Royal Fusiliers, only _s._ of Albert Charles Frederick Morgan,
of 135, Oakwood Court, Kensington, by his wife, Marion Grimston, 4th
dau. of John Alexander Fladgate, 1st Baron da Roeda in Portugal, and
grandson of the late Thomas Morgan, F.S.A.; _b._ London, 24 May,
1889; educ. at Summerfield, Oxford, and at Westminster School; gazetted
2nd Lieut. 22 May, 1911; promoted Lieut. 1913; and attd. to the Royal
Flying Corps on 15 Sept. 1914; acted as Assistant Instructor at the
Upavon Flying School until he proceeded to the Front in France, in
December, 1914. He was killed by a shell whilst observing for artillery
fire from an aeroplane, during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, on 10
March, 1915; _unm._ He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord)
French’s Despatch of 31 May [London Gazette, 22 June, 1915] for gallant
and distinguished service in the field.
[Illustration: =Albert Ernest Morgan.=]
=MORGAN, ARTHUR=, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 968), 141514, H.M.S.
Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=MORGAN, EDWARD CHARLES=, 2nd Lieut., 1st, attd. to 5th Battn.
Royal Berkshire Regt., elder _s._ of Charles Morgan, of Guildford,
Surrey and formerly of Burdon Hall, Shackleford, M.A. Cantab., late
Naval Instructor, R.N., by his wife, Kathleen Courtenay, dau. of Edward
Robinson, of West Meath, and granddau. of the late Thomas Morgan,
F.S.A.; _b._ Blackheath, 19 Dec. 1897; educ. at Haileybury and the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst; obtained his first commission, 15
July, 1914, and shortly afterwards proceeded to France as an observer
in the Royal Flying Corps, subsequently joining his Battn. in the
trenches. He was killed by a shell when in charge of a machine gun,
with three of his men, several others being wounded, on 18 Dec. 1915;
_unm._ He was buried in Windy Corner (the Guards’ Cemetery),
Givenchy. Lieut.-Col. F. W. Foley, in command of his Battn., wrote: “he
was killed by a large shell, the first one from the German artillery
on their suddenly opening fire in this locality.... I always felt in
the position of a parent to him, he was so young ... all his officers
loved him, and none more than I did; he was a perfectly delightful boy,
and a first-rate officer.... I arranged with the Chaplain to bury him
to-morrow morning in a coffin, and I will see that a cross is put up to
his memory.”
[Illustration: =Edward Charles Morgan.=]
=MORGAN, FRANCIS MATTHEW=, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 5502, H.M.S.
Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off
the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.
=MORGAN, GEORGE=, Private, No. 4058, 3rd Battn. Coldstream
Guards, eldest _s._ of the late William Morgan, of Worminster,
near Shepton Mallet, Farm Labourer, by his wife, Mary, dau. of William
Billing; _b._ North Wooten, near Shepton Mallet, co. Somerset, 12
May, 1883; educ. North Wooten Church of England School; enlisted 6 Feb.
1901; went to France, 12 Aug. 1914, and was killed in action by the
explosion of a bomb at Vermelles, Belgium, 8 Oct. 1915. He _m._
at Shepton Mallet, 19 Sept. 1905, Florence (The Mill House, Shepton
Mallet), 7th dau. of William Woolley, of Shepton Mallet, Farmer, and
had four children: Ethel, _b._ 14 Oct. 1906; Edith Gwendoline,
_b._ 9 Sept. 1907; Lillian Beatrice, _b._ 20 Feb. 1909; and
Marion Olive, _b._ 27 Nov. 1910.
