Chaplain the Reverend Rupert Edward Inglis (1863 – 1916) - England international rugby player, Anglican Rector and Military Chaplain

 With thanks to John Daniel for finding this information for us:

During the First World War, The Rev. Rupert Edward Inglis was a Chaplain to the British Army and was killed during the Battle of the Somme.

Rupert Edward Inglis was born in London on 17th May 1863. His parents were John Eardley Wilmot Inglis and his wife, Julia Selina Inglis, nee Thesiger.  Rupert was educated at Rugby School - where the game of Rugby was first invented. 

In 1881, Rupert went on to study History at the University of Oxford, where he played for the Oxford Rugby Team in 1883 and 1884. After graduating, he became a Deacon at Ely Theological College, where he was ordained in 1889. He married Helen Mary Gilchrist on 11th June 1900, and they had two daughters and a son.

When the Great War broke out in 1914, Rupert enlisted and joined the 1st Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry.

In a letter to his parishioners in July 1915, he explained his reasons: “I have felt that in this great crisis in our nation’s history, everyone ought to do what he can to help. I have said this both publicly and privately, but it has been hard to tell people that they ought to leave their homes, to go out into strange new surroundings, to endure discomforts and danger – perhaps to face death – it was hard to tell people that this was their duty and then to remain comfortably at home myself.”

Rupert was sent to France as close as possible to the combat zone but served as a military chaplain for the Protestant church. His main task was to attend to the spiritual needs of the soldiers, read the last rites and help evacuate the wounded. 

For a short while, he served at No. 23 General Hospital, Etaples, before joining No. 21 Casualty Clearing Station at Corbie. In December 1915, Rupert was attached to the 16th Infantry Brigade, 6th Division, in the Ypres Salient.

During the fighting near Ginchy, during the Battle of the Somme, Rupert joined a party of stretcher-bearers, in order to help bring in the wounded. While doing this, he was struck by a fragment of shell and was in the process of having the wound dressed when he was hit by a second shell and killed instantly on 18th September 1916. 

Rupert has no known grave and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 4.C.)   He is also remembered at Twickenham Stadium, the legendary home of the England Rugby Team.

Rupert Edward Inglis pictured as an army chaplain in the First World War

John Daniel

Additional sources: Find my Past, FreeBMD,

https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/field-of-honour-remembering-the-fallen-rugby-players-of-thiepval/

Christopher Bushell VC, DSO (1888 – 1918) – sportsman and soldier

With thanks to John Daniel for finding this information for us

Christopher was born on 31st October 1888 in Neston, Wirral, Cheshire, UK (now in Merseysdie).  His parents were Reginald Bushell, a wine merchant, and his wife Caroline, nee Hope.  Initially educated at Moorland House, Heswall, Wirral, and later at Rugby School from 1901-1906, Christopher went on to study law at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he was Captain of his college boat and also rowed at Henley Regatta.  

A keen rugby player with Notting Hill Club, Christopher was their Treasurer for a time..  

Called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1911, on 8th May 1912, Christopher was commissioned as a Special Reserve Officer in the 1st Battalion, The Queen’s Royal (West Surrey) Regiment.

Christopher was a Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel in the 7th (S) Battalion, The Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment, British Army, during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:

“On 23 March 1918 west of St. Quentin's Canal and north of Tergnier, France, Lieutenant Colonel Bushell personally led C Company of his battalion, who were cooperating with an Allied regiment in a counterattack. In the course of this attack he was severely wounded in the head, but continued to carry on, walking in front of both British and Allied troops, encouraging them and visiting every portion of the lines in the face of terrific machine-gun and rifle fire. He refused to go to the rear until he had to be removed to the dressing station in a fainting condition.”

Christopher was killed in action to the south of Morlancourt, Somme, France, on 8th August 1918. He was buried in Querrieu CWGC, Somme, France, Grave reference: Row E, Grave 6.  He is also remembered at the church in Neston, Wirral. 

In 1923, the Christopher Bushell Prize of books, for Modern History undergraduates, was established at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where Bushell read Modern History from 1906 to 1909.

