The Death of the 'Dukes'

A Story of Valour and The Sacrifices Made by a Battalion of the Old Contemptibles”. The Complete Analysis of an Original Battalion of the British Expeditionary Force - August 1914 to May 1915 (Including the WWI Letters of Lt R H Owen) by Graham Sargeant with Bob Sargeant, Cyril Ford & Scott Flaving with a Foreword by Maj Gen Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter KCVO, OBE, DL.

PART I - Lt Rowland Hely Owen. The Dukes of Wellington’s Regiment - A Potted History. The Build-up to World War One. The Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) rifle. Portobello Barracks, Dublin. North Wall, Dublin Dock. SS Gloucestershire. Mobilisation - The Letters of Rowland Hely Owen. Havre. Landrecies. Marouilles. Foret De Mormal: Obies; Mecquignies & Bavai. St Ghislain. The 13th Infantry Brigade comprised – 2/DWR (2nd Bn Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment), 1/RWK (Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment), 2/KOYLI (King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) and 2/KOSB (King’s Own Scottish Borderers). 13th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division, II Corps of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The Battle of Mons. The Angel of Mons. The Battle at Wasmes. M. Herman Capiau. Le Cateau & The Retreat from Mons. The Battles of The Marne & The Aisne. Sermoise. Missy-sur-Aisne. Gobain Wood. The Race to the Sea / The Battle of La Bassée. Major H K Umfreville. Major Harrison. Capt B J Barton. The Battle of 1st Ypres - Hooge Wood & Nonne Boschen. The ‘Dukes’ as Prisoners of War. Wulverghem. Earsdon. Backworth. The Battle of Hill 60. The gas attack on Hill 60 - 5th May 1915. 2nd Lt Gilbert Beyfus The mystery of Rowland Hely Owen’s last resting place. St Thomas’ Church, Huddersfield.

PART II - The Battle at Wasmes - An Analysis. A Statistical Analysis of an original Battalion of the BEF. Statistics and facts and figures for an original battalion of the BEF with dozens of tables, graphs and charts - The Geographical origins of the Officers and Men of 2nd Battn - The Reservists in 1914 - their periods of enlistment and terms of employment - The Health of the Reservists 1914 - The individual fates of the original Officers & Men of the Battalion after 10 months of WWI - The changing demographic of the Battalion over 10 months of WWI - Comparison of the fates of Officers and Men of 2nd Battalion - When and where the Men were killed - When and where the Men were taken POW - Marital status of Men of 2nd Battalion killed in WWI - Original Men of 2nd Battalion Men killed and taken POW over whole course of WWI - The Dependents of the original Men of 2nd Battalion killed in WWI - ANNEX ‘A’ - Attritional Rates suffered by the ‘original’ Men of 2nd Battalion The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment. ANNEX ‘B’ - Emb...