Family :

Education & Career :

Undergraduate, Christchurch College, Oxford (1899)

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

The Battle of the Somme 1st July - 18th November 1916 is inevitably characterised by the appalling casualties (60,000) on the first day, July 1st 1916. Having failed to break through the German lines in force, and also failed to maximise opportunities where success was achieved, the battle became a series of attritional assaults on well defended defence in depth. The battle continued officially until 18th November 1916 costing almost 500,000 British casualties. German casualties were about the same, and French about 200,000. The Somme could not be counted a success in terms of ground gained or the cost, but it had a strategic impact as it marked the start of the decline of the German Army. Never again would it be as effective whilst the British Army, learning from its experience eventually grew stronger to become a war winning army. The German High Command recognised that it could never again fight another Somme, a view that advanced the decision to invoke unrestricted submarine warfare in an attempt to starve Britain of food and material, and in doing so accelerated the United States declaration of war thus guaranteeing the eventual outcome. 287 Brethren were killed on the Somme in 1916.

Detail :

utenant-Colonel Charles William Reginald Duncombe, 2nd Earl of Feversham (8 May 1879 – 15 September 1916), known as Viscount Helmsley from 1881 to 1915, was a British Conservative Party politician and soldier. Feversham was the son of William Duncombe, Viscount Helmsley, elder son of William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham. His mother was Lady Muriel Frances Louisa, daughter of Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He became Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton in 1906 and held the seat until he inherited his title on the death of his grandfather in 1915. Feversham was killed in action on 15 September 1916 at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, while commanding 21st Bn (Yeoman Rifles) King's Royal Rifle Corps. The battalion was formed in 1915 at Helmsley. He had previously commanded the Yorkshire Hussars. Dogs were frequent visitors to the trenches and he had taken his deerhound to war: it too was killed and was buried with him (Source; Tommy by Richard Holmes). He lies in the AIF Burial Ground at Flers, Somme. His body was only located several weeks after he was posted as 'missing' when his battalion (with the future Prime Minister Antony Eden then acting adjutant) was based at Factory Corner and located it on the 10th of October 1916. Feversham's body was buried in a field to the south of the cemetery, and the grave was made more permanent by his family after the end of the First World War. After the end of the Second World War however, his body was moved the short distance to its permanent resting place. The grave beside his contains the remains of an unknown Royal Fusilier, found over 50 years later near Guedecourt and reburied here in April 2003. Lord Feversham married Lady Marjorie Blanche Eva Greville, daughter of Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick, in 1904. They had two sons and one daughter. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son Charles, who also became a Conservative politician. His younger son the Hon. David was killed in a car accident in 1927, aged only 17.

Masonic :

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley