The following is a list with biographies of the 462 people who attended Malvern College and died due to the First World War. Altogether 2,833 are known to have served. There is also a corresponding page commemorating the 249 casualties in the Second World War.
There was not a month from August 1914 to November 1918 that an Old Malvernian did not become a casualty, with 6 killed on the first day of the Battle of Loos on the 25th September 1915 and 13 killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on the 1st July 1916.
The vast majority of casualties occurred in France and Belgium with 31 names recorded on the Menin Gate at Ypres, and 23 at Thiepval. There were also 23 casualties in Turkey due to the Gallipoli Campaign, and 16 in Iraq, including 2 near Kut.
They were in a wide range of regiments including 26 in the Royal Field Artillery, 13 in the Royal Engineers, 12 in the Worcestershire Regt, 11 in the Canadian Inf, 11 in the East Kent Regt (The Buffs), and 5 in the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force.
Most were officers with 133 Captains, 126 2nd Lieutenants, 114 Lieutenants, 26 Majors, and 15 Lieutenant Colonels.
29 received the MC, 10 the DSO and 1 the DCM, as well as 3 knighthoods (the CB, CMG, and MVO).
The information below is based primarily on the memorial books held at Malvern College which Ian Quickfall, and now Paul Godsland, the Malvernian Society archivists, have arranged to be digitised with the official memorial web site still in development.
Further information was also obtained from 'The Malvern College Register 1865-1924' edited by H.G.C Salmon, 'The Malvernian' school magazine, 'A History of Malvern College 1865 to 1965' by Ralph Blumenau, and 'Malvern College: A 150th Anniversary Portrait' by Roy Allen.
Information was also obtained from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, the Unit War Diaries and Service Records held at the National Archives in Kew, and various online commemorative websites whose links have been provided.
The main battles have tried to be identified in which Old Malvernians died in. Many though were killed in the general attrition of Trench Warfare which is so vividly described in the book 'Nothing of Importance' by Bernard Adams.
Below is a map showing the locations of the 246 cemeteries where Old Malvernians are buried or commemorated in. The markers are coloured yellow for one casualty, orange for between 2 and 9, and red for 10 or more. The name of the cemetery and number of casualties can be seen by hovering over the marker, and the list of names seen by clicking on the marker. Their full biographies and pictures can be seen by clicking on 'Further Info'.
The records can be filtered and/or sorted by name, house, age, regiment, battle, date, place etc by clicking on the appropriate drop down box and then the 'Search' button below the map. The original memorial book entry can be seen by clicking on the person's picture.
.jpg "View original memorial book page")
Son of the Rev. Charles Lowther Arnold and Mary Delamere Arnold, of Holy Trinity Vicarage, Fareham, Hants and Wroxall Vicarage, Isle of Wight, b. 1892.
Middle IV A — Modern II. House Prefect. XI Cricket 1909, 10; Fives Pair.
Magdalene College, Cambridge; B.A. (Third Class Medieval and Modern Languages Tripos) 1914; played Cricket v. Oxford 1914.
Great War, Private 1914; afterwards 2nd lieutenant 18th Royal Fusiliers.
11th Bn. attd. 8th Bn. Royal Fusiliers
He went to Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1911, and played cricket for Cambridge University, 1912-14, 5 matches. Hampshire, 1912-14, 16 matches. Free Foresters, 1914, 1 match.
'Alban Arnold was, as his record shows, distinguished both at school and afterwards at cricket. He was an excellent cricket-keeper, one of the two or three best we have had, and a very dangerous though perhaps not quite a sound bat. It was his consistently heavy scoring that forced him into the Cambridge Eleven of 1914. Here he was a steady, quiet, somewhat reserved boy, but always pleasant and attractive, and of striking appearance. He left a year, before his proper time to study in France, with a view to entering the Consular Service. As time went on he "came out" much more, and promised to become a really valuable man. He enlisted in the Public Schools Battalion in the first month of the war, and received his commission later in the year. He was killed in an advance on July 7th, 1916.' (Malvernian, Nov 1916).
