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War
Memorials Elsewhere, - Shrewsbury School |
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The
Shrewsbury School War Memorial
Photo © WMR-14013, Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, available
under a Creative
Commons BY-NC licence.
Shrewsbury School is a co-educational boarding and day school for pupils aged 13 - 18. The school is located in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and was founded by Edward VI in 1552 by Royal Charter. The present campus, to which the school moved in 1882, is on the banks of the River Severn.
According to the records, 1850 former pupils and masters from Shrewsbury
School saw active service in the First World War. Of these, 322 (17%) lost
their lives and their names are commemorated on the memorial which is located
in the central avenue which leads to the front gate and the school building.
A further 259 names are commemorated as having lost their lives in the Second
World War.
The Shrewsbury School War Memorial is a bronze statue of Sir Philip Sidney in armour, mounted on a tall pedestal. The names of the fallen from the First World War are carved in columns on two sides and the rear of the pedestal; the names of those killed in the Second World War are carved on a low concave wall which arcs behind the memorial.
Two Officers who served with the Yorkshire Regiment are commemorated on the memorial.
Major Tom Illingworth Mitchell. 13th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment.
Son of Tom Mitchell and Marion Illingworth Illingworth (sic), his wife, of
The Park, Eccleshill, Yorks. Enlisted in (Public Schools) 24th Bn. Middlesex
Regt. in 1914. Died of wounds 12 April 1918. Aged 33..
Buried ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY.
The following biographical notes are taken from the
Shrewsbury School website;-
"School House, left in 1902. He initially joined the 16th (Service) Battn.
Duke of Cambridge’s own, Middlesex Regt., but, on being wounded, was
transferred to a Temporary Captaincy in the 24th Reserve Service Battn on
13th November 1915.
When again passed for general service, he was attached to the Line Battn.
of the regiment (13th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment) with which he was
serving when he fell.
His father, Tom Mitchell JP, died 8th May 1915 and his younger brother, Second
Lieutenant George Mitchell, was killed in France, 22nd July 1915."
2nd Lieutenant Hubert Samuel Alston Turner. 2nd Battalion
Yorkshire Regiment. Died 1 August 1917.
Commemorated on Panel 33, YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL.
The following biographical notes were written by Robert Coulson in his "Biographies
of Yorkshire Regiment Officers" (these notes include biographical
details from M L Ferrar's "Officers of the Green Howards, 1688 - 1932");-
"A Londoner, Hubert Turner was born on June 23rd 1897 in St John’s
Wood, the only son of Herbert Turner of 90 Clifton Hill in St John’s
Wood.
He was educated in Mr Prior’s House at Shrewsbury School, leaving in
1915 to attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.
He was commissioned on April 7th 1916 and saw action with the 2nd Battalion
during the Somme offensive at Montauban and Trones and Bernafay woods.
2nd Lt Turner fought during the Battle of Arras in April of 1917 in actions
at Neuville Vitasse.
In preparation for the 3rd Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele, 2nd Lt Turner and
the 2nd Battalion moved into the line on Observatory Ridge on July 28th 1917.
On July 31st at 3-30 a.m. the battalion went into action towards Bodmin Copse
close to the Dumbarton Lake with fighting going on for three days.
2nd Lt Hubert Samuel Alston Turner was killed during these actions on August
1st 1917 at the age of 20."
His platoon commander wrote of him,
“I was in a position to see how splendidly he was doing his duty. He
died going forward at the head of his men, leading them with the greatest
courage and setting a fine example to all ranks. I cannot say how deeply we
all miss him”.
The Panel on the Shrewsbury School War Memorial which includes Major Mitchell's
Name
Photo © WMR-14013, Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, available
under a Creative
Commons BY-NC licence.
The Panel on the Shrewsbury School War Memorial which includes Lieutenant
Turner's Name
Photo © WMR-14013, Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, available
under a Creative
Commons BY-NC licence.
The
Shrewsbury School website page which includes data on those who lost their
lives in the First World War
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