Walhampton and Hordle House Remembrance

REMEMBRANCE W O R L D WA R I I

The biographies of the nineteen boys and men of Hordle House School who gave their lives in the service of their country Tom Pearson-Chisman

WALHAMPTON SCHOOL HORDLE HOUSE SCHOOL Presented to Walhampton School in gratitude for

twenty-two wonderful and inspiring years given to Charles and Alicia between 2003 and 2016.

Tom Pearson-Chisman asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders. However, the publishers will be glad to rectify in future editions any inadvertent omissions brought to their attention.

CONTENTS Foreword by David Whately-Smith

5

Acknowledgements 7 Introduction 9 Location of Graves and Memorials Worldwide

12

Life at Hordle House: a shared experience

13

Major Anthony ‘Andy’ Robert Whately-Smith

15

Lieutenant Donald Howorth, MC

33

Corporal Robert ‘Bob’ Kirke

39

Captain (Arthur) John Cecil Stanton

42

Captain (Henry) Anthony ‘Tony’ Thompson

47

Lieutenant (Royal Navy) Richard Millett Rickards

55

Naval Cadet (Vernon) George Underhill Jay

62

Midshipman The Hon. John Llewelyn Lloyd-Mostyn

65

Pilot Officer George Reginald Beale-Browne

68

Sergeant Donald William Foulkes Cottrell

73

Flight Lieutenant Anthony ‘Tony’ Cresswell-Turner

78

Pilot Officer Sir Iain Workman MacRobert, 4th Bart.

83

Flying Officer Edmond Arthur Pery-Knox-Gore

89

Lieutenant (Ambrose) Theodore ‘Theo’ Wentworth Austin

92

2nd Lieutenant Philip Archibald Douglas Campbell, 7th Baron Blythswood of Blythswood

95

Lieutenant Nicolas Jasper Grenville Carew

101

Lieutenant (George) Geoffry Pharomond Fielding

105

Lieutenant Roger Alexander Hammick

110

Warrant Officer Ian Castles Powell

115

Members of Staff

118

Honours, Decorations and Medals Received by Survivors of the War

119

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FOREWORD BY

DAVID WHATELY-SMITH When Hordle House and Walhampton joined forces in 1997, one of the most important artefacts to come across to the new school was the war memorial board commemorating the nineteen Old Boys who gave their lives for their country in the Second World War. Since its founding in 1926, Hordle House School quickly reached its then capacity of 60 but still remained a close-knit community.

In 1941, some 67 of its Old Boys were in uniform serving their country at home and abroad. When a study of the casualty lists and news of the dead and the missing reached the school family, it must have been a body blow to all, especially the Headmaster and Founder, Ernest Whately-Smith. This would have been exacerbated by the loss of one of his own sons. A high price was indeed paid for answering the country’s call.

readable and meticulously-documented account of the service given by these Old Boys and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

As a snapshot of history, and to those interested in the Second World War, Remembrance also provides a series of personal accounts covering the whole spread of the conflict. All three services are represented, many of the different theatres of military operations are featured and there is action from some of the key battles in the war, on the sea, on land and in the air. There are tragic accidents, loss of life at home through enemy bombing and Hitler’s revenge weapons and also a mysterious death, the details of which have only recently been made public and constitute a war crime.

The school returned to its original site in 1945 and on 28 October 1951 a service dedicating the new war memorial board with its 19 names took place in the chapel. As the years have rolled by, the school has always turned to face the board in its annual Remembrance Day service and children have been chosen to read out the names. However, the passing of time has buried what was known about these young men and how they made the ultimate sacrifice.

This book is not just a record of events that happened over seventy years ago but also a living work of history aimed at future generations of Walhampton pupils for use both as a resource and an example of selfless sacrifice. The Remembrance Day service in the chapel remains one of the most important and best-attended events in the school year. As a result of Tom’s research, the reading out of the names can be accompanied by a brief résumé of how each Old Boy lost his life.

