CAMBRIDGESHIRE REGIMENT 1914-18 - Key Persons
Born in 1867 Charles Copeman was the 5th son of the late Canon Copeman of Norwich. He was educated at Norwich School then Selwyn (1886) and King's (1906) College, Cambridge. He joined the then 3rd Volunteer Battalion Suffolk Regiment as a Captain in 1897 and when this battalion became the 1st Battalion, The Cambridgeshire Regiment he was ‘E' (Wisbech) Coy Commander. In 1911 he was promoted to Major and assumed command of the Headquarters section of the Battalion. On the 14th October 1914 he was gazetted Lieutenant Colonel and assumed command of the 1st Battalion.
On the 14th February the Battalion embarked for France and Colonel Copeman was to command it through its first encounters with the enemy; in particular the repulse of a German attack at St. Eloi in March, and the German bombardment of Ypres in the latter part of April.
He wrote home about St Eloi. We were in the thick of the great fight last Sunday, and I am proud to tell you that the Regiment did very well, so the General told me. It was an unexpected attack, and we were hurled into it, in the midst of terrific shell and rifle fire which lasted from 4.30 on Sunday to about 5 o'clock on Monday morning.
With an interest in the Cambridgeshire Regiment for nearly 40 years, Cliff is a journalist who has also researched many of the county's war memorials and the stories of soldiers who fought in the First World War. He is a long-time member of the Western Front Association and former chairman of its Cambridgeshire branch.
Felix works as a museum custodian and local historian and has a background in vintage aviation, photography and military antiques and collectables. He has been researching the Cambridgeshire Regiment for nearly twenty years and also specialises in the research of First World War soldiers especially those associated with the county of Cambridgeshire. He regularly gives talks and presentations on the Cambridgeshire Regiment as well as organising museum events. He is a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society.
Herbert Harold Greaves was born in the summer of 1893 in Ely and grew up at the family home in the Annesdale area of the city. His father was a platelayer for the GER and his older brothers also started work on the railway when they were old enough. After leaving school Herbert started work in one of the other key industries in that area and became a bottle washer at one of the big breweries.
In the summer of 1913 Herbert married Lily May Wilden at Ely and the young couple moved to Cambridge Road, Ely. With the outbreak of war the following year it was not long before Herbert volunteered and on the 4th September he attested with the Cambridgeshire Regiment. He was given the number 2344 and quickly was posted to Ely and District Squad for training. He initially remained in the UK when the 1/1st went to France in February 1915, serving instead with the 2/1st and then later the 3/1st Battalion.
As the losses in the 1/1st increased during the summer of 1916 the frequency of the much needed replacement drafts from the UK soared. In December 1916 alone nearly 300 men were sent over from the Cambs Reserve Battalions, Herbert was one of these men and he joined the 1/1st in early January 1917. For most of the time he was with the Cambs overseas they were around the Ypres Salient and activity and fighting increased with the build up to the summer offensive, now known as Passchendaele.
Herbert survived the horrors of the 31st July 1917, the first day of Passchendaele, when the Battalion took part in the bitter fighting around St Julien. In September the Cambs moved over to the East of Ypres and started preparations for another attack. On the 23rd September the Battalion was in the front line in the Shrewsbury Forest area (an area many would have known well from 1915). Various reconnaissance operations were carried out and the Cambs had 14 men wounded on that day. One of these was Herbert who was wounded in the chest and back. It soon became apparent that these wounds were very serious and that there was internal damage to both his lungs and spine. He was moved to the 11th Casualty Clearing Station and while there a nurse wrote to his wife to inform her of the situation:
I am afraid his spine is injured and he cannot move his legs and has no feeling in them. Everything possible will be done for him and I hope things will not be as bad as they appear.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Geology at Cambridge University
Born in 1896 at Whittlesey he was the fifth child of James and Emma Copeman. His father died in 1905 and by 1911 Frederick was working as brickyard labourer. He joined F (Whittlesey) Company in late 1911, for unknown reasons (possibly due to his age) he enlisted under the name Frederick Hailstone and was given the number 1229.
A possible link with the name was a family named Hailstone living across the road from where Fred was living at Claygate, Whittlesey. They had a son named Oliver who was a year younger than Fred. He later followed Fred into the Cambs in 1913 but was sadly killed in 1917 in France while serving with the Kings Royal Rifle Corps.
Known as Harry, he was born in 1874 near Worksop but later moved to the Peterborough area. For most of his life he worked as a dentist and was very well known in the local community due to both this and his long-standing involvement with the local volunteer forces.
Known by his middle name, Philip, he was born August 5th 1881 at Littleport, the son of the affluent brewery owner and local Justice of the Peace, William Cutlack. Philip's early childhood years were spent at the family home in Littleport, now the Grange Care Home, but when of age he was sent to Felsted Boarding School. During his time at Felsted he developed a love of sports and became highly involved with the school's Cadet Corps.
