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Yorkshire
Regiment War Graves, - Reigate Cemetery |
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Reigate Cemetery is adjacent to St. Mary's Church, Reigate.
There are 55 Commonwealth War Graves in this cemetery, 52 of which are for casualties of the First World War. However, although none of these graves is that of a soldier who served with the Yorkshire Regiment, there is a family grave on which an Officer of the Yorkshire Regiment is commemorated.
The photos of this family grave and the Cross of Sacrifice in the cemetery are kindly provided by Berenice Baynham of warmemorials.myfastforum.org, and the information on Lieutenant Rutherford has been provided by Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>).
The family headstone for the grave of Sir Robert and Lady Rutherford in Reigate
Cemetery
Photo : Berenice Baynham
TO THE DEAR MEMORY / OF / SIR ROBERT RUTHERFORD / ... FEBRUARY
1854 / .... DECEMBER 1930
ALSO OF HIS WIFE / ANNIE HEWITT / ... JANUARY 1860 / ... APRIL 1959
Lieutenant Rutherford's Commemoration on the Family headstone
Photo : Berenice Baynham
The following information on Lieutenant Rutherford comes from
the biographical information on Yorkshire
Regiment Officers gathered by Bob Coulson that can be found on this website.
Thomas Rutherford was born at Streatham in Surrey on July 6th 1894.
He was educated at Dulwich College where he excelled at athletics and on leaving
school was apprenticed as an engineer with Richardson Westgarth at Hartlepool.
From there he went to Glasgow University where he won his rugby “Blue”
and then worked for John McNeil and Co of Govan and was supervising the building
of a sugar factory for them in the Phillipines when war broke out.
He returned home immediately and in September of 1914 joined a Public Schools and University battalion at Epsom and was then commissioned into the Yorkshire Regiment on December 12th 1914. 2nd Lt Rutherford joined the 6th battalion at Witley Camp in Surrey in June of 1915 and on Saturday July 3rd sailed with the battalion from Liverpool bound for Gallipoli. On July 10th the battalion landed at Mudros Bay on the island of Lemnos and ten days later moved to Imbros for training and acclimatisation. On August 6th 1915 an officers conference was called and plans finalised for the landing on Gallipoli the following day. In the darkness of the early hours of August 7th the battalion were towed ashore in lighters to land at Suvla Bay close to the Salt Lake. 2nd Lt Rutherford was in action during the capture of the hill of Lala Baba during their first day on Gallipoli. On August 22nd an attack was planned on the Turkish held position of Scimitar Hill. The attack went in at 3-30pm against the Turkish line some eight hundred yards away at the base of the hill. 2nd Lt Thomas Wood Rutherford was killed in this action on August 22nd 1915 at the age of 21. He has no known grave and is remembered today on the Helles Memorial situated on the Gallipoli peninsula.
Thomas Rutherford was the son of Sir Robert and Lady Annie Rutherford of Fairholme, The Millway, Reigate in Surrey.
A senior officer later wrote, “His comrades of every rank in the Yorkshire Regiment will have received as I did with very deep regret the news of his death. Tom Rutherford became one of the battalion’s institutions. As a platoon commander he soon obtained the confidence and affection of his men. His never failing good spirits earned him many friends and he was a great favourite among the officers and men. His geniality and musical talents did much to consolidate the camaraderie which became the characteristic of the mess and his musical sketches were a feature of every guest night”.
The Cross of Sacrifice in Reigate Cemetery
Photo : Berenice Baynham
The Cross of Sacrifice in Reigate Cemetery
Photo : Berenice Baynham
St.
Mary's Reigate
Photo Courtesy of the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission website