Lieut. Stevens killed in action:gloom cast over Wateringbury (1915)

Post date: Dec 27, 2011 5:24:38 PM

Photo courtesy of Malvern College

The Wateringbury Parish magazine of October 1915 reported on the death of Liet. Stevens as follows:

A MEMORIAL SERVICE.

It was with great grief that we learned, some days ago, of the sad death of Lieut. Henry Francis Bingham-Stevens, who was killed in action in France, on September 17th.

He is the sixth Wateringbury man who has laid down his life for the sacred cause of freedom in the present war. First, in September of last year, Bert Potter, the son-in-law of Mr. Woolgar, perished in H.M.S. Aboukir, when that ship, with its sister vessels the Cressy and the Hogue, was sunk by a German submarine in the North Sea. Then, on November 1st, L.-Cpl. Robert Arthur Head, of the 6th Dragoon Guards was killed while gallantly fighting at Messines with a portion of his regiment against an overwhelmingly more numerous enemy. The sadness of his death was accentuated by the fact that for weeks he was reported " missing." In May of this year we sustained three losses—Sergt. Richard Heath of the Royal Marines, a member of an old Wateringbury family, was killed in action at the Dardanelles, Pte. Ernest John Sales, 4th Batt. Worcestershire Regiment, was killed in action on May 10th in the Mediterranean, and George Hearne, son-in-law of Mr. Spain, perished in the terrible disaster to H.M.S. Princess Irene, which was blown up off Port Victoria on May 21st.

In connection with the death of Lieut. Stevens, the following obituary notice appeared in The Times of Saturday, 25th ult.—"Lieut. Henry Francis Bingham Stevens, who was killed on the evening of Sept. 17th was born on February 4th, 1890. at the Vicarage, Darenth, Kent. He was educated at Malvern and at Keble College, Oxford. He left Oxford in June, 1914, and shortly after the outbreak of war he received a commission in the 6th Royal West Kent Regiment. In the Autumn of 1914, he went up to Oxford in khaki to receive his degree. He proceeded to France with his Battalion early in June, and his name was sent in for promotion that same month. He was the only son of Canon and Mrs. Bingham, of The Beck, Wateringbury, Kent. He had always wished to enter the Army, and after leaving Malvern was chosen for Sandhurst, but failed to pass the medical test. He then went to France for a year and studied French with Professor Hamon, at Tours, and afterwards returned to go up to Oxford’’

We may add that failing to pass the medical test for entrance into Sandhurst, Henry Stevens decided to take Holy Orders, and with that view, after spending some time in France, where he became a proficient French scholar, a fact which enabled him to be all the more valuable to his battalion, after-wards. Then he went up to Keble College, Oxford. Here he took honours in history, and also a French exhibition. His chief exercises at Oxford were boxing and tennis, in which, especially as regards the former he was quite proficient. The outbreak of war found him so much developed in physical strength that was no longer debarred from fulfilling his early wish to become a soldier—an ambition which he now felt very strongly to be a duty, that he might serve not only his King and Country, but also the cause of humanity in the world. Serving that cause he fell, while gallantly leading a reconnoitring patrol towards the German lines in France. His death has cast a gloom over Wateringbury. His visits to his home seemed to be short, but we learned to like his frank, unaffected nature; and deeply do we sympathise with the family circle that is now broken by his death.

It had been the Vicar's intention to hold a memorial service upon his return home, for the men of our parish who have fallen in the war. But it was thought well not to postpone it for so long, although it caused Canon Livett deep regret that owing to his being so far distant, and undergoing the special course of treatment necessary for his cure, he would not be able to be present.

A simple, but wonderfully impressive memorial service for the fallen, was accordingly held in Wateringbury Church, on Monday, September 27th, at 3.30 p.m. There was a large Congregation, consisting of the relatives and friends both of Lieut. Stevens and of the others for whom the service was held. The Bishop of Rochester attended, and the officiating clergy were the Rev. Cyril Reinold, of St Augustine's, Gillingham, who read the lesson; the Rev. Maurice Murray, Rector of Leybourne, who gave a short address, basing his remarks upon the text ii. Samuel, xviii, 33; the Rev. Ernest A. Trasenteo, of Weymouth; and the Rev. F. M. Richards. The Rev G. C. E. Ryley, Mus. Bac., Vicar of East Peckham, played by request, the opening and closing voluntaries—the latter being a composition of his own, ‘Carmen in Memoriam,' whilst during the service, Mr. Edgar A. Smith presided at the organ. At the close of the service, after the Bishop of Rochester had pronounced the Blessing, the congregation rose and one verse of 'God save the King' was sung. Then followed a moment of deep silence, after which ‘Last Post' was sounded just outside the Church by four buglers of the Royal West Kent Regiment, in memory of those men of Wateringbury who have made the supreme sacrifice in what has been called ‘the great adventure."

Henry is buried in the Poelcapelle British Cemetry, Langemark-PoelKapelle, West-V., Belgium. Grave reference LVI.D.3.

He is one of 41 men named on the 1914-1918 village war memorial. Short details of 34 of these 41 are given in Wateringbury People and Places Volume Two (pages 80 -92).

He is also commemorated on a wall memorial within the church.

See also KM account of his funeral service at War deaths (1915). See also War Diary and Royal West Kent.

Malvern have kindly informed me that "He attended House 3 at Malvern between 1904 and 1908, was a House Prefect. "

Henry is the only officer from Wateringbury killed during WW1. His school, Malvern, lost 457 boys a very high ratio like most of the other public schools. The public schools, many of whom had Officer Training Corps (OTCs), provided the vast majority of the junior officer corps at the beginning of the war; they suffered disproportionately high losses in the war as they led from the front. There was not an endless supply. Before the war only about 2% of officers had served in the ranks but by 1918 it was reckoned that nearly 40 % of officers came from lower- and middle-class backgrounds. (See Jeremy Paxman's book Great Britain's Great War page 238).