John Daniel

Additional sources:  Find my Past, FreeBMD<

https://victoriacrossonline.co.uk/christopher-bushell-vc-dso/

https://www.nestonpast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/9-Christopher-Bushell-VC-DSO.pdf

Actors, Poets, Writers, Artists, Chaplains and Sportspeople of WW1 awarded medals for outstanding bravery

Actors

Sir Francis Robert Benson, Croix de Guerre (1858 – 1939) - British actor-manager (cousin of actor Basil Rathbone) - drove an ambulance in France during WW1

Basil Rathbone, MC (1892 – 1967) - South African-born English actor. Served as Private with the London Scottish Regiment. Commissioned Lieutenant in the 2/10th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment (Liverpool Scottish), serving as an intelligence officer, eventually attaining the rank of Captain.

Poets and Writers

William Robert Fountaine Addison VC (1883 – 1962) – British Anglican Church Minister and poet

Gabriele d’Annunzio (Italian) OMS,GMG, MVM

Edmund Clerihew Bentley - Chevalier of the Belgian Order of the Crown

Paul Bewsher, DSC

Edmund Blunden MC

Lt. John Brown, MC

Charles Carrington, MC

Stanley Casson (1889 - 1944) - WW1 poet and amateur soldier - Mentioned in Despatches and Chevalier of the Greek Order of the Redeemer 

Edouard Chiesa, Croix de Guerre (1887 - 1915) – French poet killed fighting at Gallipoli 

Erskine Childers, DSC

2nd Lieutenant L. N. Cook, MC, GVR, Royal Lancaster Regiment

Noel Marcus Francis Corbett (1887 – 1962) – British Royal Naval officer and poet - French Croix de Guerre

Miles Jeffery Game Day, DSC

Owen Evans, MM (1888 – 1918) - Welsh poet – Bardic name Rhiwlas

John Orr Ewing, MC (1884 - 1961) – poet; Major in 16th Lancers

Denys Garstin MC, DSO, Order of St. Catherine of Russia (1890  - 1918) – British writer, poet, diplomat and soldier

Edward John Langford Garstin MC (1893 - 1955) – British poet 

Henri Gervex (1852 - 1929) – French artist – French Croix de Guerre

The Hon. Julian G. Grenfell, DSO

Llewelyn Wyn Griffith (1890 - 1977) - poet and writer; Captain Rioyal Welch Fusiliers, O.B.E., French Croix de Guerre & three Mentions in Despatches

James Norman Hall (1887 – 1951) – American WW1 soldier, airman, writer and poet – awarded French Croix de Guerre with five palms, the Médaille Militaire, French Légion d'Honneur and the American Distinguished Service Cross.

Lt. Col. John Hay Maitland Hardyman DSO, MC

F.W. Harvey, DCM

Ivan Heald MC (1883 - 1916) - British writer, poet and journalist

Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961) – American writer - awarded the Italian War Merit Cross, the Croce al Merito di Guerra for service in the Red Cross in Italy during WW1

William Noel Hodgson, MC 1893 – 1916) – British soldier poet

Robert Jentzsch (1890 – 1918) – German poet and mathmetician - Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class

Ernst Jünger (1895 – 1998) - German writer; served in German Army WW1. Awarded 1916 Iron Cross (1914) II. and I. Class; 1917 Prussian House Order of Hohenzollern Knight's Cross with Swords; 1918 Wound Badge (1918) in Gold; 1918 Pour le Mérite (Blue Max) - military class

Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy MC (1883 –1929) aka Woodbine Willy; Army Chaplain and poet 

Joyce Kilmer (1886 - 1918) – French Croix de Guerre

Percy Hugh Beverley Lyon, MC – British poet known as PHBL

Donald Alxander Mackenzie MC (1889 - 1971) – British school teacher; served Royal Field Artillery, France

Ewart Alan Mackintosh, MC

John Charles Beech Masefield, MC

Charles Scott Moncrieff, MC

Armine Frank Gibson Norris MC

Wilfred Owen, MC

George Smith Patton Jr. (1885 - 1945) Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal and Purple Heart for his combat wounds after the decoration was created in 1932.

Vivian Telfer Pemberton MC,

Alexander Lancaster Pemberton, MC

Claude Quayle Penrose MC and Bar, MiD

Herbert Edward Read, MC, DSO, MiD

Frank Richards, DCM, MM, born Francis Philip Woodruff (1883 -1961) – Welsh soldier and writer 

Edgell Rickword MC

Siegfried Sassoon, MC

William Maunsell Scanlan, MC, MM – Canadian

Gerald Caldwell Siordet, MC – British (Somme, 1st July 1916 kia Feb. 1917)

Francis W. Smith, MC Lieutenant, Leeds Rifles, West Yorks Regt. Reilly p 296

Captain James Sprent, MC (1883 - 1948) – Australian poet and doctor

Adrian Consett Stephen, MC – Australian writer

John Ebenezer Stewart MC

Patrick Shaw-Stewart was awarded the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour – Croix de Guerre (France) for his services as a Liaison Officer with the French Headquarters.