In 2015, Tom Pearson-Chisman, the father of the current Head Girl and the possessor of an inquisitive nature and lifelong passion for military history, decided to take up the challenge of finding out about these courageous former pupils and how they had lost their lives. Many months of painstaking and exhaustive research— correspondence with university and senior school archivists, regimental associations and surviving family members, as well as trips to battlefields abroad—have yielded an accurate, immensely

The school and the families of the dead are indebted to Tom for his time, trouble and skill in producing this testament to the courage and devotion to their country’s cause of these Old Boys and also for filling this omission in the school’s history.

David Whately-Smith December 2016

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David taught at Hordle House and remained with the school after its merger with Walhampton until his retirement at the end of the Summer Term, 2015. He is the grandson of Hordle House’s Founder, Rev. Ernest Whately-Smith, and the son of John Whately-Smith, who was joint Headmaster of Hordle House with his elder brother, Peter. Peter and John were the brothers of Ernest’s second son, Major A.R. ‘Andy’ Whately-Smith, the first of the nineteen names on the war memorial board.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Universities and Schools (Archivists, unless otherwise specified)

Little of this endeavour would have seen the light of day without the support of cousins David and Chris Whately-Smith, the sons (and grandsons) of Hordle House headmasters and, of course, nephews of Andy Whately-Smith. Their grandmother’s photographs, Chris’s father’s history of the school and the collection of papers collated by Chris’s brother, Anthony, have proved invaluable.

Dr Patricia McGuire, King’s College, Cambridge; Elizabeth Ennion-Smith, St Catharine’s College, Cambridge; Fiona Colbert, Biographical Librarian, St John’s College, Cambridge; Clare Hopkins, Trinity College, Oxford; Amanda Ingram, Pembroke College, Oxford; Jonathan Smith, Trinity College, Cambridge; Anna Crutchley, Jesus College, Cambridge; Christopher Wheeler and Dr Eric Webb, co-compilers of the Roll of Honour, Charterhouse School; Catherine Smith, Charterhouse School; Rachel Hassall, Sherborne School; Alan Scadding, Epsom College; Ian Quickfall, Malvern College; Claire Russell, Marlborough College; Frank Ahern, Canford School; Martin Williamson, Cranleigh School; Mike Payne, Old Cranleighan Society; Major Roy Hudson, Old Cranleighan contemporary of Sir Iain MacRobert; Elspeth Langsdale, Oundle School; Alfie Windsor, The Conway Club (HMS Conway); Eleanor Hoare and Roddy Fisher, Eton College; Stuart Drabble, Clerk to the Governing Body, Stover School; Paul Barter, Head of Humanities, Stover School; Rusty MacLean, Rugby School; Tracey Ahmet, Rugbeian Society; Clare Sargent, Radley College; Caroline Monaghan, The Radley Foundation; Anna McEvoy and Michael Bevington, Stowe School.

It was a privilege to talk to several of the families of the school’s wartime fallen and I am very grateful to Dolores Auchmuty and Sue Wavre, sister and niece of Geoffry Fielding; Sir Jeremy Hammick and Murray Hammick of Roger Hammick’s family; John and Alexander Cresswell-Turner, Tony Cresswell-Turner’s brother and nephew; my Normandy travelling companion, Ian Thompson, son of Tony Thompson; my friend, Ed Law, and his cousins, Lord Methuen, Thomas Methuen-Campbell and Guy McNair-Wilson (OW), the heirs of Lord Blythswood; Richard Cottrell, nephew of Donald Cottrell, and Richard’s mother, Jeane, the wife of Donald’s brother, Bryce (OH); and Chris GilsonTaylor of the family of Richard Rickards. Major James Nairne, Hordle House’s ‘most senior’ Old Boy, gave insights into the early lives of many of his old friends.

