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2nd Lieutenant Basil Cuthbert Danvers MARTIN
13th (Service) Battalion Worcestershire Regiment attached to the 4th Battalion Date of birth: 6th October 1896 Date of death: 4th June 1915 Killed in action aged 18 Commemorated on the Helles Memorial Panels 104 to 113
Basil Cuthbert Danvers Martin was born at Sunhill Ranch, Loomis, Placer County in California on the 6th of October 1896 the only son of the Reverend Henry Basil Martin OL Rector of Pudleston and Gertrude May (nee Child) Martin of Pudleston Rectory Leominster in Hertfordshire. He was educated at Wolborough School at Newton Abbot in South Devon where he won the Lord Robert’s Miniature Rifle Club Society Medal at the age of 13. He then won a Scholarship to Lancing College where he was in Olds House from September 1910 to July 1914. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps from September 1910 to July 1914 where he achieved Certificate A and rose to the rank of Corporal. He was in the Shooting VIII from 1913 to 1914 and won the Cadets Challenge Trophy at Bisley in 1913 and the Public Schools "Rapid" in 1914. He gained his School Certificate in 1911 and Higher Certificate in 1913 and 1914. Following the outbreak of war he applied for a commission from Torpoint Vicarage in Cornwall on the 27th of November 1914 in what was his third application, other applications having been made on the 23rd of September and the 19th of November. He underwent a medical examination at Plymouth on the 29th of November 1914 where he was passed as fit for general service. His application was supported by both the Head Master of Lancing College, the Reverend Bowlby, and by Alan Haig-Brown, Commanding Officer of the Lancing College Officer Training Corps. Letter from the Reverend Bowlby dated the 17th of November 1914: - Dear Sir, At the request of my old pupil B.C. Martin, I have pleasure in writing to you and testifying to his excellent character while he was a member of this school. Not only was he a boy of more than average intelligence, being elected to a scholarship and having succeeded in gaining the Higher Certificate of the Oxford and Cambridge Board for two successive years. He was also a person of vigorous character and independent judgement, who in my opinion should make an excellent officer, as far as brain power and control of others in concerned. Captain Haig-Brown, the O.C. of our school O.T.C. Contingent, will have given you his opinion of him from the military point of view. I trust he may be successful in obtaining a commission. Believe me. Yours Faithfully A. Bowlby, Headmaster. Letter from Alan Haig-Brown dated the 16th of November 1914: - Dear Sir, I can confidently recommend B. Cuthbert Martin, recently in my Contingent of the Officer Training Corps, as likely to make an efficient subaltern. He was a corporal with me and a holder of Certificate A. he was an excellent shot from a military point of view, and in all ways a sound and reliable boy, who knows his work quite well. I can certify that his age is 18 years and 1 month. He wishes me to put this in my letter, as his birth certificate is in California and it is difficult for him to get it in time. I shall be glad to answer any further questions about this cadet. Believe me, Yours Faithfully. Alan R. Haig-Brown, Capt. O.C. Lancing Contingent O.T.C. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 13th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment on the 14th of December 1914 and sailed for the Dardanelles on the 20th of May 1915. He arrived at the front on the 2nd of June 1915 at Gallipoli where he was attached to the 4th Battalion of his regiment. On the 4th of June 1915 the 4th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment attacked Turkish positions on the opening day of what came to be known as the Third Battle of Krithia. Men of Z Company had dug a new trench close to the Turkish front line on the night of May 25th/26th and at 9.30am on the morning of the 4th of June the British artillery opened a barrage which lasted until 11.30am when there was a ten minute silence in order to confuse the enemy. At 11.40 it began again until 12 noon when the guns stopped firing and the men scrambled out of their trenches into a storm of fire . In the words of the history of the 29th Division "It was just glorious and magnificent to see our gallant lads get out of the trenches; not a slacker amongst them." The surviving Worcesters then rushed across the open ground and into the enemy trenches, clearing three lines of them, taking 80 prisoners and capturing four enemy machine guns. On the left of the Worcesters the 24th Sikhs had suffered grievous casualties and their attack had failed exposing the Worcester's flank. They then formed a defensive flank along the steep slope of Gully Ravine and held it under heavy fire, driving back a counter attack at the point of the bayonet. Casualties were five officers killed, of which Basil Martin was one, with three officers missing and a large number of other ranks killed wounded and missing. His father received the following telegram dated the 11th of June 1915: - "Deeply regret to inform you that 2nd Lieut. B.C.D. Martin Worcester Regt. was killed in action June 4th. Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy." His Commanding Officer wrote:- “I was not near him at the time but those who were said he showed perfect coolness and courage all the time. During the few days with us I especially noticed him for his keenness and desire to get on and feel very sure that had he been spared he would have done very well." He is commemorated on the Bedford Roll of Honour at St Paul’s Church, Bedford.

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