Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry - Roll of Honour of Officers of the DCLI Who Died in the Great War Whilst Serving With 1/4th Battalion TF DCLI

No	Date Died	Surname	Forenames	Rank	Decs	Age	Cause	Country	Location/Sector	Cemetery/Memorial	Notes
1917
1	29th September	HEATHCOCK	Ethelbert Agnew	Lt	-	22	DOW	Palestine	CCS at Deir el Belah, south west of Gaza	Deir el Belah War Cemetery (D.44)	(p340) (1)
2	22nd November	MITCHELL	Henry William	Lt	-	25	KIA	Palestine	Near Nebi Samwil	Jerusalem War Cemetery (G.34)	(p350)
3	22nd November	MORGAN	John Hywel	2Lt	-	33	DOW	Palestine	CCS at Jerusalem	Jerusalem War Cemetery (B.36)	(p350)
1918
4	12th March	FORESTIER	Walter Waldorf	Capt	MC	28	KIA	Palestine	Deir Ballut, south west of Nablus	Ramleh War Cemetery (N.56)	(p444)
5	27th April	ROSEWARNE	Ernest William	Capt	-	30	KIA	Palestine	South east of Rafat	Ramleh War Cemetery (S.57)	(p446)
6	15th November	ROGERS	John Lewis	Capt	-	28	DOI	Egypt	Hospital at Cairo	Cairo War Memorial Cemetery (Q.99)	(2)
Notes: (The numbers marked with a "p" in the Notes column refers to the page in "The History of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry", by Everard Wyrall, where the death of the officer is mentioned or indicated). 1. HEATHCOCK was accidentally wounded in a bombing accident at camp in Mendur Sector on 23rd September 1917. 2. ROGERS died of influenza/pneumonia.

Those Officers of Other Regiments Who Died in the Great War Whilst Serving With

1/4th Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry TF

Date Died

Surname

Forenames

Rank

Decs

Age

Cause

Country

Location

Cemetery/Memorial

Notes

8th November

MONTGOMERY

Ignatius Diego

2Lt

DOW

Palestine

CCS at Deir El Belah

Deir El Belah War Cemetery (B.14)

(p342) (1)

Notes: (The numbers marked with a "p" in the Notes column refers to the page in "The History of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry", by Everard Wyrall, where the death of the officer is mentioned or indicated).

1. MONTGOMERY was detached from the London Regiment. He was wounded at "Retrenchment Line", near Gaza on 5th/6th November 1917.

Battalion History

The 4th Battalion TF was formed at Truro in 1908 following the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, brought about by the Haldane Reforms, as the 4th Battalion Territorial Force (from the 1st Volunteer Battalion (formerly 1st Cornwall Rifle Volunteer Corps, raised initially in 1860) . The Battalion formed a 1st Line (1/4th Battalion) and then a 2nd Line (2/4th Battalion) at Truro in September 1914. A 3rd Line (3/4th Battalion) was formed at Truro in early 1915.

The 1/4th Battalion was part of the Devon and Cornwall Brigade, Wessex Division, and on 4th August 1914 were at annual camp in Exmouth and moved on mobilisation initially to Falmouth, and then to Perham Down Camp, Salisbury Plain by the end of August to prepare for overseas service. The Battalion was brought up to war establishment by the transfer of a large number of men from 1/5th Battalion. On 4th October 1914 the Battalion embarked at Southampton on HMT Assaye, sailing for India, and landing at Bombay on 10th November 1914. The Battalion was placed under command of Bareilly Brigade of the 7th (Meerut) Division and fielded a total of 8 companies. During 1915, the Battalion provided several drafts to Mesopotamia as reinforcements for the Dorsetshire Regiment and the Norfolk Regiment. On 22nd January 1916 the Battalion was moved to Aden for security and guard duties, joining the Aden Brigade. In order for the Battalion to perform all the duties required of them, it received a reinforcing draft of 3 officers and 111 men from the 2/4th Battalion stationed in India.

The Battalion embarked for Egypt on 8th February 1917, arriving at Port Tewfik on 12th February and marching to Cairo arriving on 15th March 1917. The Battalion was quickly moved to the Suez Canal area for Lines of Communication duties and then to the Sinai Peninsula, but during May 1917, after suffering many casualties due to disease and health issues, the Battalion was sent back to El Arish, the advanced base for operations in Palestine, to recuperate. On 25th June 1917 the Battalion was placed under command of 234th Brigade, 75th Division and initially put under light training but was fit enough to undergo intensive training from early July 1917 for operations during the advance into Palestine. The battalion took part operations during the Third Battle of Gaza, in early November 1917, the Battle of Nebi Samwill in late November 1917, though were not in the front line in the taking of Jersusalem between 7th - 9th December 1917.

During 1918 the Battalion took part in The Battle of Tell’Asur (March), the action of Berukin (April) and The Battle of Sharon on 19 September 1918, part of the Battles of Megiddo. The 75th Division was withdrawn for rest after Sharon and went into reserve at Tyre. On 22nd October it was moved to Haifa and was there on 31st October 1918 when Turkey signed an Armistice. A gradual move back to Egypt took place, the units going via Lydda and Kantara. By March 1919 Divisional HQ was at Alexandria and Brigades at Heliopolis and Ismailia and began the process of gradual demobilisation. The 1/4th Battalion DCLI was disbanded in August 1919.

Full details of the Battalion's actions and movements throughout the Great War can be viewed in the Battalion War Diary, which can be seen at the National Archives in Catalogue WO 95/4693.

Fatal casualties of DCLI personnel of the 1/4th Battalion : Officers 6 - men 148.

Regimental History

The DCLI was formed on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms which saw the amalgamation of the 32nd (Cornwall Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot and the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot. These two units became respectively the Regular 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Regiment, with the Regimental Depot based at Victoria Barracks, Bodmin.

The 1881 reforms also redesignated the Militia and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVC) units within the Regimental District of Cornwall as Battalions of the DCLI - the Royal Cornwall Rangers forming the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, the 1st Cornwall Battalion RVC forming the 1st Volunteer Battalion and the 2nd Cornwall Battalion RVC forming the 2nd Volunteer Battalion.

In 1908, as part of the Haldane Reforms, the Militia Battalion was reorganised and restructured forming the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion and the two Volunteer Battalions formed the 4th Battalion and 5th Battalion of the Regimental Territorial Force (TF). After the Declaration of War on 4th August 1914 and at various stages up to 1st June 1918, the order of battle of the DCLI was made up of 16 Regular, Territorial Force, Service, Labour and Reserve Battalions. The two Volunteer Battalions, raised in 1916 for Local Home and Coastal Defence duties, were later transferred to the Royal Defence Corps.

A detailed history of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry can be viewed here.

Page last updated: 5th January 2025

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