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Private William Fane Dalzell Dalrymple SEWELL (2053)
B Company, 1/4th (Ross Highland) Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (TF) Date of birth: 24th March 1896 Date of death: 11th March 1915 Killed in action aged 18 Commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial Panel 38 and 39
William Fane Dalzell Dalrymple Sewell was born at Valparaiso in Chile on the 24th of March 1896, the only son of William George Dalrymple Sewell, who worked in insurance, and Edith Maude (nee Dalzell) Sewell of Hollesley Suffolk and later of 20 Balcombe Street, Dorset Square in London. He returned home from South America on board the SSS "Aragon" on the 11th of May 1906, landing at Southampton. He was educated at Mr. Charles D. Pridden’s School at Walton-cum-Felixstowe in Suffolk and at Lancing College where he was in Heads House from September 1910 to April 1913. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps, rising to the rank of Lance Corporal, and was a bugler in the Corps band. His shortsightedness meant that he did not excel in games. A family illness at home meant that he decided to leave school to go to work and contribute to the family income. He began work for the Great Northern Railway Service on the 1st of May 1913. Following the outbreak of war he enlisted at London in the 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders on the 4th of September 1914 and joined them for training at Bedford. He landed in France with his battalion at Le Havre on board the "City of Dunkirk" at 8.30am on the 7th of November 1914. The 10th of March 1915 was the opening day of the Battle of Neuve Chappelle and the 1/4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders were to be in support of, and were to pass though, the assault troops of the Garhwal Brigade and capture Neuve Chappelle itself. On the morning of the 10th they waited anxiously while the leading troops of the 1/9th Gurkhas went forward at 8.05am. At 8.30am reports came back that the Germans were in full retreat and at 9.17am news came that the lead battalions had taken Neuve Chappelle. At noon orders were received for the Seaforths to move forward to assembly trenches which had prviously been occupied by the Gurkhas at "Windy Corner". Here they waited for further orders under shell fire suffering seventeen casualties to a shell explosion. At 4.20pm they moved forward again until they reached the forward trench on the La Bassée -Estaires Road. During their journey they were hampered by the flow of wounded moving back towards the rear. From here they moved through the heavily damaged village of Neuve Chappelle and towards the Bois de Biez where they had to wade waist deep across the River Layes. Although the wood was found to be clear of the enemy, orders were received at 7pm to retire from the wood and dig in for the night. At 6am the following morning they received orders to attack the Bois de Biez at 7.30am. They were to be in support of the 1/9th Gurkhas and the 2/2nd Gurkhas and the attack was preceded by an intense bombardment of the wood before the advance began. During the night the enemy had moved back into the wood and into the houses nearby and now waited for the attack, having been heavily reinforced with machine guns. The Gurkhas took heavy casualties from intense machine gun fire and their attack ground to a halt with the attackers going to ground and being ordered to dig in where they were with their entrenching tools. They lay in these exposed positions from 10am until 2pm under shell fire with mounting casualties. At 2pm orders came through that the attack was to resume at 2.15pm. The British artillery again opened fire on the wood and the Seaforths advanced again. The Gurkhas, however, had been told to hold their position until another brigade came into position. As they reached the Gurkha line the Seaforths piled into the shallow trench and packed together with the Gurkhas, providing a tempting target for the German artillery. In the next two hours the Seaforths lost around 150 officers and men and at 6pm they were ordered to fall back to the west of the Neuve Chapelle Road. William Sewell had been killed by a shell as the battalion advanced. A comrade wrote:- “He was a popular and brave soldier, and we miss him exceedingly.” The Officer Commanding B Company wrote:- “He was a good soldier and always carried out his orders promptly and well. We buried him on the field of battle.” His Major wrote:- “Young Sewell is shaping well, is a favorite and will be a fine soldier. We’ve got our eye on him.” His Colonel wrote:- “The boy’s association with the regiment were of the very best kind from start to finish, and it was a very great pleasure to do anything I could for him as regards his commission. The last time I saw your dear son alive was when I took him to see our General about his commission. Would that it had been possible for him to have got his commission before the fight. I know he would have made a good officer and done well for his King and Country.” His Supervisor at the Great Northern Railway wrote:- “I deeply regret the tragic end of so young and promising a life. Your son was a most likeable fellow and everyone with whom I placed him spoke most highly of his capability and personality. I can only hope you can be consoled by the thought that he died like a man and in furthering the great cause so near to all out hearts. His letters are typical of all that is best and bravest in British youth.” His father wrote, in a letter to Lancing:- "So much of what was good and lovable in Fane was due to Lancing. I trust he may be considered a credit to you." The Sewell bugle was given to the school in his memory, to be awarded annually in the W.F.D.D. Sewell Memorial Bugle Competition, and was first competed for in 1918. His father applied for his medals in November 1919.

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