At Walhampton, Headmaster Titus Mills gave this project his backing and thank you also to Rebecca Williams and Samantha Allen for spearheading its publication. Old boys Charles Pearson-Chisman and Toby Bennett photographed the memorials at Marlborough and Radley and Alicia PearsonChisman photographed the memorial board.

Military Associations and Museums Major Alasdair Goulden, Queen’s Regiment Association; Major Ken Gray, Royal Greenjackets Museum; Dr Anthony Morton, Curator, Sandhurst Collection, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; Lance-Sergeant Leighton Platt, Archivist, RHQ Scots Guards; Graham Day, Air Historical Branch, RAF; Duncan Sutton, Surrey History Centre; Bert Innes, Gordon Highlanders Museum; Sandra Hicklin, Archivist, and Laura Gardiner, Archive Assistant, York and Lancaster Regimental Museum; Wendy George, Assistant Editor, and Bob Hilton, Assistant Curator, Airborne Assault Museum, Duxford; Major James Brudenell, 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment; Paul Evans, Librarian, Royal Artillery Museum; Alison Mills, Development Manager, Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon;

Among my friends, Dr Russell Newman produced the website of grave locations. Justin Pilditch explained the workings of the RAF to me. Emma Burgess, Rachael Smith, Candida Price, Billy Murray, Tim Paterson and Charlotte Pearson-Chisman proofread the manuscript.

Other information and photographs came from up and down the country and throughout the world and I am grateful to the following for their contribution to this work:

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Gladwin, The Mostyn Estate; John Nixon, author of Wings Over Sands; Henry Schmeltzer and family; Brogan Higginbottom, warmemorialsonline.org.uk; Alistair Bridges; GĂŠrard Villemin, resistance-deportation.org; Colin Burbidge, nephew of Captain Victor Gough and author of Preserving the Flame; Carolyn Spalding and Iain Farquharson, Renfrewshire Council; Alf Beard; Richard Allenby, yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk; John Hopton, the Hopton Collection; Jonathan Auld, Hawkesbury on the Net: Cemetery Register; Geoffrey Goodall; Wolfgang Buchhorn, lostancestors.eu; Philip Jeffs, macrobertsreply.com; Ian King; Marion Miller, author of Cawnpore to Crowmar: The MacRoberts of Douneside; Christopher Vane, Portcullis Pursuivant, College of Arms; Paul Cox, National Portrait Gallery; Robin Wright, 8th Rifle Brigade website; Alwyn Ladell, son of Marcus and Celia (nĂŠe Hull), Walhampton teachers (1952-60); Dr Susan Nelmes, HM Nautical Almanac Office; Mark Beswick, Archive Information Officer, Met Office National Meteorological Archive.

Liza Stewart and Mike Pearce, Britannia Association (R.N. College, Dartmouth); Mike Waldron, Treasurer, First Battalion Association 1 RAR; David Baynham, Museum Assistant, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Museum (Royal Warwickshire); Chris Copson, Curator and Helen Jones, Research Co-ordinator, The Keep Military Museum (Devonshire Regiment and Dorsetshire Regiment); Mario Farrugia, Chairman and CEO, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna (Malta Heritage Trust); Kevin Costello and Geoffrey Hudson, Coastal Forces Veterans Association (London Branch); Squadron Leader Bryan Parsons, XV Squadron, RAF; Martyn Ford-Jones, Historian to XV Squadron.

Other Organisations and Individuals Sinan Bilsel, Manager, Lae Yacht Club, Papua New Guinea; June Armstrong and Vicky Duke, The MacRobert Trust; Fred Vogels, backtonormandy.org; Simon Butterworth, britishbadgeforum.com; Jo Blyghton, Archivist, City of Westminster; The Marquess of Queensberry; Julia and Keld Smedegaard; Desire Philippet; Sian Taylor, Cemetery Clerk, Fleet Town Council; Hans Houterman, unithistories.com; Richard Thomas and Stephen

Tom Pearson-Chisman, December 2014 to March 2016

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INTRODUCTION Walhampton and Hordle House merged in 1997 to form Hordle Walhampton School, which simplified its name back to Walhampton in 2013 whilst firmly retaining its association with Hordle House. The original Walhampton was founded after the wars, but Hordle House was founded in 1926 and its Roll of Honour and alumni are the legacy of the current school.

