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Cumberland, Bentinck Howard, son of Walter Bertie Cumberland, GPO engineer, of Hendon, and Edith Howard, d. of Edmund Rawles of Hampstead; b. 6 Sept. 1917; adm. Apr. 1931 (R); left July 1936; The Loyal Regt 1940-3 (Capt.); killed in action (N. Africa) 30 Apr. 1943.

Bentinck Howard “Benty” Cumberland was born at Hampstead, London on the 6th of September 1917 the only son of Walter Bertie Cumberland, an engineer for the General Post Office, and Edith Howard (nee Rawles) Cumberland of 26, Shirehall Lane, Hendon in Middlesex. He was christened at St Mark’s Church, Marylebone on the 20th of October 1917. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from April 1931 to July 1936. He was a member of the 1st Rowing VIII in 1935 and 1936 where he rowed at No. 6. On leaving school he was articled to a firm of chartered accountants. He was elected as a member of the London Rowing Club in 1936.
He attended the 163rd Officer Cadet Training Unit (Artists Rifles) before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) on the 3rd of August 1940 where he was later appointed as Battalion Transport Officer.
On the 29th of April 1943 the 1st Battalion, The Loyal Regiment was near Djebel Rhaouas in Tunisia where they had been involved in heavy fighting the previous day and were preparing to renew their attack. At 6am that morning 14 enemy tanks passed through the Gabgab gap towards the Battalion but soon came under British artillery fire and withdrew at 8am. Later than morning B Company was ordered to join C Company to reinforce 117 Metre Hill where enemy tanks had been seen. At 1.30pm 20 enemy tanks managed to infiltrate a gap in the British positions and established themselves on a nearby ridge where they dominated the approaches to 117 Metre Hill. As soon as this move had been completed a further 20 enemy tanks, supported by infantry, advanced through the Gabgab Gap and headed towards The Loyals’ positions on 117 Metre Hill. C Company called down artillery fire on the enemy force but this did not deter them and they continued to advance. At 2.30pm, tanks of the 145th Royal Tank Regiment began moving forward to attack the enemy tanks but they lost six of their number in a short space of time and so they took up static positions some two miles from 117 Metre Hill where they fired in support of the infantry but this was largely ineffective.
The German force closed and overran the The Loyals’ Support Company on the western side of the hill, and destroyed most of the Battalion’s transport. The Battalion had also lost all of its anti tank guns. Having suffered very heavy casualties, the survivors formed into small groups on the perimeter of their position while the German tanks dug in where they were and continued firing on the British positions for the rest of the day. Just before dawn, rations were brought up to the forward British troops and it was at this time that Bentinck Cumberland was killed by mortar fire.
At dawn on the 30th of April 1943, the Germans began withdrawing through the Gabgab Gap and new anti tank guns were brought forward to defend the gap should they return.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at the London Rowing Club.
He is buried at Massicault War Cemetery Plot V, Row M Grave 3.

Currier, David Fletcher, son of Edward Putnam Currier of New York and Dorothy Fletcher of Melrose, Mass.; b. 9 Aug. 1915; adm. 21 Sept. 1933 (B); left July 1934; Yale Univ., AB 1938; USNR 1941-3 (Lieut.); posth. commendation for outstanding performance of duty; m. 8 Mar. 1941 Margaret Pitkin, d. of Richmond L. Brown of Greenwich, Conn.; killed in action in USS Plymouth 5 Aug. 1943.

