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The Channel Islands and the Great War |
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Longueau
British Cemetery
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Captain Charles Edward Henry Tempest-Hicks,
MC, MiD, Croix de Guerre (France)
16th (The Queen's) Lancers
10/08/1918
Son of Brig. Gen. and Mrs. Tempest Hicks, of Gladsmuir
House, Monken Hadley, Herts, and Hillgrove Wells, Somerset.
Served in France from Aug., 1914. Three times wounded.
Died of wounds, aged 30 years.
Picture courtesy of Volume 12, “The
Great War: The Standard History of the All-Europe Conflict”,
edited by HW Wilson in 1919.
It is interesting to note that Second
Army commander General Sir Herbert Plumer’s son
would marry Anne Tempest-Hicks, Charles’ sister,
following the Great War.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Record
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The envelope, pictured right, is a sad reminder that letters would frequently
not reach their intended reader, and it would be the lot of others to return the
contents to the sender who might only on receipt realise that the person was dead.
In the case of this envelope, there is no accompanying letter and it may be better
to remain unaware of the contents.
In Charles Tempest-Hicks’ case he had died of wounds
sustained while engaged in the fighting during the Battle
of Amiens on 8th August 1918, a date described by General
von Ludendorff as a “black day for the German
Army”. The letter, posted in Barnet on 11th August,
1918, was marked 'Deceased and returned to the sender
via the Royal Engineers Army Postal Service'
by the 16th Lancers Quartermaster, a Captain J McConnell.
Noting the Barnet postmark and the address of Charles’
parents, it is quite likely that the sender was a family
member, and clearly the 8th would have proved a “black
day” for the family also.
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The
photograph was kindly provided by Andrew Brooks, a member of the North Lancashire
Branch of the WFA, who has the original envelope as part of a wide ranging collection
of philatelic items from the Great War. | NEWS
ITEM in Jersey Evening Post of Monday 10 April 1916
An Old
Jersey Family. The Times of 6 April states that on the day before the King at
Buckingham Palace conferred the Military Cross on Lieutenant Charles Tempest-Hicks,
16th Queens Lancers. This officer is the grandson of the late Charles Hemery of
Gladamuir, Monckton Hadleigh, who was the great-grandson of the Captain Hemery
depicted in the historical painting of the Battle of Jersey; Captain Hemery is
easily found in the many portraits of this event as he is holding up his extended
right hand. It would be interesting to know if descendants of other officers appearing
in the historic picture have had decorations conferred on them by their King.
General Tempest-Hicks, the father of the decorated officer, is remembered as a
popular Adjutant in the Militia. In the Green Street Cemetery is the memorial
to D Hemery, brother of Charles Hemery. | NEWS
ITEM in Jersey Evening Post of Thursday 19 October 1916
Our
Defenders. Captain C E H Tempest-Hicks of the Lancers (son of Brigadier General
Tempest-Hicks CB) is reported wounded. Captain Tempest-Hicks, who has been decorated
by His Majesty the King for conspicuous bravery in the field, had previously been
wounded in this war. Captain Tempest-Hicks was reported severely wounded but we
are glad to learn he is going on very well in hospital in London. The wound from
a piece of shell happily proving less severe than was anticipated. Captain Charles
E H Tempest-Hicks is a grandson of the late Mr Charles Hemery whose brother, Colonel
Hemery, lives at Plaisance and whose sisters of Colomberie House are well remembered. |
Cemetery pictures courtesy of
Mike & Rosemarie Thomas.
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