The War Memorial

representing the units in which these young men served. From left to right: Royal Navy, Scots Guards, SAS, Royal Artillery, York and Lancaster Regiment, Rifle Brigade, East Surrey Regiment, Parachute Regiment, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 14th/20th King’s Hussars, Royal Air Force.

The memorial was dedicated by the Dean of Winchester (Gordon Selwyn, a Hordle House parent) on 28 October 1951 and was moved from Hordle House’s chapel to Walhampton’s when the schools merged. There are three panels bearing the names of nineteen Old Boys in gilt capitalised lettering with rank and regiment in smaller type.

Some Old Boys served in more than one unit either by transfer or attachment. Those not shown on the memorial include: Royal Armoured Corps, 26th Hussars, Devonshire Regiment, Dorset Regiment, Gordon Highlanders, Green Howards, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, Army Air Corps, Royal Devonshire Yeomanry, Artists Rifles and 2/9th Australian Infantry.

Surmounting the men’s names is Hordle House’s crest, a boar’s head, with scroll move te ipsum (Bestir thyself !) surrounded by a wreath dividing the title “In grateful memory of the Old Boys of Hordle House who gave their lives for their country. 1939-1945.”

Beneath are eleven painted service and regimental cap badges,

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ROYAL NAVY

ARMY

RAF

OFFICERS (HOLDERS OF THE KING’S/QUEEN’S COMMISSION - SALUTED) Lieutenant Commander (Lt Cdr)

Major (Maj)

Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr)

Lieutenant (Lt)

Captain (Capt)

Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt)

Sub Lieutenant (Sub)

Lieutenant (Lt)

Flying Officer (F/O)

Midshipman (Mid)

Second Lieutenant (2Lt)

Pilot Officer (P/O)

TRAINEE OFFICERS (NOT YET COMMISSIONED) Naval Cadet (N/Cdt)

Officer Cadet (O/Cdt)

Flight Cadet (F/Cdt)

WARRANT OFFICERS (NOT COMMISSIONED, BUT HOLDER OF A ROYAL WARRANT - CAME UP THROUGH THE RANKS) Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1)

Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1)

Warrant Officer (WO)

Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2)

Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2)

(No equivalent)

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS (“NCOS”) SENIOR NCOS Chief Petty Officer (CPO)

Colour/Staff Sergeant (CSgt or SSgt)

Chief Petty Officer (CPO)

Petty Officer (PO)

Sergeant/ Serjeant (Sgt)

Sergeant (Sgt)

JUNIOR NCOS Leading Rate (LH)

Corporal (Cpl)

Corporal (Cpl)

(No equivalent)

Lance Corporal (L/Cpl)

(No equivalent)

NO APPOINTMENT Able Seaman (AB)

(No equivalent)

Leading Aircraftman (LAC)

(No equivalent)

Private (Pte)

Aircraftman (AC)

Comparative Ranks in WWII

Two of Hordle House’s fallen were trainee officers who inhabited a hierarchical grey area, technically bearing no appointment and junior to all ranks, yet belonging to the officer class and retaining a bearing commensurate with the rank they were intended to hold.

Different services have different rank structures. For example, Lieutenants in the Royal Navy and Flight Lieutenants in the RAF outrank Army Lieutenants. This table shows the rank structures as they stood in World War II, compiled to the school’s highest casualty rank of Major. Note that some units, particularly those with a mounted or artillery heritage, used alternative names for certain ranks.

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Military Formation Nomenclature and the Significance of Battalions

Naming Convention

In cases where an Old Boy was known by his second forename, the first has been put in parentheses. Names enclosed in apostrophes show preferred usage of an informal name style.

