Family :

Education & Career :

Builder (1893).
Contractor (1903).
Clerk (1891) In father's employ.
??Parpretry patent paring manuf'r?? (1901) Employer.
Quantity Surveyor (1911) - Employer.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

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

"The Battle of Loos (25 September to 18 October 1915) was the major battle on the Western Front in 1915, surpassing in every respect all that had gone before in terms of numbers of men and materiel committed to battle. The preliminary bombardment was the most violent to date and the battle was charaterised by the committment of Regular and Territorial battalions on a large scale, in which the Territorials performed just as well as the Regulars. As the battles on the Western Front in 1915 increased in size and violence, so the casualties increased in proportion: Neuve Chapelle 12,000, Aubers Ridge/Festubert 29,000 , Loos 60,000. 1916 was to take the casualty cost to another level. Loos was intended as a minor role in support of French efforts around Arras but circumstances reduced the French effort. It marked the first use of poison gas by the British. Once the initial assualt had failed the battle continued in a series of actions mostly focused on the northern sector around the tactically important Hohenzollern Redoubt."

Detail :

CHARTERIS Thomas, Captain, 10/Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) The story of the 21st Division, of which the 10/Green Howards were part, is one of the most controversial of the Great War. The 21st and 24th Divisions were newly arrived in France and had been designated as Army Reserve under the direct command of Sir John French the Commander of the BEF. These divisions were entirely composed of Service (Kitchener) battalions made up of the willing volunteers of August and September 1914. Not only were the men inexperienced but so were the officers. There is a footnote in the Official History that suggests that the 62nd Brigade (which included the 10/Green Howards) had only one man out of the 4000 in the brigade who had any experience of war. This inexperience was to cost them dear in the evening of the 25th September 1915 and the following day during the Battle of Loos. As it became clear that the first phase of the battle on the morning of 25th September had stalled, Haig requested and received control of the 21st and 24th Divisions however they were too far away to arrive in theatre until the evening. No doubt their inexperience contributed but one can only imagine the problems of moving into the battlefield at night, with no reconnaissance, and much confusion from wounded and stragglers returning from the battle. The 10/Green Howards were quite unaware of the front line positions and marched in the general direction of Hill 70 and beyond the British front line. Not surprisingly the troops holding the line, (1/20 London Regiment) tried to stop them but they continued and sustained heavy casualties as the Germans reacted. In the confusion incidents of 'friendly fire' followed. The following day the 10/Green Howards were tasked with assaulting Hill 70. Captain Thomas CHARTERIS was in command of A Company.

In the early hours of Sunday September 26th Major Dent called the officers together in a shed to explain the actions for that day. At 7-30am the battalion launched their assault up a hill towards the German lines. "Fighting went on all day and more than once it was hand to hand." The Official History carries a footnote that "the commander and three senior officers were all killed in a few minutes" First Colonel Hadow got up and rushed forward shouting "Charge" and was killed; then Major Dent rose and did the same and was killed; the next two senior officers (one of which we can presume to have been Captain Charteris) met their fate in the same manner. Captain Charteris was killed in this attack on September 26th 1915 at the age of 45. He had been in France for just sixteen days. His body was not found and his name is remembered today on the Loos Memorial at Dud Corner on the Bethune to Lens road. He was born in Westminster on October 9th 1869 and was educated at Westminster School. He was a Special Constable. In November 1914 he was gazetted as a Captain in the 10/Green Howards. Captain Thomas Charteris was the son of David and Mary Little Charteris and the husband of Minnie Charteris of Dinwoodie, Berkhamsted. His name is also recorded on the Berkhamsted War Memorial.

Masonic :

Thomas was initiated into The Scots Lodge No. 2319 in 1893, but was in arrears by June 1908, and subsequently excluded by 1910 under Rule 175. He further joined Raymond Thrupp Lodge No. 2024 at Hampton Court on the 3rd June 1903, again in arrears by 1907 and showing resignation, 5th May 1909. In the interim he went on to become, on 23rd February 1905, a petitioning and founding member of Elstree Lodge No. 3092, undoubtedly taking office immediately; but the records at United Grand Lodge show that he resigned 21st October 1909. In similar fashion, he became a petitioning and founding member of The Connaught Lodge No. 3270 on 5th November 1907. He is recorded as a Past Master in the entry against his name within the 1921 Book. The records of Connaught show that he was "Killed in Action 1916" (conflicts with actual date of death, but he was paid up to that point). His father was also a Freemason of the Scots Lodge and Raymond Thrupp Lodge.

Discrepancies (Require checks, clarity or further research) :

The original transcript for Thomas states that he was a Special Constable - taken from Bob Coulson's investigations - At present no original and corroborating source can be found for this information.

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
• Website : De Ruvigny' s Roll of Honour
• Book : Official History Military Operations France & Belgium 1915 Vol II
• Website : ww1-yorkshires.org.uk (Bob Coulson)