Captain Cecil Herbert Mackay WOODHOUSE
12th (Service) Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (Sheffield City) attached to B Company, 2nd Battalion

Date of birth: 18th May 1891
Date of death: 6th June 1918

Killed in action aged 27
Commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial Panels 125 to 128
He was born at Leicester on the 18th of May 1891 the eldest son of Vivian Mackay Woodhouse, solicitor, and Helen Maria (nee Loosemore) both of whom lived in the Precincts of Canterbury Cathedral prior to their marriage. At the time of his death they were living at The Old Hall, Quenieborough, near Leicester.

He was educated at the King’s School Canterbury from September 1904 to July 1909 where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was a member of the Army Class for four years. On leaving school he studied architecture and passed the exams for the Royal Institute of British Architects in the summer of 1912 after which he went to work as an architect with Messrs Stockdale, Harrison and Sons of Leicester.

Following the outbreak of war he applied for a commission in the Leicestershire Regiment on the 13th of October 1914. He underwent a medical examination at Leicester on the same day where it was recorded that he was five feet nine and three quarter inches tall and that he weighed 147lbs. He made another application for a commission in the Sheffield City Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, known as the "Sheffield Pals", on the 27th of October 1914. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 12th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment on the 1th of November 1914 and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 17th of March 1915. He attended a signalling course at Tynemouth in May 1915 and a bombing course from the 31st of August to the 10th of September 1915. He also attended courses covering general instruction and range finding.

On the 21st of December 1915 he embarked with his battalion on board HMT “Nestor” bound for Egypt where they were involved in the defence of the Suez Canal. On the 8th of March 1916 the battalion struck camp at Kantara and entrained for Port Said where they embarked on board HMT "Briton" at 10am on the 10th of March. The ship arrived at Marseilles on the 15th of March and the battalion disembarked the following day.

At 4am on the morning of the 3rd of April 1916 the battalion completed the relief of the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry in trenches near Colincamps for their first prolonged stay in the front line. There was occasional shelling, sniping and incoming rifle grenades during their stay there and Cecil Woodhouse was wounded on the 9th of April 1916 but returned to the battalion from hospital on the 16th of May ; he was the first officer casualty of the battalion.

In June 1916 the battalion received orders for their part in the opening day of the Somme offensive where they were detailed to attack the enemy held village of Serre. On the night of the 29th/30th of June 1916 Cecil Woodhouse went out on patrol and gave a report on the condition of the German wire hours before the attack which was scheduled for the morning of July 1st 1916: -

“I went out with a patrol tonight from No 27 Bay (opposite Luke Copse) at 10.35pm.The enemy wire is now considerably damaged opposite this place, but a fair amount of loose wire remains. I do not consider that it would be a serious obstacle to infantry. Another patrol from my party went out opposite Bay 34 and report a similar state of affairs. Two Bangalore torpedoes were placed in position and fired at 11.10 but the one opposite Bay 27 failed to explode. Some flares were sent up from the 2nd German line but none from the 1st. No other signs of the enemy could be seen or heard”.

The attack would be led by A and C Companies and supported by B and D Companies. At 7.20am the two assaulting companies moved out into no man's land and lay down to await the order to attack which would come at 7.30am. When the attack began a German barrage fell on the British line and the two leading companies were decimated by rifle, machine gun and artillery fire with most of the men being cut down before they reached the German wire, which was mostly intact in spite of a week of preparatory shelling by the British artillery. A small group managed to get into the German trenches but these men were all killed or captured. Casualties for the attack were four officers killed with seven officers wounded and four missing and four hundred and sixty eight other ranks killed wounded or missing. Cecil Woodhouse was among the wounded.

He was evacuated to the rear and was loaded on board the SS "Lanfranc" at Le Havre on the 4th of July and landed at Southampton the following day from where he was taken to No. 2 Southern General Hospital at Bristol.

A Medical Board which was convened at the hospital on the 9th of July 1916 described his injuries: -

“The Board find he was wounded at Serre on July 1st as follows: -
1) Bullet wound of scalp behind right ear
2) Flesh wound about middle external surface right leg
3) Flesh wound over middle sternum
X-rays show piece of shrapnel under skin of scalp, no fracture of sternum. The piece of metal has been removed. All wounds are healing."

On his recovery he was posted to 91 Infantry Reserve Training Battalion at Horton Camp, Cramlington in Northumberland on the 8th of September 1916. A Medical Board which sat at Blyth on the 9th of November 1916 concluded that he was fit for general service. He was later transferred to 2nd Battalion of his regiment where he was posted to B Company.

On the 5th of June 1918 the 2nd Battalion York and Lancaster Battalion was holding a series of unconnected posts in the front line to the south of Ypres. During the afternoon B Company moved up to the right of the line to carry out a raid on Lankhoff Farm that night. The party consisted of three officers and sixty eight other ranks. At 11pm the British artillery opened a light barrage in support of the raid. At 11.15pm the barrage intensified and, at the same moment, the men ran across no man's land in an attempt to take the farm. As the raiders approached their objective the enemy opened fire with machine guns as well as throwing bombs at their attackers. The party was forced to fall back with casualties of eleven other ranks slightly wounded with Cecil Woodhouse and two other ranks missing.

His father received the following telegram dated the 15th of June 1918: -

"Regret to inform you that Lieut. C.H. Woodhouse York and Lancaster Regt missing fifth June. Further news if received."

His death was reported by the Germans to the Red Cross at Geneva in September 1918.

He is commemorated on a stained glass window, which was designed by Theodora Salusbury, at St Mary's Church, Queniborough in Leicestershire.
 

Back