For example, Lieutenant (Ambrose) Theodore ‘Theo’ Wentworth Austin would have been A.T.W. Austin but did not use the name Ambrose and went by Theo rather than Theodore.

Military formations have different names depending on their type and size. By way of example, in 1944, Old Boy Donald Howorth (qv) was posted to an attachment as: •

Platoon commander (15-30 men)

•

of D Company (3 platoons)

•

1st Battalion (3-5 companies, about 300-800 men)

When one Old Boy casualty is mentioned in another Old Boy’s biography the abbreviation qv (quod vide: ‘which see’) is used to indicate the former has a biography of his own. For example, “He played cricket for the school, bowling out Richard Rickards (qv) for three during the Fathers’ Match”. If referring to several others, the plural of qv is qqv (quae vide: ‘which several see’).

• The Gordon Highlanders Regiment (1-4 regular + any number of territorial battalions) • 153rd Infantry Brigade (3-6 battalions, can be from different regiments) • 51st (Highland) Infantry Division (3+ brigades, 10,000-25,000 men) •

I Corps (several divisions, 20,000-50,000 men)

•

Second Army (several corps, can be different nations)

•

21st Army Group (more than one army)

As a general rule, soldiers in an infantry regiment wear the same uniform and perform the same role, but each of the regiment’s battalions is quite independent. The 1st Gordon Highlanders, for example, fought in France whereas the 2nd Battalion was ordered to surrender to the Japanese in Singapore. Knowing which battalion a soldier served with unlocks a great deal of information about his individual war, since the activities of each are well documented. From a simplistic point of view, the equivalent unit for the Navy is the ship and for the RAF, the squadron.

Sources of Information

Basic details for each biography are taken from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (where records exist).

References to all other sources are shown. The chapters on Life at Hordle House and the biographies of members of staff are drawn from The Founding of Hordle House (1981) by Peter Whately-Smith.

Other branches of the army used different models. The Royal Artillery, for example, was divided into sub-regiments such as the 65th Field Regiment. The basic unit for the Royal Armoured Corps (tanks) were the individual cavalry regiments, such as the 14th/20th Hussars.

Citations are presented in order of discovery or incorporation and references to websites have been left in their most useful form as hyperlinks.

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LOCATION OF GRAVES AND MEMORIALS WORLDWIDE European Theatre

Pacific Theatre Malaysia Papua New Guinea

Denmark Singapore

United Kingdom Ireland

Indonesia

Poland

Netherlands Germany

Czech Rep

Australia

Austria

France

Italy Portugal

Spain

Interactive Map of Grave and Memorial Locations An interactive map showing the grave and memorial locations is at ow.pearsonchisman.com

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LIFE AT HORDLE HOUSE:

A SHARED EXPERIENCE

Hordle House School photo, 1928. Dorothy (in hat) sitting next to 'Whately' (centre)

Innes, later to play for Somerset and England. Other activities included swimming (in the sea), tennis, shooting, riding, rollerskating, boxing, sailing, drama, piano lessons and the militaristic Flag Game.

An experience common to all the subjects of the following biographies was their childhood at Hordle House prep school.

The founding headmaster, Reverend Ernest Whately-Smith, known as ‘Whately’, was a decorated veteran of World War I. He had previously taught at Winton House School in Winchester where he had received press attention for rescuing a boy from a fire. It was partly this incident which led him to start his own school in 1926 with 20 boys from Winton, plus another four.

School trips had a certain magnitude to them: riding tanks on Salisbury Plain with the Royal Tank Corps, exploring RAF Calshot with its huge flying boats, even sailing a chartered paddle steamer down the Solent to watch King George V review the Royal Navy at Spithead for the Silver Jubilee.

The school sat atop Hordle Cliff in Milford-on-Sea, an area that was later to be covered in tank traps, remnants of which remain. Video survives of excited boys rushing down towards the beach. It was a time of charabancs, New Forest picnics, buns and lemonade, matrons and dormitories.

