sandhurst

From the Western Front Association: www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-people/memorial... Mother remarried: Mrs Douglas W Gwyther. An obituary was also published in the Times Herald, Newport, Virginia on 28 September 1914 - I've seen the index, not the actual obituary.

From "The War the Infantry Knew" for September 9th 1914, Major Geiger of 2/RWF talking about the battalion's time at La Ferté reported "While we were there German machine-gun fire started again. We were scarcely back at the chateau when young Thompson was brought in seriously wounded; he had been standing at the corner of the open space calling to Wynne-Edwards"

Edward James Vibart Collingwood-Thompson was Commissioned as a 'Special Reserve' Second Lieutenant (Probationary) in 3rd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers on 13th September 1913. [London Gazette 28755 of 12 Sep 1913]. It was not until the outbreak of war in August 1914 that he was attached to the 2nd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers, and sailed with the Battalion to France on 11th August 1914. Edward Collingwood-Thompson appears to have been mortally wounded by indirect machine-gun fire from German positions on the far side of the river. There is a private memorial in the town of La Ferte to this much loved and missed young officer, erected by his family. Edward Collingwood-Thompson was born in Taunton, Somerset, on 8 Dec 1893, the only son of Mr and Mrs Edward Collingwood-Thompson. He was educated at Cheltenham and The Oratory School, Edgbaston, (a Catholic school now at Woodcote, Reading). Despite winning a prize cadet scholarship for the Royal Military College Sandhurst, he opted to go to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, possibly intending to study for a Commission in the Royal Artillery or Royal Engineers. There is a 2Lt Leslie Collingwood Thompson, possibly a younger nephew, shown Commissioned into the 2nd/6th County of London Volunteer Regiment on 11th September 1917. [LG 30333 of 12 Oct 1917].//

Collingwood was our first officer of the RWF to fall in WW1. Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum seek WW1 photos We at the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum in Caernarfon are starting the mammoth task of looking for photos of individual soldiers from the RWF who were killed in the Great War.

Help piece together the Life Stories of more than 8 million men and women who made a contribution during the First World War at www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/

Just a note really, 2nd Battalion Welsh Regiment is spelt Welch not Welsh, this may have been changed after the 1st Word War though!!

It can't be changed now. The French spelling of a Flemish place name is always adopted and never the Flemish one. French maps must have been used. Gheluvelt is Geluveld in Flemish.

rmatt11 Hi, thank you for your comment. You are right, the name of the regiment was changed after the First World War, in 1921. We have kept the spelling of regiments etc. contemporaneous for consistency, hence it is still Welsh here.

John William Harford Nicholl was the son of Lieutenant Colonel John Iltyd Dillwyn Nicholl MBE (Imperial Yeomanry) (Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan from 1899) and Eleanor Dorothy Nicholl (nee Harford) of Merthyr Mawr, Bridgend, Glamorgan. He was the third of 5 children, with a brother, Robert, b. 1894, and three sisters Gladys, Olive and Rachel. He was Commissioned from Gentleman Cadet into the Rifle Brigade on 22nd January 1913. He was seconded to 3rd Battalion Welsh Regiment as a Second Lieutenant on 14th August 1914 [LG 1 Sep 1914]. The 3rd Battalion Welsh Regiment was the Depot and a 'holding' unit. With 1st Battalion in India, it is likely that 2Lt Nicholl volunteered for the 2nd Battalion almost immediately on his secondment being confirmed. The photograph shows him in full Welsh Regiment service dress, so taken at some time in the 77 days that he served with the Regiment, but certainly in the brief period when he was still in England before going over to France. The 2nd Battalion had actually landed at Le Havre (complete with their goat 'Taffy', the Regimental mascot) as part of 3rd Brigade in 1st Division on 13th August 1914. Gheluvelt was the most desperate of battles, arguably the last effort against the BEF of the 1914 War of Movement; victory offered the German Army a breakthrough to Paris and the decisive victory required by the Schlieffen Plan. The 2nd Welsh fought there alongside 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Wales.//

Hi, I just came across this photo of John William Hardford Nicholl and couldn't get over the resemblance he has with my great Grandfather John Nicholl!. That's my Mothers Fathers Father, and my Grandfathers name is William James Nicholl and his older brothers were John Nicholl then Robert Nicholl, Robert died in the war aged 19 in 1944. My great Grandfather John Nicholl is from Ballymena (N.Ireland) where the surname Nicholl seems to be quite common. Although it states that John William Hardford Nicholl was born in Swansea (and around the same time as my great Grandfather) I wouldn't be surprised if we are distantly related!, but I find this very interesting and I would like to say thank you for posting this information on here. Yours sincerely, Sarah Nicholl.

are u sure he is captain?

so old.....

Help piece together the Life Stories of more than 8 million men and women who made a contribution during the First World War at www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/