Family :

Education & Career :

He was educated at Mill Hill, was captain of cricket and rugby and played as a forward for Old Milhillians against Rosslyn Park in 1889, and 'defected' to Rosslyn Park soon afterwards. He remained a playing member whilst up at Caius, Cambridge, where he won three Blues. He was still playing for Rosslyn Park in 1894/5, but was then selected after his final year at Cambridge for the British Lions tour to South Africa in 1896. He was capped as a Lion before he played for England, for whom he later won two caps in 1900. On his return, he was 'headhunted' by Blackheath, nearer to his family home, and faced his former Rosslyn Park team-mates in 1896. He also captained Kent and played for the Barbarians and Berkshire County at cricket.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

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

Following a winter in the trenches the BEF was prepared to take the offensive against the Germans. The location was Neuve Chapelle, a small village in the front line below Aubers Ridge near Lille. Aubers Ridge was a low but significant hill and the intention at Neuve Chappell was to punch through the German front line, occupy the ridge and exploit with cavalry. It was a battle fought by two Corps of the BEF, the Indian Corps and IV Corps both largely consisting of regular battalions. It was to be preceded by the most violent artillery barrage of the war to date. Unfortunately in what was to be the start of the 'learning curve' for the BEF the artillery barrage, whilst violent, failed in some parts ? a failure that was to be costly and which delayed the assault and allowed the Germans to recover. Whilst the men were exceptionally brave they became bogged down as German machine guns and artillery stopped the momentum of the assault and by the end of the first day (10th March 1915) they were digging in. The following day the assault was repeated with fresh battalions but with no success. By the 12th March the Germans had recovered their poise, had brought in reserves and were ready to counter attack.

Neuve Chapelle (10-12 March 1915) was the first planned offensive battle by the BEF in France and achieved limited tactical success but not the expected breakthrough. It highlighted the problem of delay in execution that allowed the defending Germans to regroup, often consequent on small incidents and errors. Having stabilised the situation following the German sweep into France and the counter attack that eventually established static trench warfare on the western front, there was significant pressure on Britain to take a share of the burden from the French (who had without question had born the brunt of the fighting). Although the battle was effectively over by 12th March, the official battle nomenclature included actions in other sectors up to 22 April 1915 including the significant actions at St Eloi and at Hill 60 (Ypres).

Detail :

ALEXANDER FINDLATER TODD CAPTAIN, 1st Battalion NORFOLK REGIMENT.

Prior to the Great War, he served in the Boer War 1899-1900 as Squadron Commander of Robert's Horse and Carrington's Horse, where he was wounded at Diamond Hill.

He was shot through the neck whilst in the trenches near Hill 60 in the Ypres salient on 18 April 1915 (the day after returning from leave) and died of his wounds three days later on 21st April 1915. He is buried at Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery.

Masonic :

Rose to the office of at least Junior Deacon.
Initiated into Isaac Newton University Lodge No 859 in October 1895 whilst studying at Caius College. He subsequently joined Oxford and Cambridge University Lodge No. 1118 on the 18th November 1898 and then a number of years later in 1909 became a founder member of Caius Lodge No. 3355 with a large number of fellow petitioners.

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
• Researcher : Peter Reeve