West Somerset Yeomanry - Roll of Honour of Officers of the West Somerset Yeomanry Who Died in the Great War

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Roll of Honour of Officers of the West Somerset Yeomanry

Who Died in the Great War

Formation and Early Years of the West Somerset Yeomanry
The Regiment was first raised in 1794, when the British Government decided to increase the Militia and to form Corps of volunteers for the defence of the country. The mounted arm of the volunteers became known as the "Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry", who could be called on by the King to defend the country against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the county. A Troop was raised in Bridgwater, Somerset, as early as June 1794 and three other troops were raised by the end of the year. These units were regimented as the West Somersetshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1798. Despite the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the Yeomanry was retained by the Government "for Military Service in aid of the Civil Power" in the absence of organised police forces but the unwillingness of the Government to pay for the Yeomanry led to many Regiments being disbanded in 1827–28. Twenty-two Yeomanry Regiments were authorised to continue officially, and another sixteen were allowed to continue to serve without pay. Serving without pay from 1828 to 1831, the Regiment was never disbanded but a wave of civil unrest across Britain from 1830 led to a revival of the Yeomanry and the West Somerset Yeomanry was reorganised in 1831. The Regiment, like all Yeomanry Regiments, was not intended to serve overseas, but due to the string of defeats during the Second Boer War in December 1899, the British Government realized that there was a requirement for more troops to reinforce the Regular Army in South Africa. A Royal Warrant was issued on 24th December 1899, to allow volunteer forces to serve in South Africa, requesting Yeomanry Regiments to provide each up to 115 men in Company strength units, to be attached to the Imperial Yeomanry (IY), equipped and deployed as mounted infantry. The West Somerset Yeomanry provided the 25th (West Somerset) Company for the 7th Battalion, IY, in 1900. The mounted infantry experiment was considered a success and the existing Yeomanry Regiments were converted to IY in 1901. The title 'Imperial' was dropped in 1908 when the Yeomanry were transferred to the Territorial Force (TF) and the Regiment was retitled as the West Somerset Yeomanry.

The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, which brought the Territorial Force (TF) into being, established the TF as a Home and Coastal Defence force for service during wartime, and members could not be compelled to serve outside the UK. However, on the outbreak of war on 4th August 1914, many members volunteered for overseas Imperial Service. Consequently, in August and September of 1914, TF units were split into a 1st Line unit (liable for overseas service) and a 2nd Line unit (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas). Later, a 3rd Line unit was formed to act as a depot and reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line units, whilst serving in the Home and Coastal Defence role.

During the Great War the West Somerset Yeomanry was organised into three separate units as described below.

Regimental Details of the West Somerset Yeomanry

(As Published in the Army List of August 1918)