On leaving Felsted Philip was accepted into Pembroke College, Cambridge and he started his studies there in 1900. Keen to continue with his interests in the military he joined the Cambridge University Rifle Volunteers and served as part of their Mounted Infantry Section. Captivated by the events in South Africa during the ongoing Second Boer War the CURV's Mounted Infantry Section was heavily influenced by both the concept and imagery of the Boer Kommandos. Philip thrived at Pembroke, joining several societies alongside his CURV commitments.
Philip gained his BA from Cambridge in 1903 and returned to Ely where he joined his father's brewery business, Cutlack and Harlock Ltd. In February 1904 the young graduate was offered a commission with the Volunteers and he joined H (Ely) Company, 3rd Volunteer Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment. Under the guidance of the young Captain Archer, Philip fitted in well and retained his commission when the Volunteers disbanded and reformed as the Territorial Force in 1908.
In 1911, Philip, now a 29-year-old director of Cutlack and Harlock, married his fiancée Dora Dormer and the couple moved to Glebe Lodge, Hills Road, Cambridge. In December 1911 Captain Archer was promoted and the command of the Ely Company was passed to Lt Cutlack. He continued in this role until March 1913 when he decided to resign his commission.
Seventeen months after Philip had resigned his commission the highly anticipated war in Europe began. In early October 1914 the former Lt Cutlack volunteered to return to the Colours and was given the rank of Temporary Captain. Posted to the recently formed 2/1st Battalion (initially called the 1st Reserve Battalion) Philip was soon made Adjutant and promoted to Major. In February 1916 he was appointed Second in Command and then given command of the Battalion in May. Four months later orders came through that he leaving for the Western Front.
Major Cutlack arrived in France at the end of September 1916 and he was initially posted to the 6th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters before being attached to the 2nd Battalion, Scots Fusiliers. These short posting were all intended to give him some front line experience and it was under this pretense that he was given command of the 1st Battalion, East Lancashires for around a month in December 1916 to January 1917. After his short stay with the East Lancs, Philip was moved back from the front line area and was given the position of Commandant for the Le Treport area.
After the Armistice was declared Philip remained in France for a time, supervising the demoblisation of countless British soldiers who moved through the depots in the Dieppe area. Finally his orders came through and he returned home, his uniform was once again put away. In the post-war years the Cambridgeshire Regiment was reformed as part of the newly created Territorial Army and Philip once again answered the call and returned to the Colours for a third time.
Gazetted Lieutenant Colonel in March 1924, Philip succeeded the legendary wartime CO Lt-Col Clayton and was given command of the Battalion in 1925. Shortly after this, tragedy struck the Cutlack family when his beloved wife and mother to his two children, Dora, died from an allergic reaction to a bee sting.
After four years as the Commanding Officer of the 1st Cambs Lt-Col Cutlack stood down. He remained heavily involved with the TA in various capacities and in July 1929 was promoted to the rank of Colonel. The time freed up by relinquishing his command was quickly taken up once again by his appointment as Deputy Lieutenant for Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire and he later went on to serve as High Sheriff from 1934-35.
After the loss of his first wife in 1925 Philip married again in 1926. This time to the daughter of the former Cambs officer, Samuel Marshall Jonas, named Olga Vavasour Jonas. After ten years the marriage ended in divorce, shortly after which he married for the third and last time to a widow named Eileen Hills.
In 1939 as war in Europe once again erupted, Philip, once again, returned to uniform becoming a key figure in the Home Guard holding the position of Zone Commander of the Isle of Ely Home Guard. Before the Second World War his son, Robin, had joined the Cambridgeshire Regiment as a subaltern in the Ely Company. Promoted to Captain early in the War, he was a popular and promising young officer.
Sadly Robin was mortally wounded during the 2nd Battalion's fierce fighting north of Singapore in late January 1942. Little news escaped from Singapore after the surrender but several letters did reach Philip detailing the loss of his son and the events surrounding it. Using his regimental contacts and by gathering up any available snippets of information he played a key role in discovering the fate of many of the Regiment's officers when no other word was reaching the UK.
In recognition of his long and dedicated service to the Territorial Army Association and the Home Guard he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1943. Remembered as a colourful and larger than life character, Philip spent his later years at his home at Barton Mills. The successful family brewery continued to expand through several mergers, until it was finally sold off in 1957. Col Cutlack died at St Andrew's Hospital, Northampton on May 8th 1965 at the age of 83.
Robin is a chartered academic librarian at the University of Cambridge and is an ex member of D (Cambridgeshire) Company, VI (Vol) Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment. He has been researching the history and men of the Cambridgeshire Regiment for over twenty years and has a particular interest in military medals. He is a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society, with a focus on collecting medals awarded to the Cambridgeshire Regiment for gallantry and long service.
Edward Pius Arthur Riddell, or Ted as he was known, was one of the Cambridgshire Regiment's greatest warriors. Not hailing from Cambridgeshire and already a career regular soldier were two strikes against Riddell in a local territorial battalion but such was his compassion for the men under his command, his acumen as a soldier and his willingness to lead by example that when he finally left the battalion, to be promoted to a Brigade position, his loss was greatly lamented by all ranks. He had seen the Cambridgeshires through some of their toughest battles and commanded 1/1st Cambridgeshire on the Western Front from 10th June 1916 to 1st October 1917 with only a short interruption due to wounds.