Parents played an important role in the school. ‘Bomber’ Harris was a parent and would lecture the boys on the activities of the RAF. England Football Captain and Surrey cricketer, G.O. Smith, played cricket in a Boys vs Fathers match. Fathers would participate in black tie end-of-term Christmas feasts (while mothers dined at the Milford House Hotel). One parent wrote:

Rugby and football matches took place against local schools, occasionally hampered for entire terms by outbreaks of measles at home and away. The Cricket XI was fortified by Mandy Mitchell-

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In 1941, the school counted 67 of its Old Boys serving their country in the armed forces and merchant navy who, by the end of hostilities, had been decorated with a Distinguished Service Cross, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, eleven Military Crosses and numerous Mentions in Despatches.

“Then the half-terms. Why did the parents look forward to them more each year? Why were we glad to see each other again? First owing to the real welcome. Never hurried, yet everything done. All made comfortable. All finding a seat in or near the Chapel … After a long drive down, you went into the drawing room and found peace. It all seemed so calm and unrushed by busy lives. Yet you were fully conscious that every detail was attended to, and every boy and every member of the staff thought for and considered.”

With the threat of invasion along the south coast during the war, the school moved for five years to Underley Hall in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria. The Hordle site was taken over by detachments of Green Howards, Royal Artillery and, later, American troops before the school’s return in August 1945.

Academically, classics, history, French and mathematics were taught by the “markedly cheerful and efficient staff ” that Whately had assembled. Many of the boys, some with scholarships, went on to attend famous public schools, such as Charterhouse, Eton, Marlborough, Radley and Sherborne.

Among the survivors of the war, Anthony Stanton became a General and Peter Hardinge a Royal Naval Captain. Charles de Vere Beauclerk (later 13th Duke of St Albans) was awarded a military OBE for his service. Charles Rob became an eminent surgeon and attended Sir Winston Churchill during his illness when Prime Minister; his brother, John, was High Commissioner to Singapore 1968-70.

The school’s ethos is summed up succinctly in the Public and Preparatory Schools Yearbook, 1948. The black circle (top left) indicates “Recognised as efficient by Ministry of Education” (Photograph: Alwyn Ladell)

Whately’s wife, Dorothy, had a sympathetic ear for the boys, the respect of the parents and almost limitless patience. The school was rocked by her untimely death in 1934. Florence May Tillett, nanny to the three Whately-Smith sons, became ‘Nanny’ to the entire school. Also among the supporting staff were George and Henrietta Monger. He kept the car (singular) running, stoked the boiler, wielded the paintbrush and “mended many small bicycle punctures”. She, “the epitome of loyalty”, never missed preparing one single meal in peace or war for thirty years.

13

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The following pages are dedicated to the Old Boys of the school who gave their loves in World War II.

The biographies are presented in the order they appear on the memorial board.

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MAJOR

ANTHONY ‘ANDY’ ROBERT WHATELY-SMITH Cut off from his SAS unit, refused to leave a wounded comrade and was executed by the Gestapo DATE OF BIRTH

22 May 1915 [1,2]

DATE OF DEATH

25 November 1944

PLACE OF BIRTH

Worthing, Sussex [1,2]

AGE AT DEATH

29

UNIT

1. 5th Battalion, Dorset Regiment [2] 2. Parachute Regiment [3] 3. 2nd SAS Regiment

CEMETERY OR MEMORIAL

Durnbach War Cemetery, Bavaria, Germany

SERVICE NO

113612

GRAVE REF

3.K.2

Dorset Regiment. Both brothers were mentioned in despatches and, after the war, succeeded their father as joint headmasters of Hordle House. John’s son, David, taught at Hordle House and its successor, Walhampton, until his retirement in the summer of 2015[4].

