The average life expectancy of a subaltern during
the trench war of the 1914-18 conflict was about six weeks.
Many of these young subalterns - the most junior
commissioned officers who led platoons of 50 men - had gone almost directly to
the Western Front from their school classrooms. Some were themselves the
children of senior officers with a long family tradition of military service.
Such
a young officer was Second Lieutenant Henry Gage Morris, who was killed in
action on 23 April 1915. He was the only child of Colonel Henry Gage Morris and
his wife Mary, and is listed on the memorial in St Peter’s Church, Budleigh
Salterton as well as on the town’s war memorial.
He
was born at Bodmin, Cornwall,
but his parents were living at ‘Marengo’ in Budleigh at the time of his death.
He was educated at The Hoe Preparatory School in Plymouth
before going on to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, and then the Royal Military
Academy, Sandhurst. He was gazetted Second Lieutenant on 13
January 1915.
Henry
Gage Morris has been justifiably cited by a commentator in an online World War One forum as possibly “one of the youngest subalterns to die in WW1”, killed as he
was at the very young age of 17.
He
arrived in France on 15 February 1915 with the 2nd Battalion, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
'The Second Battle of Ypres, 22 April to May 1915' by Richard Jack (1866–1952).
Image credit: Canadian War Museum
At
around 5.00 pm on 22 April, poison gas was used to horrific effect for the
first time in the Great War by the German 2nd Army. This marked the start of the Second Battle of
Ypres, with the Channel ports being threatened by the enemy. A series of
battles took place between the Yser Canal and the village of St Julien
in an effort to stem the German advance. It was during these counter-attacks in
which his Battalion was involved that Henry Gage Morris was killed in action.
The young man’s death seems to
have deeply affected those who knew him. His
commanding officer recalled the last sighting of him: “He came past me with a
very cheerful face, and laughing, under a very heavy cross-fire from machine
guns, and sang out to me, ‘Shall I push on?’ and I answered ‘Go on, laddie, as
hard as you can.’ Poor lad, I did not see him again, but heard he was shot in
the head, but he would not let anyone stay with him. He was such a good boy,
always cheerful and always ready to do anything that was wanted. He was very
popular with everyone - officers and men.”
His batman, Private W. Board, echoed such feelings. “The men in the
platoon loved him and would do anything for him,” he wrote. “I was not with him
when he got hit, but I heard he wanted to go on, and refused to be bandaged, as
he said there were men who were hit more badly than himself. He always thought
of others before himself.”
Image credit: www.cwgc.org
Henry
Gage Morris’ name is listed on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres.
‘The Great War at Fairlynch’ 2015 exhibition at Budleigh Salterton’s very special museum! Reviews included: “Wonderful display on WW1, informative, bright and relevant. Well done!!
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