David Fletcher Currier was born at Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York on the 9th of August 1914 the son of Edward Putnam Currier, a dealer in investment securities, and Dorothy (nee Fletcher) Currier of Tarrytown, New York. He was educated at Milton Academy, Massachusetts and at Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from the 21st of September 1933 to July 1934. He was a member of the 1st VI Lawn Tennis team in 1934. He went on to Yale University where he was a member of the Freshman basketball and baseball teams and was a member of the University Baseball Squad, the Fence Club, Scroll and Key, of the Torch Honor Society and of the Calhoun College touch football team in his Sophomore year. He was a member of the National Reserve Officers Training Corps.
He graduated with a BA in 1938 and went to work for Morgan & Lockwood of 44, Wall Street, New York City. He was employed by American Airlines from April 1939 to July 1940.
He was married at Greenwich, Connecticut on the 8th of March 1941 to Margaret Pitkin (nee Brown); they had two children, Barbara and David Fletcher Jr., born on the 10th of January 1943.
He was a member of the New York Local Defence Force from 1938 and undertook a V-7 training course on board the Midshipman’s training ship USS Prairie State from November 1940 to February 1941. On the 18th of August 1941 he was called up for active duty with the United Stated Navy with the rank of Ensign and was posted to the Naval Reserve Training School at Staten Island. He served on inshore patrol duty from Staten Island from the 18th of August to the 12th of November 1941 and served in the Port Director’s Office in New York City from the 12th of November 1941 to the 23rd of February 1942. From the 23rd of February to the 5th of April 1942 he served at the Instructor training School at Fort Schuyler before being posted to the Naval Training School (Local Defence) based at Boston from the 5th of April to September 1942.
He was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade on the 15th of June 1942 and trained at the Sound School at Key West, Florida from the 2nd to the 16th of September 1942. He went on to the Submarine Chaser Training Center at Miami, Florida from the 16th of September to the 29th of October 1942. On the 31st of October 1942 he was appointed as Executive Officer and Navigator on a gunboat and was appointed as its commanding officer on the 8th of February 1943. On the 18th of June 1943 he was posted as Navigator to the patrol gunboat USS Plymouth (PG-57) and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 1st of July 1943.
The USS Plymouth, under the command of Lieutenant Ormsby M. Mitchel Jr. USN, set sail from New York on the 4th of August 1943 as part of an escort for a coastal convoy which was bound for Key West.
At 9.37pm on the 5th of August 1943, the USS Plymouth was sailing some 90 miles off the coast of Elizabeth City, North Carolina when she picked up a contact on her sonar. As she swung to port to bear on the contact she was struck by a torpedo which had been fired by the U Boat U-566, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Hornkohl. She had been struck just behind the bridge and the explosion forced her to roll to starboard before taking a heavy list to port. Her entire port side forward of the bridge was engulfed in flames and she sank two minutes later with the loss of 95 men from her crew of 179 officers and men. The survivors were picked up by the coast guard cutter USS Calypso and landed at Norfolk, Virginia the following day.
He received a posthumous Citation from the Secretary of the Navy for outstanding performance of his duty.
He is commemorated on the East Coast Memorial, Battery Park, New York.

Dalton, John Michael, son of Sir John Cornelius Dalton Kt. MIEE, barrister, and his first wife Winifred, d. of Charles Robertson; b. 20 Mar. 1924; adm. Sept. 1937 (B); left July 1940; Gonville & Caius Coll. Camb., matric. 1941; read for Bar, Gray’s Inn; 2nd Lieut. RE 1944; accidentally killed on active service with a Parachute Sqdn 7 Oct. 1944.

John Michael Dalton was born in Surrey on the 20th of March 1924 the only son of Sir John Cornelius Dalton MIEE FCIS, a barrister at law, and Lady Winifred (nee Robertson) Dalton of 20, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea in London and of “Little Brook”, North Holmwood in Surrey. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from September 1937 to July 1940. He matriculated for Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1941 and read for the Bar at Gray’s Inn before enlisting into the army where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on the 23rd of July 1944. He joined the 4th Parachute Squadron based at Bisbrooke Hall, Glaston on the 22nd of August 1944. The unit left Glaston in late August and, being the most junior officer, John Dalton was chosen to remain behind with the Residue Party, which was to gather up spare equipment and to secure the base until the unit returned from operations when it was to move to Wragby. He was billeted at Glaston House.
At 4.30am on the morning of the 7th of October 1944, the officer in charge at Glaston received a telephone call from Leicester to say that John Dalton had been killed in a motor accident.
His funeral took place on the 12th of October 1944.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Gray’s Inn.
He is buried at St Mary Magdalene Church, Holmwood.

Davies, Kenneth Frederick, son of Frederick Albert Davies of Beaconsfield, and Ellen Florence, d. of Alfred George Phillips of Devonport; b. 16 Dec. 1918; adm. Sept. 1932 (R); left Dec. 1936; RAF in WW2 (Corpl Armourer); lost in HM Minelayer Welshman (Med.) 1 Feb. 1943.