[Illustration: =George Morgan.=]
=MORGAN, HARRY=, Lieut., 3rd Battn. Auckland (Countess of
Ranfurly’s Own) Regt., _s._ of William Morgan, of Birmingham, by
his wife, Harriet, dau. of James Duffield; _b._ West Bromwich,
co. Stafford; educ. Birmingham; went to New Zealand about 1891 and
was for some time Officer Commanding the 88th Coy. of Senior Cadets,
Auckland. On the outbreak of war he volunteered for foreign service and
was gazetted 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. Auckland Regt., 28 March, 1912, and
promoted Lieut., 8 April, 1915, being Provost-Marshal while in Epsom
Camp before proceeding with his regt. to the Front. He was killed in
action at Cape Helles, 8 May, 1915. Capt. Frazer, since invalided to
Auckland, told Lieut. Morgan’s wife: “The day on which he fell there
had been a terrible charge. He was one of those to get back to the
trenches safely, but, on peering out, saw some wounded still under
fire. At his own risk he went out and brought one man in who had been
shot in the thigh, and then started out for a brother officer, whom he
had passed when getting the wounded man in. Unfortunately a sniper got
him, and ended a glorious career”; and Lieut. Topham, Gallipoli, wrote:
“I was quite near to him when he fell; he was shot through the head and
only lived a few minutes. It had always been said that he would either
get killed in action or win a V.C. He was so daring and had absolutely
no fear. It happened down at Cape Helles on 8 May, the day on which
the New Zealand Infantry made history.... He fell in the thick of the
fight and died game, and was buried that night where he fell. A wooden
cross was placed at the head of his grave by some of the men of his
company.” An Auckland nurse from the 15th General Hospital, Alexandria,
stated: “The soldier who told me of his death said his conduct had been
most heroic, and that he was seen night after night creeping out of the
trenches to help back the wounded soldiers.” Lieut. Morgan _m._
at Auckland, 12 May, 1897, Euphemia Margaret (“Waiuna,” Rata Street,
New Lynn, Auckland), yst. dau. of David Heron, late Madras Commissariat
Department, India, and had one dau., Gwendolen Margaret, _b._ 6
June, 1911.
[Illustration: =Harry Morgan.=]
=MORGAN, ROBERT WILLIAM=, Private, No. 696, 11th Battn. Australian
Imperial Force, 2nd _s._ of the late William Henry Morgan, of
13, Albert Road, Leyton, Commercial Traveller, by his wife, Mary Ann
(25, Wellesley Road, Leytonstone), dau. of Joseph Barnes, of Torquay,
Devon; _b._ Leyton, co. Essex, 3 Sept. 1884; educ. Newport School,
Leyton; enlisted in the 1st Battn. Northamptonshire Regt., 28 Jan.
1901; served in the South African War and afterwards in India, where
he finished his service with the Colours. In 1909 he emigrated to
Western Australia, and on the outbreak of war joined the Commonwealth
Expeditionary Force and sailed for Egypt, Sept. 1914. He died on board
H.M. Hospital Ship Sicilian, 9 June, 1915, of wounds received in action
at the Dardanelles on the 4th of that month while on observation duty;
_unm._
[Illustration: =Robert William Morgan.=]
=MORGAN, STEPHEN BEVERLEY=, 2nd Lieut., 3rd attd. 1st Battn.
Leicestershire Regt., 2nd _s._ of Frederick Beverley Morgan, of
Muscalls, Paddock Wood, Kent, by his wife, Clara Elizabeth, dau. of
Major Edgworth Horrocks; _b._ Tunbridge Wells, 22 April, 1896;
educ. Hurstleigh, Tunbridge Wells, and Clifton College; gazetted
2nd Lieut. to the 3rd Leicestershires, 15 Aug. 1914; went to France
attached to the 1st Battn., and was killed in action by shell fire in
the trenches near Armentières, 14 May, 1915; _unm._ Buried in
the Regimental Burial Ground behind the trenches. He was a well-known
cricketer, and played for the Public Schools at Lords, in the summer of
1914.
[Illustration: =Stephen Beverley Morgan.=]
=MORGANS, THOMAS ALFRED=, Leading Seaman, 239252, H.M.S. Hogue;
lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=MORIARTY, THOMAS=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3851), 204033, H.M.S. Hawke;
lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914;
_m._
=MORKILL, RONALD FALSHAW=, Lieut., 1st Battn. West Yorkshire
Regt. and Flying Officer, Royal Flying Corps; 2nd _s._ of John
William Morkill, of Newfield Hall, Malhamdale, Yorkshire, M.A., J.P.,
by his wife, Hannah Shaw, yst. dau. of Peter Hobson, of Castle Lodge,
Yorkshire, and niece and co-heiress of Sir James Falshaw, Bart.;
_b._ Edinburgh, 22 Nov. 1891; educ. Radley, and University
College, London; received a commission as 2nd Lieut. 4th (Special
Reserve) Battn. West Yorkshire Regt. 1 Oct. 1911, and was promoted
Lieut. 3 Dec. 1912. After the outbreak of war he was (14 Aug. 1914)
gazetted to the 1st West Yorkshires and the following day went to the
Front as Lieut. attd. to the 1st East Yorkshires, with which he served
through the winter of 1914–15. On 1 July, 1913, he gained a pilot’s
certificate from the Royal Aero Club, and in Feb. 1915, was transferred
to the Royal Flying Corps as a probationer. He qualified as a flying
officer on 19 June, and was gazetted to the Corps on 15 July, after
his death. Under orders on 22 June he piloted a Blériot Monoplane from
Gosport to Shoreham, leaving the latter place on his return journey
shortly after 6 o’clock in the evening. He had risen barely 200 feet
when his engine was noticed to miss fire and finally stop. Having
insufficient space beneath him he was unable to keep control of his
craft which dived to the earth causing injuries by the impact from
which he died in the Military Hospital a few hours later. A letter of
sympathy from the N.C.Os. and men of the section he commanded, dated
3 July, 1915, contains the following passage: “The hardest and most
terribly trying time--last winter--he spent in the trenches with us,
and never a murmur of complaint was ever heard to fall from his lips.
To say he was loved by all men would be to express our feelings in the
mildest form.” Buried at Kirby-in-Malhamdale, Yorkshire. He _m._
at Holy Trinity Church, Heywood, Westbury, Wilts, 23 Sept. 1914, Ellen
Mary, yst. dau. of the late Thomas Loyzelure Wilkinson, of Neasham
Abbey, near Darlington; _s.p._
[Illustration: =Ronald Falshaw Morkill.=]
=MORLAND, HENRY ALFRED=, Stoker, 1st Class, S.S. 111650 (Ports.),
H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=MORONEY, EDWARD FRANCIS=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 3965),
S.S. 102026, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast
of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
=MORPETH, MOORE=, Private, No. 12/1039, 6th Hauraki Coy., Auckland
Infantry Battn., 5th _s._ of Henry Douglas Morpeth, Town Clerk of
Waiki, Auckland, New Zealand; _b._ Auckland, 10 May, 1894; educ.
Waiki District High School; was studying law in Auckland when war broke
out, and was one of three brothers who at once volunteered and joined
the New Zealand Expeditionary Force early in Aug. 1914. He left for
Egypt with the main body on 16 Oct., and on 12 April embarked from
there for the Dardanelles, taking part in the landing at Gaba Tepe on
the 25th of that month. He was one of a small body of New Zealanders
and Australians who, after making good their landing, had gained the
ridges above Anzac Cove, but the enemy coming at them in force they
were obliged to retire. One of the Australians was struck down, and
Morpeth made over to his assistance, when he received a mortal wound
that paralysed him. His comrades, in the face of advancing Turks, could
do nothing for him, and next day when the ground was retaken his dead
body was found where he fell; _unm._
[Illustration: =Moore Morpeth.=]
=MORPHEW, ARTHUR=, Stoker, 2nd Class, S.S. 115038, H.M.S.
Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off
the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.
=MORPHEW, ERNEST=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 7934), S.S.
103605, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=MORRIS, ARTHUR=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 2176), 194828, H.M.S. Good
Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
=MORRIS, CLIVE WILSON=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. King’s Royal
Rifle Corps, 6th _s._ of Frank Robert-Morris, of Crofton, near
Orpington, Kent; _b._ Oak Hill Park, Hampstead, N., 4 March, 1894;
educ St. Cyprian’s, Eastbourne, and Repton; volunteered and joined the
Artists’ Rifles on the outbreak of war, Oct. 1914; went to France in
Oct.; was given a commission in the 2nd King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 1
April, 1915, and was killed in action at Richebourg L’Avoué, France, 9
May following; _unm._ His commanding officer wrote: “He was killed
in an attack on a very strong German position, as he was gallantly
leading his platoon across the open.”
