The King's School Canterbury |
Roll of Honour |
Private Basil Edgar BONHAM-CARTER (5680952) | |
6th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) Date of birth: 2nd September 1920 Date of death: 14th November 1944 Died of wounds aged 24 Buried at Bari War Cemetery Plot XI Row A Grave 31 |
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He was born St Leonards-on-Sea on the 2nd of September 1920, the youngest son of Lieutenant Colonel Brian Hulbert Bonham-Carter, 14th Punjabi Regiment Indian Army, and Dorothy Eliza (nee King-Carter) of Rapps Cottage, Ilton, near Ilminster in Somerset. He was educated at the Junior King's School from January 1931 and at the King's School Canterbury from January 1935 to July 1938, where he was in School House. Following the outbreak of war he served for a short time in the Local Defence Volunteers (Home Guard) before enlisting in the Somerset Light Infantry in 1940. He served with the regiment in Gibraltar before transfering to the 6th Battalion, Black Watch. The battalion saw action in North Africa and in Italy. In September 1944 the 6th Battalion, Black Watch was detailed to form part of an attack at Rimini on the German defences known as the Gothic Line. The British assault began at 6.30am on the morning of the 14th of September 1944 and broke through with a number of units managing to cross the river there. The battalion passed through them three days later and advanced a further two miles. Basil Bonham-Carter received severe spinal injuries during the attack and died from his injuries two months later at a military hospital. His father was a prisoner of war at the time. His brother, Captain Mervyn Charles Brian Bonham-Carter 1st Battalion, London Irish Rifles, was killed in action on the 3rd of March 1944. |
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