The Roll of Honour, Volume 1 : A biographical record of all members of His…

Aisne, his Brigadier said, “quite regardless of himself, he encouraged and steadied the men on the right of his battn., and of the brigade when very heavily attacked, and when the situation at that point was critical. It was owing to his very gallant conduct on that occasion that the portion of the line held its own.” He was killed in action, 25 Oct. 1914, being shot through the heart while on his way from the trench to confer with his Commanding Officer. Gen. R. H. Davies wrote: “I should like you to know that he was looked upon by all who knew him as one of the very bravest of the brave, and that by his exceedingly gallant and cool conduct at the Battle of the Aisne he did a great deal to stop a rush and prevent what might easily have proved to be a disaster to our part of the line.” And Col. Stevenson: “He saved the whole line on 20 Sept. just by his grit. Nothing would move him from the line he had to take up in that awful wood fight when Kyrke Smith and others were wounded.... He was killed outright crossing a small gap in a hedge by some men hidden in a house about 500 yards away.... We buried him that night beside the Colonel in an orchard close to a farm outside the village where he was shot.” “I owe him a debt I can never repay,” wrote Lieut. P. C. Snatt, “if it had not been for his gallant work on 20 Sept. I should now be a prisoner, I was wounded and unable to get away, and it was Strode who saved the line retiring.” Capt. Batten _m._ Alberta, yr. dau. of P. Kavanagh, of 56, Queen’s Gardens, Lancaster Gate, M.D.; _s.p._ =BATTEN, JOSEPH=, Private, No. 8323, 1st Battn. East Surrey Regt., _s._ of Richard Batten, of 120, Nelson Road, Hornsey, served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc; killed in action 24 May, 1915. =BATTEN, WILLIAM HENRY=, L.-Corpl., No. G. 321. 11th (Service) Battn., Middlesex Regt.; _b._ Hillingdon Heath, co. Middlesex, 22 Jan. 1888; volunteered and enlisted 11 Aug. 1914; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc., from May; _d._ 15 June, 1915, of wounds received in action; _m._ =BATTENBERG, HIS HIGHNESS PRINCE MAURICE VICTOR DONALD OF, K.C.V.O.=, Lieut. 1st Battn. King’s Royal Rifle Corps; yst. _s._ of H.R.H. Prince Henry of Battenberg, K.G., P.C. (who died on active service at sea, 20 Jan. 1896, of fever contracted during the Ashanti War), and of H.R.H. the Princess Beatrice (Princess Henry of Battenberg), yst. dau. of Her late Majesty, Queen Victoria; _b._ at Balmoral Castle, 3 Oct. 1891, and was educ. at Wellington, where he was a Lance-Corpl. in the O.T.C., and became one of the best marksmen at the College. He went to the National Rifle Association meeting at Bisley with the Wellington Shooting Eight which competed for the Ashburton Shield and other events. After leaving Wellington he went to Sandhurst, from which he was gazetted to a second lieutenancy in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 4 March, 1911. He was attached to the 1st Battn., then stationed at Gosport, as part of Brig.-Gen. H. H. Burney’s 9th Infantry Brigade. Prince Maurice came under the tuition of Lieut.-Col. R. S. Oxley and Capt. R. H. Seymour, and in due course was posted for duty to the 1st Battn. He served with this unit at Aldershot on transfer there into Gen. Davies’ 6th Infantry Brigade, and served under Lieut-Col. E. Northey in Salamanca Barracks, at the town end of the camp, and was senior 2nd Lieut. while there. He had been made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, 19 June, 1911, and was promoted Lieut., 13 Feb. 1914. On the declaration of war he mobilised with his battn. at the town barracks in Aldershot and proceeded to France on 12 Aug. He proved himself possessed of sound soldierly qualities and was mentioned twice in Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatches [London Gazette, 19 Oct. 1914, and 17 Feb. 1915] for gallantry in the field. At the crossing of the Aisne he was first over the bridge by which his battn. had to pass under heavy fire, and when Major Armytage led the line forward in a splendid charge he was in the thick of the fray. His name and that of Major Armytage were on every man’s lips in the battn. The following account of the action was given by Corpl. J. Jolley:--“Instead of retiring as we had been doing, on 5 Sept, we advanced five miles to Firoy. There was very fierce fighting, the German infantry advancing to within 800 yards of our artillery, and also in good rifle range. They were practically slaughtered, and hundreds of dead lay everywhere. Early in the morning of the 6th we were up and on the scent, the Guards being the advance guard for a change. Towards the afternoon they got in touch with the German rearguard at a place called by us and the Germans “The Valley of Death.” All the artillery possible was brought on to a ridge overlooking this valley, and played on the enemy, who could not get out of it in a hurry, and consequently got many casualties, the Guards capturing eighty men and five maxims, and losing only twelve men. We kept on going until we reached the heights overlooking Charly-sur-Marne. Here we took up our post about two miles from the enemy without knowing it. On the morning of the 7th the King’s Royal Rifles were the advance guard. We traversed a wood, and found that the enemy had camped on the other side. We could see the Germans making blockages on the bridge, preparing to blow it up, but on seeing us they made off, and as we had no artillery with us they got off free. The order then came that the bridge must be taken at once. When we got there we found that the bridge had three blockages, comprised of carts, furniture, glass, wire, etc. Prince Maurice of Battenberg was first man over, searching the house beyond all by himself. This was a brave act for an officer alone. The blockage was removed, and the battn. got across without a shot being fired. We went through Charly-sur-Marne, and halted about one mile on the other side for four hours, as the French were busy in action, and in the end they repulsed the Germans.” On 27 Oct. 1914, he was ordered to storm a German position and capture some guns which were doing a lot of damage. On the advance they came to a wood which was too thick for them to get through conveniently, and they had to cross an open field. Prince Maurice was leading his men across this open space when a shell fell and burst right by him. He knew that his injuries were mortal, and wished the men good-bye. He was carried to a field dressing-room, where he died. He was buried at Ypres on 30 Oct. about 3.30 p.m. “and not far away the German big guns were firing on our trenches, and our men were doing their best to put them out of action. The guns were making such a noise that you could not hear the Chaplain’s voice. It was a soldier’s funeral amidst the noise of battle,” wrote Capt. W. H. Dyer. The following eulogies were passed upon the Prince:--Sir John French: “The Army has lost a gallant officer, who was a fine example to all around him.” General Munro, Commanding the 2nd Division: “His Highness had throughout the campaign displayed a rare example of courage and fortitude to the men of his battn.,” and Sir Douglas Haig: “The Army loses a most gallant and valuable officer.” Prince Maurice supported the work of the Army Rifle Association and was also keen on polo, being in the Hurlingham handicap list. He did not play much, but he liked the game and was also fond of football, tennis, and motoring. He was also greatly interested in aviation, and made many flights as a passenger at Hendon. Prince Maurice was made a Freemason in the Heroum Filii Lodge, No. 3,404 (the Lodge of the Old Wellingtonians) on 21 June, 1912, and was installed Master of the Twelve Brothers Lodge, No. 785 Southampton, 22 April,