=MORRIS, HON. GEORGE HENRY=, Lieut.-Col., 1st Battn. Irish Guards,
2nd _s._ of Michael, 1st Lord Morris and Killanin, P.C., Lord
Chief Justice of Ireland, by his wife, Anna, dau. of the Hon. George
Henry Hughes, a Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Ireland; _b._
co. Galway, 16 July, 1872; educ. The Oratory School, Birmingham, and
the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 3rd
Battn. Rifle Brigade, then stationed in India, 12 March, 1892, and
promoted Lieut., 16 May, 1894; took part in the operations on the
North-West Frontier of India, 1897–8, with the Tochi Field Force, for
which he received the medal with clasp, and from 7 Jan. 1897, to 6 Jan.
1901, was Adjutant of his battn., receiving his company, 16 Aug. 1899.
In 1901 he entered the Staff College, but left soon afterwards and
went out to South Africa and served with Damant’s Horse in the latter
stage of the Boer War, taking part in the operations in the Orange
River Colony, Feb. to March, 1902, and in those in the Transvaal, March
to 31 May, 1902, and was mentioned in despatches [London Gazette,
18 July, 1902] and received the Queen’s medal with four clasps. He
then returned to the Staff College and passed out in 1903, and after
being D.A.A.G. at Belfast (8–31 March, 1904), was Staff Capt., Army
Headquarters, 1 April, 1904, to 12 March, 1906. He was gazetted Major
to the 1st Battn. Irish Guards, 3 March, 1906, and on 15 May, 1908,
was appointed D.A.A.G. (General Staff Officer, 2nd Grade), with the
rank of temp. Lieut.-Col. at the Staff College, where he remained until
1911. On 15 July, 1913, he obtained command of his Battn., and in Aug.
1914, he went to France with the Expeditionary Force, in which the 1st
Irish Guards formed part of the 4th Brigade (2nd Division, 1st Army
Corps). He was killed in action during the retreat from Mons, while
endeavouring to extricate some of his men from an impossible position,
in the woods of Compiègne, near Villers Cotterets on 1 Sept. following.
When the Battn. reassembled after a difficult rearguard fight through
the beech woods, Lieut.-Col. Morris missed some of No. 4 Coy. and went
back alone to find them, but they were hopelessly outnumbered, and
he was killed while leading a final bayonet charge. He was buried in
Villers Cotterets Cemetery. Lieut.-Col. Morris was a brilliant Lecturer
on Military History and Tactics, and was universally regarded as one of
the cleverest men of his age in the Army. The men of the Irish Guards
were deeply attached to him and he was immensely proud of his battn. He
_m._ at Westminster Cathedral, 29 April, 1913, Dora Wesley (10,
Chesham Place, S.W.), dau. of the late James Wesley Hall, of Melbourne,
and had a son, Michael, _b._ 30 July, 1914.
[Illustration: =Hon. George H. Morris.=]
=MORRIS, HENRY GAGE=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Duke of Cornwall’s
L.I., only surviving child of Col. Henry Gage Morris, late commanding
2nd Battn. Duke of Cornwall’s L.I., and great-great-grandson of Col.
Roger Morris of York, by his wife, Maude, dau. of the late Preston
Gilbert Wallis, of Park Hill, Bodmin; _b._ Bodmin, co. Cornwall,
14 Aug. 1897; educ. Preparatory School, The Hoe, Plymouth; Marlborough
College (Sept. 1911–July, 1914), and the Royal Military College,
Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Duke of Cornwall’s L.I., 12 Jan.
1915, aged 17½ years; went to France, 15 Feb. 1915, and was killed in
action at the second Battle of Ypres, 23 April, 1915, being buried
where he fell. His commanding officer wrote: “He was such a nice boy,
and a very brave and gallant lad, and died gallantly. He was killed in
a counter-attack we made with the 13th Brigade, the East Yorks., York
and Lancs., and 4th Canadians on the 23rd. I was commanding the Battn.
at the time, and the last I saw of him he passed me with a platoon of
C Coy., which was in Reserve. He came past me with a very cheerful
face, and laughing under a very heavy cross-fire from machine guns, and
sang out to me, ‘Shall I push on?’ and I answered, ‘Go on, laddie, as
hard as you can.’ Poor lad, I did not see him again, but heard he was
shot in the head, but he would not let anyone stay with him. He was
such a good boy, always cheerful and always ready to do anything that
was wanted. He was very popular with everyone--officers and men;” and
Private W. Board, C Coy., Duke of Cornwall’s L.I.: “You must be proud
to know your son was as brave a man as anyone could wish to meet. I
was his servant while he was in France, and a better master I never
had. The men in the platoon loved him, and would do anything for him.
