab tents without a shot being fired, though the camp fires still burned. The twenty-mile march had been so splendidly carried out that just before dawn, when the men arrived at their destination, it barely seemed possible that they had marched that distance.
From the sandhills in front of Dujailah, the Redoubt could be seen grim and clearly about 3,000 yards away. The guns were not long in getting to work and were soon firing on the Redoubt and the Arab encampments close to it; the Arabs in the latter fled hurriedly. Opposite the Somersets the Turkish trenches were practically empty and could easily have been occupied, but it was just as well they were not for they were mined. It will be remembered that the only orders issued to the 37th Brigade were to maintain a covering fire during the attack.
The area for a distance of 800 yards from the Redoubt was strongly fortified with skilfully hidden trenches concealed amongst the brushwood with which the ground was covered.
Having occupied the position allotted to the Battalion, i.e. 1,400 yards from the Redoubt, the 1/4th Somersets waited for the attack to begin; the Brigades on both flanks of the Somersets were heavily engaged and the latter kept up a steady covering fire. Shrapnel fire was directed on the Battalion and a number of casualties were suffered, but the principal loss was caused by Turkish snipers whose activities were a constant source of annoyance and danger; these pests were, moreover, gradually working round the left flank of the Somerset men. Two platoons, one each from C and D Companies, were sent out to drive the snipers back and were successful in so doing. These two platoons, however, became heavily engaged with a hostile advanced post cleverly hidden in the bracken. Rifle and machine-gun fire from this post swept the ranks of the platoons and Captain Baker was killed, whilst Major Graves-Knyfton and Lieuts. H. R. Tanner and E. O. Milne were wounded. The ground having been cleared of snipers, the platoons were withdrawn.
The Battalion continued its covering fire on the Redoubt as the attacking Brigades advanced, the Somersets also moving forward slowly. The first attack appears to have been unsuccessful and a second was launched during the late afternoon. One Brigade (that on the right) passed to the attack almost through the Somersets and on troops of the force penetrating the enemy’s front-line trenches two companies of the 1/4th were ordered forward in support.
Companies at once moved forward, A and B, C and D, with Bn.H.Qs. remaining in Brigade Reserve. By this time the left Brigade had already occupied the enemy’s front line and was pushing through to the second line when suddenly there were two violent explosions, and the Turkish trenches on the right which had been occupied by the right Brigade “went up”; they had been mined by the enemy. The Turks now began a heavy bombing offensive and, being in superior numbers, the Brigade had to retire to its original line. A and B Companies of the Somersets were ordered to retire and it was during this retirement, carried out slowly and with great steadiness, that the Battalion sustained severe casualties. Captain E. Lewis had already fallen as he was gallantly leading his men to the attack. A little later 2/Lieut. Lillington was also killed, while Capt. and Adjutant Sir Charles Miles and Lieut. W. Lewis were wounded. In other ranks the Battalion lost, during the day’s fighting, 9 killed, 50 wounded and 4 missing.
On reaching their old line, A and B Companies reorganized, whilst the attacking troops of the other Brigades, on withdrawal, were similarly engaged.
When darkness had set in the whole force was withdrawn a considerable distance from the Dujailah Redoubt to the sandhills. The following day, after it had been ascertained that it was impossible for the force to maintain its positions, owing principally to lack of water, a further withdrawal was ordered to Orah. The 1/4th Somersets formed part of the rear-guard, the general retirement beginning in the early afternoon.
At first the Turks, who had evidently been badly shaken and in some doubt as to whether to exploit another attack, were slow in following up the withdrawal, but as soon as they realized that the British troops were retiring, the rear-guard was heavily shelled with shrapnel. The 1/4th suffered few casualties, but the Battalion on the right of the Somersets lost heavily, and it became necessary for the latter to dig in and hold a position until the former had collected and withdrawn its wounded. Bodies of Turks followed up the withdrawal of the force close to Orah, which was reached about midnight on 10th, but no serious attack was made.
[note-1]: Kut held out for 94 days from the date of General Townshend’s report. The surrender took place on 29th April 1916.
According to the CWGC database, seventeen men from the 1/4th Somerset Light Infantry that died on the 8th March 1916 are commemorated on Panel 12 of the Basra Memorial in Iraq. They are: Captains Aubrey Halliwell Baker and Edgar Lewis, Second Lieutenant Conrad Ivan Lillington, Sergeant George William Laver, Corporal Arthur Purnell (from Midsomer Norton), Lance Corporals Leonard Arthur Sealy (from Bath) and Thomas Bailey (from Midsomer Norton), and Privates William Reginald Bush (from Snow Hill, Bath), Alfred Lodge, Ernest Thomas Brain, William Frederick Clease (from Combe Down), Ernest Anthony Nicks, T. H. Seymour, Wallace Roy Ascott, Albert George Dibble, Frank Howard Woods, and John Woodman.
Detail from: Map No. 5. Disposition for retirement on 9-3-16. In: Despatch by Lieutenant-General Sir George Frederick Gorringe, K.C.B, C.M.G, D.S.O., on the Operations of the Tigris Column 23rd January to 30th April 1916 (Forwarded by G.O.C., Force “D”.) [71r] (139/154), Ref: IOR/L/MIL/17/15/109, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers; via Qatar Digital Library: https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023622437.0x00008d
Update August 7th, 2022:
I managed to fit in a trip to Weston-super-Mare yesterday afternoon in order to see some of the sights there associated with Aubrey and Neville Baker.
My first stop was the Church of All Saints, in All Saints’ Road. As expected, the church was not open, so it was not possible to see the war memorial plaques or the stained glass memorial to Aubrey Baker and his brother-in-law. The main part of the church was designed by G. F. Bodley and built between 1898 and 1902; with a south aisle and Lady Chapel of 1925, by F. C. Eden (Pevsner, 1958, p.337)
Weston-super-Mare (Somerset): Church of All Saints, All Saints Road; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/52268247386
From All Saints, it was an easy walk to Grove Park, which contains the town war memorial for Weston-super-Mare, Uphill, and Kewstoke. The memorial is an octagonal plinth and pedestal, topped by an winged figure (Winged Victory) standing on an orb, currently with a small geometrical addition! The memorial was designed by Walter Cave (1863-1939), and the sculpture designed and made by Mr Alfred Drury, R.A. (1856-1944). It was unveiled on the 11th May 1922 by the Marquess of Bath (Thomas Henry Thynne, 5th Marquess, 1862-1946), in his capacity as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (Western Daily Press, 12 May 1922, p. 3; via British Newspaper Archive).
Weston-super-Mare (Somerset): the Weston-super-Mare War Memorial, Grove Park; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/52268247111
Both brothers’ names can be found on the plaque attached to the front of the memorial.
Weston-super-Mare (Somerset): the Weston-super-Mare, Uphill, and Kewstoke War Memorial, Grove Park
It is possible to see the Church of St John the Baptist from the war memorial, and the Glebe House, which is where the Baker family lived during the First World War, is in the area between the park and the church.
Weston-super-Mare (Somerset): Church of St John the Baptist, from Grove Park; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/52268515239
From Grove Park, I then walked around to see the west side of St John’s, where there is a war memorial cross. The cross itself does not include any names, as those are inscribed on a plaque inside the church.
Weston-super-Mare (Somerset): War Memorial Cross at the Church of St John the Baptist; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/52268262498
As expected, the church itself was not open. The earliest parts date from 1824, but the church has been enlarged several times since then (Pevsner, 1958, p 337). After these visits, I was able to head down to the beach!
Weston-super-Mare (Somerset): the Church of St John the Baptist, Lower Church Road; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/52268262363
Opusculum 
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