Kenneth Frederick Davies was born at Acton, Middlesex on the 16th of December 1918 the son of Frederick Albert Davies, secretary to a public company, and Ellen Florence (nee Phillips) Davies of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. He was christened at St Martin’s Church, West Acton on the 21st of June 1919. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1932 to December 1936. On leaving school he worked as an Assistant Transport Superintendant and lodged at 9, Nevern Square, Kensington in London.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as an armourer and rose to the rank of Corporal.
In January 1943, Kenneth Davies boarded the cruiser minelayer HMS Welshman (M84) , under the command of Captain William Howard Dennis Friedberger DSO RN, which was transporting men and stores from Malta to Tobruk. At 5.45pm on the 1st of February 1943, HMS Welshman was struck by two torpedoes from of a spread of four which had been fired by the U Boat U-617, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Albrecht Brandt. The main deck area flooded and she capsized and sank two hours later with the loss of 163 of her passengers and crew. Several of the casualties were caused by exploding depth charges as she sank. 118 survivors were picked up after five hours in the water by the destroyers HMS Tetcott and HMS Belvoir and were taken to Alexandria. A further 6 survivors were rescued by small craft which had sailed out from Tobruk.
He is commemorated on the Malta Memorial Panel 9, Column 2.

Day, Herbert, brother of Harold Benjamin Day (q.v.); b. Nov. 14, 1881; adm. as exhibitioner Sept. 27, 1894 (A); elected to an exhibition at Ch. Ch. Oxon. (with Triplett) 1900; matric. Michaelmas 1900; B.A. 1905; entered the scholastic profession; enlisted in the Buffs (East Kent Regt.) on the outbreak of Great War I: 2nd Lieut. 11th (Reserve) Batt. the Loyal North Lancs Regt. March 10, 1915; went out to the western front June 1916, and was attached to the 8th Batt. of his Regt.; killed in action at La Boiselle, on the Somme, July 10, 1916; unm.

Day, Maurice, brother of Harold Benjamin Day (q.v.); b. Dec. 21, 1891; adm. Sept. 27, 1906 (A); left July 1909; was articled to an architect, and was just out of his articles when Great War I began; enlisted in the 28th Batt. London Regt. (Artists' Rifles) and went out to the western front in the autumn of 1914; 2nd Lieut. 2nd Batt. Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire) Regt. March 20, 1915; killed in action in France May 9, 1915; unm.

de Bathe, Sir Christopher Albert, Bart., son of Capt. Patrick Wynne de Bathe, of Westminster, by Violet Lindsay, elder daughter of Nicholas Wood, M. P.; b. Sept. 17, 1905; adm. April 26, 1918 (R); left April 1919; went to Rugby School; 2nd Lieut. Highland Light Inf. 1925; retired 1927; Hon. Attache to the British Embassy at Constantinople 1930, and at Brussels 1931; correspondent for The Times in Persia 1932-3; succeeded his grandfather as 6th baronet Aug. 1940; Pilot Officer (A. and S. D.) R.A.F.V.R. Aug. 19, 1940; m. Jan. 11, 1932, Edna, daughter of Arthur Terrell, of Melbourne, Australia; killed on active service June 3, 1941.

Sir Christopher Albert de Bathe was born in London on the 17th of September 1905 the only son of Captain Patrick Wynne de Bathe Bt., HM Diplomatic Service, and Violet Lindsay (nee Wood later Compton) de Bathe of 121, Rue de la Commerce, Brussels, later of “Blackwater”, Lyndhurst in Hampshire. He was christened at St Paul’s Church, Wilton Place, Knightsbridge on the 17th of October 1905. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from the 26th of April 1918 to April 1919. He went on to Rugby School where he was in Cotton House from May 1919 to December 1921.
He attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst from 1923 before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry on the 29th of January 1925. He resigned his commission on the 19th of March 1927. He served as Hon Attaché in HM Diplomatic Service at Constantinople in 1930 and at Brussels in 1931. He was the Persia correspondent for the Times newspaper from 1932 to 1933.
He was married at St Michael’s Church, Pimlico on the 22nd of January 1932 to Edna Winifred (nee Terrell); they had a daughter, Charlotte Louise, born on the 24th of September 1934.
He succeeded to the Baronetcy on the death of his uncle in August 1940, becoming the 6th Baron de Bathe of Knightstown. He was a member of the Naval and Military Club.
He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on the 19th of August 1940.
On the 3rd of June 1941 Christopher de Bathe and a group of Royal Air Force officers were gathered on a golf course in Berkshire to watch some twin engined aircraft practicing dive bombing. He and three others were walking across the practice ground when he was struck and decapitated by the propeller of an aircraft which was flying at very low level.
His funeral took place at 3pm on the 10th of June 1941 and a memorial service was held in his memory at 3pm the following day at St Mark’s Church, South Audley Street, London.
He is buried at St Andrew’s Church, West Stoke.