Ref:Wisden on the Great War
Final Wicket:Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War By Nigel McCrery
Wikipedia
Medal card: WO 372/1/118329
8 Bn Royal Fusiliers (1915 June - 1918 Feb) War Diary: WO 95/1857/1
Born: October 25th 1894. Son of Col. E. A. P. Hobday, C.M.G. (Royal Artillery), and Mrs. N. Hobday (nee Pottinger), Glenshiel Inn, Victoria, B.C.
Modern III—Lower Modern I.
Architect's Assistant.
Great War, Private Canadian Infantry 1914; Captain West Yorkshire Regt.
11th Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own).
Architect in Victoria and Duncan, British Columbia where he also played cricket.
'He left School rather young, to go out to British Columbia, and the career which he had entered upon at School was interrupted just at the time when he was giving promise of prominence and usefulness. He had a special aptitude for games, and considerable intellectual power. After he had finished his education in British Columbia, he began work as an architect. He had much success in various forms of athletics, and was well known in the province. When war broke out he joined the first Canadian force that was raised, and came over to England in October 1914 with the first Canadian Contingent. When the new battalions of the West Yorkshire Regiment were formed, he was gazetted to one of these, and was thus one of the original officers, and he remained with this battalion till the time of his death. He saw much service in France, and gained rapid promotion. He was killed on June 7th 1917 when gallantly leading his men. His bravery and fine leadership had been conspicuous all the time that he was on active service. He was mentioned in despatches in Jan. 1917. The fine work he did in the action, in which he lost his life, was typical of his career as a man and a soldier.' (Malvernian, Jul 1917).
Wisden
Service record:WO 339/4691
Unit war diary:WO 95/2184/4
Son of Harold and Adele Lea-Smith, of Heathfield Houses, Windmill Rd., Wimbledon Common and Gothic Lodge, Wimbledon Common, S.W. b. 1897.
Upper V—Matriculation Class. Minor Scholar. XXII Football.
Magdalen College, Oxford.
Great War, Private Middlesex Regt. 1914; Lieutenant 6th Bn. The Buffs (East Kent Regiment).
'Full of vigorous life, Leslie Lea-Smith showed great promise in his school days. He was a delightful companion, particularly attractive for his sturdy independence. He answered his country's call for the first 100,000 men by enlisting in the Public Schools Battalion (16th Middlesex), where he obtained two stripes. In February, 1915, on his 18th birthday, he received his commission in the "Buffs" (East Kent Regiment). He was wounded in the Hohenzollern crater fighting in March, 1916, and many will recall his graceful figure and imperturbability from the following account which appeared in the "Daily Chronicle": "When all the men in one of these infernal craters were dead or wounded, Lieutenant Lea-Smith ran forward with a Lewis gun, and served it during a fierce attack by German bombers until it jammed. Then he left the gun and took to bombing, and that single figure of his flinging grenades like an overarm bowler kept the enemy at bay until reinforcements reached him." For this act of heroism he was mentioned in despatches. He was killed in action on July 7th, and his Colonel writes: "He was quite the most gallant boy I have known, and his fearlessness almost amounted to recklessness, so great was his utter disregard of danger. His loss to the Battalion is irreparable, and he will be truly mourned by both officers and his men who were devoted to him, as their comfort was always his first thought."' (Malvernian, Jul 1916).
Biography at Merton
.jpg "View original memorial book page")
Son of T . S. Whitfeld, Wych Cross, Forest Row, Sussex, b. 1891.
Lower Shell—Lower Modern II.
Trinity Hall, Cambridge; Stockbroker. Great War, Private North Somerset Yeomanry 1914; Captain Royal North Devon Hussars; R.A.F.
'One of a well-known Sussex family, nephew of one O.M. and cousin of another, Nigel Whitfeld left School too early to make any great mark, but he showed promise in more ways than one.' (Malvernian, Jul 1918)