W.G. Thomas, MC (1883 - 1960) - Captain

Edward John Thompson, MC, MiD - Poet and Chaplain (1886 – 1946)  – 7th Division, Mesopotamia

Arthur Walderne St. Clair Tisdall, VC (1890 - 1915) – British poet

Robert Bagster Wilson Vinter, MC (1896 – 1916) – British soldier and aspiring poet 

Hugh Walpole (1884 - 1941) - awarded The Russian Cross of St. George, and the C.B.E. in WW1 and a knighthood in 1937

Richard Brereton Marriott Watson MC

Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavel MC (1883 - 1950) - awarded MC during 2nd Battle of Ypres

John Hunter Wickersham Congressional Medal of Honor (1890 - 1918) – American WW1 soldier poet

Eric Fitzwater Wilkinson, MC

Alice Williams Medaille de la Reconnaissance Française - Welsh Poet bardic name being Alys Meirion

Fabian Strachey Woodley, MC (1888 - 1957) 

Geoffrey Harold Woolley, VC, OBE, MC (1892 – 1968) - British poet, writer,  WW1 Army infantry officer, Anglican Priest & WW2 Military Chaplain – 1st British Territorial Army officer to be awarded the Victoria Cross

Robert Julian Yeatman MC (15 July 1897 – 13 July 1968) - British humorist wrote for “Punch” magazine.

Edward Hilton Young, GBE, DSO, DSC & Bar, PC

Geoffrey Winthrop Young (1876 - 1958) - British poet and mountaineer; served with the Friends Ambulance Unit,and later in command of the First British Ambulance for Italy. He was mentioned in British Despatches and awarded the Belgian Order of Leopold for exceptional courage and resource, and the Italian silver medal' for Valour'

Artists/Photographers, etc:

Joseph Marius Jean Avy (1871 - 1939)- French Croix de Guerre – French artist 

Geoffrey de Gruchy Barkas, MC, artist/film maker

Hans Bartle (1880 - 1943) - Austrian official WW1 artist. Iron Cross; Silver Medal for Bravery; the Knight's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order

Alan Edmund Beeton, MC

John Warwick Brooke DCM – official WW1 war photographer

John Cosmo Clark, MC (1897 – 1967) – British artist and art teacher; served in Artists Rifles WW1

Philip Lindsey Clark, DSO, ARBS (1889–1977)  - British sculptor. In December 1917, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O) for "...conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of the left flank company of the battalion."

Helena Gleichen - awarded the Italian Bronze Medal of Military Valour

William Robert Gregory MC (1881 – 1918)  - Irish-born, RFC/RAF British airman, artist and cricketer; France made him a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1917

Antony Gibbons Grinling, MC – artist and sculptor

Carl W Herman, MM (1888 – 1955) – artist

Christopher Wyndham Hughes MC (1881-1961) – British artist and teacher; served in7th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment

Charles Sargeant Jagger MC ARA (1885 – 1934) British sculptor

Richard Barrett Talbot Kelly MC (1896-1971), Lieutenant Royal Field Artillery

Henry Taylor Lamb MC (1883 - 1960) - Australian-born artist; Royal Army Medical Corps battalion medical officer with the 5th Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Palestine & Western Front 

Paul Maximilien Landowski, Croix de Guerre (1 June 1875 – 31 March 1961) – French Scultpor and WW1 camouflage artist 

A. W. Lloyd, MC – Arthur Wynell Lloyd (1883 - 1933) – British cartoonist

Walter Marsden MC (1882–1969) – sculptor

John B. McDowell, MC, BEM (1877 – 1954) – British film maker, director and cameraman during WW1

Waldo Peirce (December 17, 1884 – March 8, 1970) was an American painter, who for many years reveled in living the life of a bohemian expatriate.  Croix de Guerre

William Charles Penn MC

Geneste Penrose MM

Gerald Spencer Pryse MC (1882–1956) was a British artist and lithographer.

