Tyrwhitt, Cuthbert, 1912-1942

Tyrwhitt, Cuthbert, son of Thomas Tyrwhitt ARIBA, of Fulham, and Dorothy Nina, d. of Reginald Godfrey Marsden, barrister-at-law; b. 11 Apr. 1912; adm. Sept. 1925 (H); left July 1930; 2nd Lieut. Worcs. Regt Jan. 1932, Lieut. Jan. 1935, retd Mar. 1936; regazetted Sept. 1939 (Capt.); m. 23 Mar. 1936 Delia Gurnee, d. of Edward Norman Scott of New York; killed in action (Singapore) 15 Feb. 1942.

Cuthbert Tyrwhitt was born at Hampstead, London on the 11th of April 1912 the younger son of Thomas Tyrwhitt ARIBA, an architect, and Dorothy Nina (nee Marsden) Tyrwhitt of 4, North Court, Great Peter Street in London. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Homeboarders from September 1925 to July 1930. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Corporal in September 1929. He attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst from where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Worcestershire Regiment on the 28th of January 1932. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 28th of January 1935 and he resigned his commission on the 21st of March 1936.
He was married at the British Consulate at 10, Ma Ta Jen Hutung, Peiping in China on the 23rd of March 1936 to Delia Gurnee (nee Scott later Lane), an author, of Greenwich, Connecticut.
On leaving the army he returned to London where he joined the Diplomatic Service and lived at 4, North Court, Great Peter Street, London SW1.
Following the outbreak of war he was recalled to his Regiment on the 9th of September 1939 with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. In December 1939 he was posted to Singapore where he was attached to the Far East Combined Intelligence Bureau as an Intelligence Officer. He was tasked with creating a card index of security information which was being gathered from intercepted communications between Japanese consular officials and their attachés in Singapore, Hong Kong and their bases in Japan.
Following the Japanese invasion of Malaya in December 1941 and subsequent assault on the island of Singapore in February 1942 Cuthbert Tyrwhitt was reported to have been killed in action and buried at the British Headquarters at Fort Canning on the day that Singapore surrendered.
In October 1947, his wife donated the sum of £150 towards the Westminster School War Memorial Fund in his memory.
He is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial Column 67.

Captain 50924; Worcestershire Regiment attached to the Far East Combined Bureau

International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition

Prepared for import into AtoM by Westminster School Archive staff, 2019-2020. Updated by Bethany Duck, Archives Assistant, September 2022.

The Record of Old Westminsters: A biographical list of all those who are known to have been educated at Westminster School from Play 1919 to Election 1989, Volume 4, compiled by F.E. Pagan and H.E. Pagan, Padstow, 1992.

Westminster School Second World War Memorial by John C. Hamblin, 2022.