Service Life:

Campaigns:

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

19 October - 22 November 1914. Following the failure of the German Schlieffen Plan in August and September 1914, both sides engaged in a series of linked battles as they sought to outflank each other. The climax of these manouvres was at Ypres in November 1914 when the might of the German Army attempted to break the much outnumbered British Expeditionary Force. The political importance of Ypres, being the last town of any size in Belgium that remained in allied hands, established its importance for both sides and ensured a series of battles over four years.

The First Battle of Ypres in 1914 is characterised by a series of linked heroic stands by outnumbered British soldiers in conditions of confusion and weary endurance. The Germans never knew how close they had come to winning - at one point just the clerks and cooks were the last line of defence for the BEF. By the end of the battle the magnificent original BEF, composed of professional regular soldiers, had been all but destroyed and already the Territorial battalions were called into battle. From the end of 1914 a 'Regular' battalion was in terms of its compostion little different to a Teritorial or later Service Battalion. The professional soldiers had all but vanished.

Detail :

Captain Thomas Henry Rivers BULKELEY was an active member of court being an equerry to the Duke of Connaught and Comptroller to H.R.H.'s Household in Canada from 1911. He was born on 23rd June 1876, the son of Col. C. Rivers Bulkeley. He married Evelyn Pelly a lady-in-waiting to Duchess of Connaught in 1913. He was educated at Eton and in 1894 joined the Oxford Militia. He served in South Africa between 1899 and 1902 as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Scots Guards. During his service in South Africa he was wounded at Belmont, was three times mentioned in despatches and was awarded the Queens Medal (six clasps) and the Kings Medal (two clasps). On returning from South Africa he was the Captain and Adjutant of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards. His duties included being A.D.C. to Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, 1904-5, and Comptroller of the Household; A.D.C. and Comptroller of the Household to Lord Minto, Viceroy of India, 1905-7; A.D.C. to Field-Marshal H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught, Inspector- General of the Forces, 1907, and when Commanding in Chief and High Commissioner in the Mediterranean, 1907-9, accompanied the Duke of Connaught to British East Africa and South Africa, 1910. He was made C M G in 1911 and M.V.O. in 1909. We believe that he died of wounds sustained during the defence of Ypres in the Zandvoorde sector near Ypres on 22nd October 1914. The 2/Scots Guards moved up from reserve to fill the gap between 21 and 23 Brigades at Polygon Wood. The line was re-established and one Company remained in the line OH 1914 Vol 2 P176-7 22nd October. From Who's Who

Masonic :

Past Grand Deacon

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