E. Claude Rowberry, MM, (1896 - 1962) – artist

Walter Westley Russell (1867–1949) - Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers; Mentioned in Dispatches.

E.H. Shepard, MC – artist

William George Storm, MC (1882 - 1917) – Canadian artist

Dents Wells, BEM (1881-1973) served in the Artists Rifles during WWI; awarded a B.E.M. for gallantry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire_Medal

Charles Arthur Wheeler, DCM (1880 - 1877) - New Zealand artist. Served in 22 Bn Royal Fusiliers; awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (1916) for his actions at Vimy Ridge

Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 1888 – 30 November 1958).

NOTE:  James Miles Langstaff ( 1883 - 1917) was Mentioned in Despatches and recommended for a Military Cross. 

Chaplains

Rev. W.R.F. Addison VC (1883 - 1962) - Army Chaplain AND poet also awarded the Order of St George-Russia.

The Rev. Elijah Cobham, MC (1880 – 1917) – British Army Chaplain with the King's African Rifles Regiment in East Africa.

Reverend Captain Herbert Butler Cowl, MC (1887-1971)  – Wesleyan Army Chaplain to the 23rd Infantry Division, 68th Brigade, in the British Army during the First World War - known as the "Half-shilling Curate"

Walter Ernest Dexter DSO, MC, DCM, MiD Australian Army Chaplain - served at Gallipoli with the 5th Battalion AIF and on the Western Front.

The Reverend Theodore Bayley Hardy, VC, MC, DSO (1863 – 1918) – Anglican Church Minister and School teacher who served as a British Army Chaplain in WW1 

Chaplain the Reverend Rupert Edward Inglis (1863 – 1916) - England international rugby player, Anglican Rector and Military Chaplain

Rev. Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy MC (1883 –1929) aka Woodbine Willy; Army Chaplain and poet 

Rev. Noel Mellish VC, MC

Rev. Hon. Maurice Berkeley Peel, MC and Bar (1873  - 1917)  - British Anglican Church Minister and WW1 Chaplain - killed by a sniper on 14 May 1917  at Bullecourt while going out to rescue a wounded man

Rev. Basil Pemberton Plumptre, MC (1883 - 1917) – British Army Chaplain

Rev. David Railton MC (1884 – 1955) - British Army Chaplain who had the  idea for creating a British Unknown Warrior memorial  

Edward John Thompson, MC, MiD - Poet and Chaplain (1886 – 1946)  – 7th Division, Mesopotamia

Rev. Morgan Watcyn-Williams, MC

Sportspeople

Sir Arthur Frederick Blakiston, 7th Baronet, MC (1892 - 1974) - International Rugby Union player and WW1 soldier

Christopher Bushell VC, DSO (1888 – 1918) – English sportsman and soldier

Morgan Maddox Morgan-Owen, DSO (1877 – 1950) - Wales football international and captain - WW1 soldier

Adrian Dura Stoop, MC (1883 - 1957) – English Rugby Player and WW1 soldier

Adrian Dura Stoop, MC (1883 - 1957) – Rugy Player and WW1 soldier

With thanks to Daniel for finding this information for us regarding Adrian Stoop, MC.

Adrian c. 1911

Born Adrian Dura Scoop in South Kensington, London, UK on 27th March 1883, his parents were Frederick Cornelious Stoop, who was Dutch, and his wife, Agnes Macfarlane Stoop, nee Clark, who was Scotish. Educated at Rugby school where he excelled at the sport of Rugby, Adrian went on to study law at Oxford University, where he played Rugby for the Blues.   He became a barrister and played Rugby for The Haliquins and England. 

During the First World War Adrian initially served as a second Lieuitenant in Mesopotena, soon being promoted to Captain with the 1/5th Bn Royal West Surrey Regt.  Adrian was wounded and awarded a Military Ctoss 

On 8th May 1918 in Bangalore, Madras, India, Adrian married Audrey Dehin Needham. 

After the war, Adrian returned to England and kept playing Rugby for the Haliquins until he was 56. He was President of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in 1932.  Adrian died in 1957 at the age of 74 and is buried at Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, where he lived for many years. 

The Haliquins named their Stadium – The Stoop – in Adrian’s memory. 

Main source: Information supplied by Daniel.

Additional sources: Find my Past, FreeBMD,

http://en.espn.co.uk/england/rugby/player/1714.html