He was always cheerful and had friends every where he went. I was not
with him when he got hit, but I heard he wanted to go on, and refused
to be bandaged, as he said there were men who were hit more badly
than himself. He always thought of others before himself.” A writer
in his School Magazine (“The Marlburian,” 19 May, 1915) said: “From
his earliest days in the school--in ‘A’ House, his company was a real
pleasure. Always bright and full of fun, and merry talk, he had from
the first great personal charm; and as he developed, one saw behind him
those qualities of modesty, generosity, and straightness, which mark
the perfect gentleman.”
[Illustration: =Henry Gage Morris.=]
=MORRIS, JAMES=, Ship’s Corpl., 1st Class, 279187, H.M.S. Hawke;
lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914;
_m._
=MORRIS, JOHN=, Leading Stoker (C.G.), 151804, H.M.S. Hogue; lost
in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=MORRIS, WILLIAM=, Stoker, 2nd Class, S.S. 115482, H.M.S. Hogue;
lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=MORRIS, WILLIAM=, Leading Seaman, 214875, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost
when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5
Sept. 1914.
=MORRISON, EDWIN DUNCAN RUTHERFORD=, Private No. 10/1007, 9th
Hawkes Bay Regt., Wellington Infantry Battn., New Zealand Expeditionary
Force; _s._ of George Morrison, of Normanby, New Zealand, by his
wife, Fanny, dau. of Thomas Novis; _b._ Cust, Canterbury, New
Zealand, 21 Nov. 1889; educ. Belfast, Canterbury. On the outbreak of
war in August, 1914, he joined the N.Z.E.F. at Napier, Hawkes Bay;
left for Egypt with the first contingent, took part in the repulse of
the Turkish attack on the Suez Canal, in Feb. 1915, and was killed in
action at the Dardanelles, 28 April following; _unm._ Throughout
the whole of the day of his death Private Morrison had been fighting
and escaped injury, but was fatally hit in the evening while digging a
trench. He was an excellent shot, and before going to the Dardanelles
had been selected as a sniper.
[Illustration: =Edwin D. R. Morrison.=]
=MORRISON, FREDERICK CHARLES=, Corpl., No. 4972, 1st Battn. (The
Prince Consort’s Own) The Rifle Brigade, _s._ of Frank Saunderson
Morrison, of The Cottage, Hallaton, co. Leicester, F.R.C.S., J.P.;
_b._ Dublin, 19 Aug. 1882; educ. Dundalk Educational Institution;
St. John’s College, near Preston, and Trinity College, Dublin, of
which he became a graduate and honour man; qualified as an engineer
and went to Rhodesia; volunteered his services for the suppression of
the rising in Natal, 1906–7, for which he received the King’s medal,
and on the outbreak of the European War in Aug. 1914, he, with three
other old University comrades, returned to England and joined the Rifle
Brigade in Sept.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.,
and was killed in action during the engagement at Ploegsteert, 7 Feb.
1915; _unm._ He was a good athlete and footballer, playing for his
school and college; a hard rider to hounds, well-known to the Louth
Pack and Harriers.
=MORRISON, GERARD HUMPHREYS=, Capt., 5th Battn. (London Rifle
Brigade) The London Regt. (T.F.), yr. _s._ of John Hebb Morrison,
of 63, Hamilton Terrace, London, Member of Lloyds; _b._ London,
16 March, 1889; educ. Harrow, and Magdalen College, Oxford (where he
was in the O.T.C.); received a commission in the London Rifle Brigade,
on leaving Oxford, and was promoted Lieut. 18 Sept. 1913, and Capt.