Riddell was born on the 23rd May 1875. He was the son of John Giffard Riddell (1830-1901), of Felton Park, and Swinburne Castle, Northumberland, who served as High Sheriff of Northumberland, and his second wife Victoria (1838-1915), daughter of Peter Purcell, of Harbourstown, Co Kildare. It was one of the oldest Catholic families in the North.
Growing up in Hexham, Northumberland, Riddell was educated at Downside College, in Bath and then joined a Militia battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. Volunteering for service with the regulars he served as a 2nd Lieutenant during the Boer War receiving the Queen's South Africa medal with three clasps and then transferred permanently to the Northumberland Fusiliers in February 1902. The following year he married Frances Hygnia (1877-1961), daughter of Francis John Summer, of Ealthorpe Park, Warwickshire.
In 1908 Riddell transferred to the Rifle Brigade and in January 1914 after promotion to Captain, was seconded to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as an instructor. Promotion to Temporary Major followed in November 1914, and Major in September 1915.
On the 10th June 1916 Riddell's association with the Cambridgeshires started when he was attached as the Commanding Officer; succeeding Lieutenant Colonel Archer, who had returned to the UK due to ill health (further details can be found here). At first he thought the men were not up to the standards of a regular battalion but changed his opinion as he got to know them.
One of the many Cambridge University students who joined the Cambridgeshire Regiment, Conrad Corfield was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 and after the war rose to the top of the Indian Civil Service and was knighted.
Born in 1893 at Heanor, Derbyshire, he was the son of the Rev Egerton Corfield MA, (secretary of Church Mission Society at Cambridge, and later rector of Finchampstead, Berks) and Ethel Grace Corfield. Conrad went up to St Catharine's College, Cambridge, in 1912 and gained a Blue for hockey
When war was declared he gained a commission in the Cambridgeshire Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant, going overseas with A Company, 1/1st Battalion, in February 1915. He was promoted to Lieutenant the following month and was invalided to England with trench fever in July.
Posted to the 3/1st Battalion for home service, he met Sir Theodore Morison, another Cambs Regiment officer and a member of Council of the Secretary of State for India, who encouraged Conrad to apply for the Indian Civil Service.
Promoted to Temporary Captain, he returned to the 1/1st Battalion in August 1916, being posted to B Company. His youngest brother Lt Hubert Vernon Anchital Corfield, 7th East Lancs, had been killed in July 1916. His eldest brother, Lt Egerton Anson Frederick Corfield, 153 Bty RA, was to die at Messines in 1917.
In August 1916, the Cambridgeshires had been moved to the Somme with the 39th Division. During an attack by another brigade of the division on September 3, 1916, the 1/1st Battalion had occupied the front line as the attacking troops advanced. The Cambridgeshires were subjected to an intense bombardment by the Germans, who also launched a counter-attack. Conrad was awarded a Military Cross for his actions and was wounded.
His MC citation reads: "He set a fine example when consolidating a trench under heavy shell fire. He also brought in a wounded man under broad daylight, and later was himself wounded in carrying out a dangerous patrol."
In October he was appointed adjutant of the battalion. After the battalion's part in the capture of the Schwaben Redoubt at Thiepval on October 14, he sustained shellshock when a shell hit the battalion HQ on October 15. He returned to duty the following day.
Invalided to England with a knee injury in May 1917, he was promoted to full Captain and seconded for service with an Officer Cadet Battalion. He officially left the army in 1920, joining the Indian Civil Service.
His first appointment was as an Assistant Commissioner, being promoted to Assistant Private Secretary to the Viceroy, Lord Reading, a post he held until the end of 1922, when he married Phyllis Bertha Pugh. They had two children.
He transferred to the Indian Political Service in 1923, returning to England in 1930 when his son was placed in prep school. Conrad returned as secretary at Hyderabad, then moved to Rewa. Phyllis had a hunting accident in 1932 so they returned to England, where she died in December 1932.
Conrad, who briefly played hockey for England, returned to India, transferring in 1934 to Political Department at Simla and Dehli. He was joint secretary to the Indian Government's Foreign & Political Dept, in 1934, Officiating Political Secretary in 1937, Resident for Jaipur from 1938-40; Political Agent at Quetta in 1940, and Under-Secretary for the Punjab States 1941-45. He was awarded the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1937 and Companion of the Order of the Star of India (CSI) in 1942.
He became political adviser to the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, from April 1945 to 1947 and Mountbatten, the last Viceroy, in 1947.
Knighted as Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) by the King in 1945, he would be known as the doyen of 20th century British political officers, being the last official head of the Indian Political Service. Sir Conrad wanted no part in Indian independence and returned to England in 1947, just two weeks after retiring. It is believed that the character of Sir Robert Conway in the acclaimed film ‘The Jewel in the Crown' is based on Sir Conrad.
After returning home to live in Finchampstead, he considered standing for Parliament. He married Sylvia Phyllis Mary Daunt, widow of Lt-Col Charles O'Brien Daunt OBE, MC in 1961. She died in 1977 and Sir Conrad died in 1980, aged 87. He is buried at St James' Church, Finchampstead.