Malvern College First World War Casualty

Captain Francis Howard Lindsay

Photo of Francis Howard Lindsay
House and time at Malvern: No 2, 1887 - 1895.

Regiment: London Scottish Regt.
Died: 01 July 1916 aged 40 in France. Killed in action.
Battle: Battle of the Somme. Cemetery: Thiepval Memorial P 9C/13C

Son of W. A. Lindsay, K.C., Clarenceux King of Arms, and Lady Harriet Lindsay, 17 Cromwell Road, b. 1876.
III—VI. Dowdeswell Prize. School Prefect. Head of House. XI Football 1893,94; XXII Cricket; Shooting VIII (captain); Lieutenant in Corps.
Scholar, Clare College, Cambridge; BA. (Jun. Opt.) 1898.
Examiner Scotch Education Department 1899; Hon. Secretary O.M.F.C. 1900-08; Captain 1st/14th Bn. London Regiment (London Scottish).
Great War, mobilised 1914.

Husband of Helen Margaret Lindsay, of 7, Emperor's Gate, South Kensington, London.

'By the death of Francis Howard Lindsay, Malvern has lost a devoted son, the country has lost a loyal and gallant officer, and many people have lost a true friend. The same keenness which marked his life as a man was one of his chief characteristics when he was a boy at school. During his time here he strove with unfailing energy and enthusiasm to promote the interests of his house and the interests of the School. His efforts met with conspicuous success. He won considerable distinction for himself and much more for his house. He was prominent in every part of the life of the School. In football he did good service as a member of the XI, and he was one of the mainstays of his house team. As a cricketer and a fives-player he achieved considerable success at times. He shot for the School at Bisley on several occasions, and in the Corps he was a keen volunteer at all times, and in the latter part of his time he was a capable officer. His intellectual attainments, especially in mathematics, were considerable. After he left Malvern he showed his devotion to the School by the deep interest which he took in all that went on here, and he rendered most important services to the O. M. Football Club for a considerable period. He kept up his rifle-shooting and regularly attended the Bisley meetings, and sometimes shot with great success. But what claimed his chief attention and occupied much of his leisure time was the work connected with the Volunteer (or Territorial) Force. When he entered the Scotch Education Department in London he joined the London Scottish Corps, and he did good service to his country by helping to give the men of that force a sound physical and military training. Of his professional work in London a writer in the Scotsman says: "His administrative experience as an examiner in the Scotch Education Department was wide, and in 1912 he was selected to take special charge of the superannuation scheme for Scottish teachers—a new branch of work. It was a task for which his mathematical tastes and his habit of careful and conscientious work made him admirably fitted, and he threw himself into it with great zest. It is not too much to say that the teachers of Scotland owe him a substantial debt of gratitude for his unsparing labours which enabled him to overcome the difficulties which attended the new scheme." In 1914 he volunteered with his regiment for foreign service, and was severely wounded at Messines in November of that year. He was not fit again for foreign service till May 1916, when he went to France a second time. He was killed in action on July 1st. He was gazetted temp. Major a few weeks before.' (Malvernian, Jul 1916).

Service record:WO 374/42209
Unit war diary:WO 95/2956/1 Trench Map

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