25 Feb. 1915; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war
in Aug. 1914; went to France in Oct., and was killed in action near
Armentières, 31 March. 1915; _unm._ Buried in the Rifle Brigade
Cemetery in Ploegsteert Wood. His Col., Lord Cairns, wrote: “We all
loved him--he was not only a personal friend to us all, but also a good
and capable officer. He was a splendid example of cheerfulness and
devotion to duty, and I am convinced that his men would have followed
him anywhere”; and his Major: “Universally loved by us all, a born
leader of men, it is impossible for me to tell you what a gap your
son’s death will make in the regiment.” While at Harrow he was head of
his house (H.O.D. Davidson’s), and in the football XI; at Oxford he
took his degree with honours in law, and was made President I.C.R.
[Illustration: =Gerard H. Morrison.=]
=MORRISON, HERBERT HENRY=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 4507), 176230, H.M.S.
Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct.
1914; _m._
=MORRISON, JOHN=, L.-Corpl., No. 5181, 1st Battn. Black Watch, 2nd
surviving _s._ of John Morrison, Head Gamekeeper to Major, The
Brodie of Brodie, Brodie Castle, Forres, by his wife Margaret, dau.
of the late Alexander Ross, North Lodge, Orton, co. Moray; _b._
Inveravon, Banffshire, 14 Nov. 1885; enlisted 7 Sept. 1914, drafted to
France in Nov.; killed during heavy fighting, in which his regt. was
engaged at La Bassée, on 25 Jan. 1915; _unm._ A comrade wrote:
“The attack was fierce, and John got a bullet in the leg. Nevertheless,
he crawled to the assistance of his officer, 2nd Lieut. L. H. Willet,
also wounded, and was in the act of helping him to remove his pack when
fatally shot. He was promoted L.-Corpl. only a few days before.” 2nd
Lieut. Willet said: “Some gallant fellow crawled up to me shortly after
I was hit, and attempted to assist me off with my pack, but owing to
the nature of my wound, I was unable to turn my neck sufficiently round
to see who it was. I heard he was hit, and asked him if it was so. He
replied: ‘Yes, Sir’; and when I inquired later, I received no reply,
but could just touch his hand by reaching back, and found he was dead.
From the sound of his voice I thought it was your brother, who was in
my Platoon, and I hoped it wasn’t so, and that I had made a mistake,
for he was one of my most valued men.... His end was a gallant one, and
his was a peaceful conclusion to a career, which, had he been spared to
prolong it, he could have looked back on with the justifiable pride of
one who has done his work well.” His brother, George James, is a 2nd
Lieut. 3/6th Seaforth Highlanders.
[Illustration: =John Morrison.=]
=MORROW, ROBERT, V.C.=, Private, No. 10531, 1st Battn. Princess
Victoria’s Royal Irish Fusiliers, _s._ of Hugh Morrow (who died
21 years ago), by his wife Margaret Jane, dau. of Isaac William Ash
McKnight, Tailor; _b._ Sessia, near Newmills, East Tyrone, 28
March, 1892; educ. Carland National School, 1909; enlisted about 1910;
went to the Front with his battn. on the outbreak of war, and greatly
distinguished himself at Messines on 12 April, 1915, by rescuing
several wounded soldiers who were lying exposed to a dreadful rain
of shell and rifle fire. For this he was awarded the Victoria Cross,
the official record stating that it was granted “For most conspicuous
bravery near Messines on 12 April, 1915, when he rescued and carried
successively to places of comparative safety several men who had been
buried in the débris of trenches wrecked by shell fire. Private Morrow
carried out this gallant work on his own initiative, and under very
heavy fire from the enemy.” On 25 April, barely a fortnight later,
he was killed at St. Julien while in the act of again succouring the
wounded. The Victoria Cross was forwarded to his mother, to whom His
Majesty the King sent an autograph letter regretting that Private
Morrow’s death had deprived him of the pride of personally conferring
the Victoria Cross, “the greatest of all distinctions.” The Emperor
of Russia also conferred on him the medal of St. George (3rd Class)
for his “gallantry and distinguished service in the field,” the War
Office in forwarding the decoration stated that it was to be retained
as a memorial of the deceased soldier’s distinguished conduct. He was
_unm._
[Illustration: =Robert Morrow.=]