Those Officers of the West Somerset Yeomanry

Who Died in the Great War

No	Date Died	Surname	Forenames	Rank	Decs	Age	Cause	Country	Location	Cemetery/Memorial	Notes
Died in 1917
1	9th May	COLES	Roland Humphrey	Lt	-	23	KIAA	France	Metz-en-Couture	Gouzeaucourt New British Cemetery (V.A.19)	(1)
2	7th July	BATTERSBY	Philip Worsley	Lt	-	29	KIAA	France	Near Lille	Arras Flying Servicers Memorial	(2)
3	17th July	SMITH	Herbert Bennett	2Lt	-	20	KIA	Belgium	Messines	Cabin Hill Cemetery (A.7)	(3)
4	17th August	BEAUMONT-CHECKLAND	Montmorency Beaumont	Lt	-	33	KIA	Belgium	Near Langemarck	Tyne Cot Memorial (Panel 3)	(4)
5	6th November	RICHARDSON	Alfred Terence Leatham	Capt	-	25	KIA	Palestine	Tel esh Sheria, near Beersheba	Beersheba War Cemetery (L.61)	(5)
6	1st December	BOWN	Cyril Walter	Lt	-	23	KIA	France	Near Cambrai	Cambrai Memorial (Panel 1)	(6)
7	3rd December	WATSON	Dominic Macauley	Lt	-	30	DOW	France	CCS at Tincourt	Tincourt New British Cemetery (III.F.20)	(7)
Died in 1918
8	10th April	WHITE	Ernest	Lt	-	27	KIA	France	Near Hill 131, south of Souchez	Guards Cemetery, Cuinchy (V.A.9)	(8)
9	2nd September	SPENCER	Henry Beresford	Capt	-	37	KIA	France	South of Brickworks, Cagnicourt	Queant Road Cemetery, Buissy (VI.E.15)	(9)
10	2nd September	TAYLOR	Douglas John Bulpin	Capt	-	28	KIA	France	Southwest of Moislains	Peronne Communal Cemetery Extn (IV.J.15)	(10)
11	22nd September	THOMSON	Cyril Ground	Capt	MC	27	KIA	France	North of Bellicourt	Templeux-le-Guerard British Cemetery (I.B.41)	(11)
Notes: 1. COLES was seconded to 52nd Squadron Royal Flying Corps and was piloting a BE2 on a recce patrol with 2Lt J C Day when the aircraft was brought down. They were originally buried in a battlefield grave to the north east of Metz-en-Couture and reburied at Gouzeaucourt New British Cemetery in July 1919. 2. BATTERSBY was seconded to 55th Squadron Royal Flying Corps. Was shot down over Lille flying DH4, Number A7493, with Capt W W Fitzherbert, who was also killed. Oberleutnant Eduard von Dostler, of Jasta 6, claimed the kill. 3. SMITH was attached to 8th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry. 4. BEAUMONT-CHECKLAND was attached to 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry. 5. RICHARDSON was attached to 12th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry. 6. BOWN was seconded to "H" Battalion, Tank Corps. 7. WATSON was attached to 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry and wounded near Masnieres on 30th November 1917. 8. WHITE was seconded to 55th Company Machine Gun Corps and was buried in an unidentified battlefield grave near Hill 131, south of Souchez. In November 1920, his remains were indentified and he was reburied in the Guards Cemetery. 9. SPENCER was killed whilst in Tank No 9355, and originally buried in a battlefield grave west of Cagnicourt and reburied in Queant Road Cemetery in December 1920. 10. TAYLOR was attached to 12th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry. 11. THOMSON was attached to 12th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry.

Regimental History

A detailed history of the West Somerset Yeomanry can be viewed here.

1/1st West Somerset Yeomanry

At the outbreak of war, the Regiment consisted of "A" Squadron, based at Wellington, "B" Squadron based at Taunton, "C" Squadron based at Bridgwater and "D" Squadron based at Yeovil. The Regiment mobilised at the County Territorial Hall, Taunton as part of the 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade and moved to its war location at Winchester. On 15th August 1914 the Regiment was moved with its Brigade to the Colchester area and in early September 1915 was moved to Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex where it was dismounted (horses were removed and the unit was used in an infantry role). In September 1915, with its Brigade, the Regiment left Thorpe-le-Soken for Liverpool and on 24th September 1915 it boarded RMS Olympic and sailed the next day. The Brigade arrived at Mudros on 1 October 1915 and on to Suvla Bay on 9th October 1915. The Regiment was temporarily attached to the 11th (Northern) Division as Pioneers. In November 1915 the Regiment was attached to the 2nd Mounted Division assisting 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in combat operations. The Regiment was evacuated from Gallipoli on 19th December 1915.

In December 1915 the regiment landed at Alexandria to assist in the defences of Egypt. In February 1916, 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade was absorbed into the 2nd Dismounted Brigade and served on Suez Canal defences, part of the Western Frontier Force. On 4th January 1917 at Ismailia, Egypt, the Regiment was converted to form the 12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry and 2nd Dismounted Brigade became 229th Brigade of the 74th (Yeomanry) Division. Palestine 1917–18. With the 74th Division, the 12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion took part in the invasion of Palestine in 1917 and 1918. It fought in the Second and Third Battles of Gaza (including the capture of Beersheba and the Sheria Position). At the end of 1917, it took part in the capture and defence of Jerusalem and in March 1918 in the Battle of Tell 'Asur. On 3rd April 1918, the Division was warned that it would move to France and by 30 April 1918 had completed embarkation at Alexandria.

On 7th May 1918, 12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry landed at Marseilles with 74th (Yeomanry) Division. It served in France and Flanders with the Division for the remainder of the war. From September 1918, as part of III Corps of Fourth Army, it took part in the Hundred Days Offensive, including the Second Battle of the Somme (Second Battle of Bapaume) and the Battles of the Hindenburg Line (Battle of Épehy). In October and November 1918 it took part in the Final Advance in Artois and Flanders.