Andy was born in Sussex in 1915, the second son of Hordle House’s founding headmaster, the Reverend Ernest WhatelySmith, MC (1882-1963) and his wife, Dorothy Ada née Calkin (1883-1934)[1]. His father had been a chaplain in the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross for his service. He modestly claimed the award was for “taking whisky to the troops” [4].

As his father’s son, it is unsurprising that Andy was in the school’s first intake of 1926 in the company of his brothers and five others who were later to give their lives to the war: George Beale-Brown, Robert Kirke, John Stanton, Tony Thompson and Richard Rickards (qqv). While at the school, he played cricket and rugger and was a keen athlete[5].

During the Second World War his elder brother, Peter Granville Whately-Smith (1913-1996), was a Major in the 94th (Dorset & Hants) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. His younger brother, John Calkin Whately-Smith (1919-2013), was a Major in the

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On 2 March that year, his brother Peter was his best man at his marriage to Mary Emory Hodgkinson (1919-c1948), the daughter of a British Colonel and his American wife, at Beaulieu Abbey, Hampshire[2]. The couple settled in the New Forest area[10] although they were later to separate without children[5].

He left Hordle House in 1928 for Sherborne, where he was described as determined, inspiring and “gifted with a very competent brain”. He was head of ‘School’ house and a school prefect. He won the Barnes Elocution Prize and the Junior Steeplechase[2]. He enjoyed acting and played Caesar in Julius Caesar in 1932[6] and “caused a sensation with his brilliant performance of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice” in 1933[2].

He was also a Sergeant in the OTC, a member of The Duffers (a literary society) and President of The Wildman Society (a debating society)[7].

He became the 5th Dorset’s Intelligence Officer and was head-hunted for the War Office

by General Montgomery.

By 1944, now a Captain and Andy and Mary on their wedding day, Beaulieu Abbey, 1940[5] Temporary Major, he was a General Staff Officer at the School of Military Intelligence in Matlock. With D-Day on the horizon and “because he didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk” he volunteered for the Parachute Regiment[3] and then the 2nd SAS Regiment[2].

[5]

Andy, 2nd left, as a young executive at Vacuum Oil in the USA, mid-1930s

After D-Day, the SAS’s role was to support the Allied advance by sowing confusion vand causing disruption through sabotage and raiding attacks to the Germans’ ability to bring men and materiel to the front lines. Operation Loyton was conceived in May 1944, planned in June but delayed by the RAF until the nights became longer in August[12]. Andy was made Adjutant to the mission commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Franks—considered the ‘father’ of the post-war SAS[13].

One incident at Sherborne is family legend, as recounted by his nephew, David Whately-Smith: “He was extremely good-looking and over the years had a string of girlfriends. He started going out with one of the girls from Sherborne Girls School. This was not tolerated in those days and when the relationship was discovered, the unfortunate girl was immediately expelled. The Headmaster of Sherborne, who had a fierce dislike of the Headmistress of the girls’ school, took a different view of this and immediately made Andy a school prefect and head of house.” [8]

With Patton’s highly-mobile Third Army advancing across France from the West and the Seventh Army from the South, the Vosges Mountains in Lorraine formed a natural obstacle to Germany before the River Rhine, which the Germans hurried to incorporate into their retreating front line. Loyton’s objective was to send a small force into the Vosges highlands ahead of the Americans to provide intelligence on enemy dispositions, attack targets of opportunity and sever important railway lines. This would restrict the German supply line to a few available roads which the SAS could monitor and ambush before disappearing back into the dense coniferous forests of the region[12].

He left Sherborne in 1933. The following year, his mother died of cancer at the untimely age of 50[9,10]. In 1937 he took up a position in America as an executive of the Vacuum Oil Company (a corporate ancestor of ExxonMobil)[2,6].

At the outbreak of war, Andy felt duty-bound to return to England. After six months’ training at the 164th Officer Cadet Training Unit, he was commissioned into the Dorset Regiment as a Second Lieutenant on 14 January 1940[11] and posted to the 5th Battalion[2].

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