2/1st West Somerset Yeomanry

Formed as a Second-Line unit in September 1914, the unit was placed under command of 2/2nd South Western Mounted Brigade in January 1915. Moved to Woodbury (Essex) in September 1915. The Brigade was later renamed as 2nd Mounted Brigade. In May 1916 the Brigade came under orders of 1st Mounted Division in Norfolk. In July 1916 the Division became 1st Cyclist Division. The unit was converted to a cyclist unit, moving to Beccles and placed under orders of 1st Cyclist Brigade. In November 1916 the unit merged with 2/1st City of London Yeomanry to form 5th (West Somerset and City of London) Yeomanry Cyclist Regiment, under orders of 2nd Cyclist Brigade. In March 1917 the unit moved to East Dereham, still in the same brigade. In May 1918 the unit moved with the Brigade to Ireland, stationed at Athlone, for the remainder of the war.

3/1st West Somerset Yeomanry

Formed at Taunton as a Third-Line depot, reserve and training unit in April/May 1915 and by late 1915 was based at Tidworth. By July 1916 the unit was attached to the 3rd Line Groups of Wessex Division at Winchester. In February 1917 the unit was disbanded, with personnel transferring partly to the 2/1st unit and remainder to 4th (Reserve) Battalion Somerset Light Infantry TF, at Bournemouth.

Battle Honours. The sheer scale of the Great War led to a previously unheard of number of Honours being awarded and it was simply impractical to emblazon every one of them on the Regimental Colour. In September 1922 it was ordered that Regiments should select up to 10 Honours to be emblazoned on their Regimental Colours along with previous awards, up to a total of 24. This led to a storm of protest, since many Regiments would have had to remove previous Honours. The order was therefore amended the following December, to allow each Regiment to select up to 10 Honours to be emblazoned on its King's/Queen's Colour, Honours from other conflicts continuing to be displayed on the Regimental Colour. Honours in bold are emblazoned on the Regimental Colours.

The Regiment earned the following Battle Honours during the Great War:

Somme 1918, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, Epehy. Pursuit to Mons. France and Flanders 1918, Gallipoli 1915. Egypt 1916–17, Gaza, Jerusalem, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917–18

The Debt Of Honour Register

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) was established by Royal Charter in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission), and pays tribute to the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two World Wars. It is a non-profit-making organisation founded by Sir Fabian Ware.

The CWGC's principles are:

Each of the dead should be commemorated by name on the headstone or memorial.
Headstones and memorials should be permanent.
Headstones should be uniform.
There should be no distinction made of account of military or civil rank, race or creed.

Since its inception, the Commission has constructed 2,500 war cemeteries and plots, erecting headstones over graves and, in instances where the remains are missing, inscribing the names of the dead on permanent memorials. Over one million casualties are now commemorated at military and civil sites in some 150 countries.

Together with the tasks of structural and horticultural maintenance, the CWGC is charged with keeping records of the 1.75 million Commonwealth war dead. At each cemetery and memorial you will find a register showing the service details and, in some cases, family details, of the men and women buried or commemorated there. Much of the Commission’s day-to-day work is concerned with maintaining the integrity of the casualty database, the electronic version of the records, which can be accessed via the Debt of Honour Register (DoHR).

In December 2020, the Commission reviewed their policy on amendments to the Casualty Database. One of the outcomes of the review was that they would no longer add Honours and Awards to the database where there is no entitlement to post-nominal letters. Therefore the recording of "Mentioned in Despatches", for instance, would no longer be carried out. Listed in the table below, where applicable, are names of any officers awarded "Mentioned in Despatches" which will not be recorded in the Casualty Database.

Some apparent inaccuracies in the records of Officers of the West Somerset Yeomanry may have been found in the DoHR. The Webmaster will investigate and report these errors to the CWGC as the project/website is progressed.

Below is a brief summary of apparent inaccuracies discovered so far and action taken or planned to take.

Name	Apparent Inaccuracy	Date Reported to CWGC	Agreed by CWGC
COLES, Lt Rowland Humphrey	Seconded to 52nd Squadron Royal Flying Corps
RICHARDSON, Capt Alfred Terrence Leatham	Parent Regiment not recorded. Badge of SLI on headstone.
SMITH, 2Lt Herbert Bennett	Parent Regiment not recorded. Badge of SLI on headstone.
SPENCER, Capt Henry Beresford	Unit of Tank Corps not recorded.
TAYLOR, Capt Douglas John Bulpin	Parent Regiment not recorded. WSY badge on headstone.
WATSON, Lt Dominic Macaulay	Parent Regiment not recorded. WSY badge on headstone. Attached to 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry at time of death.	10th January 2024 (Ref: 00144476)
WHITE, Lt Ernest	Parent Regiment not recorded. WSY badge on headstone.

Page last updated: 11th January 2025

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