SIRMOOR MEMORIALS
by Major JR Harrop
In recent years, there has been a marked change in how the British display their grief. Arguably, starting with the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, a stiff upper lip and discretion have been replaced by overt displays of emotion and a cult of adorning endless makeshift shrines with unremarkable memorabilia such as flowers, teddy bears and football scarves.
Permanent and usually generic shrines, rather than personalised ones, have also proliferated long after conflicts have ended or not even relating to specific conflicts at all. Statues recently set up in London reflect this trend, for example, Animals at War (2004), Women in World War II( 2005) and Bomber Command (2012). The National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire, now has over 400 military memorials, many of which duplicate existing memorials found throughout the United Kingdom. The Brigade of Gurkhas has been part of these tendencies: in 1997, an impressive statue was unveiled in Whitehall, and then in 2014, a chautara was built at Alrewas. In 2016 a new memorial statue was set up in Church Crookham and another was unveiled at Aldershot in 2021.
Things were very different during most of the 2nd Goorkhas history. Memorials were generally set up shortly after the conflicts in which the losses occurred to commemorate a specific life or lives rather than an organisation or a general concept. They were, for the most part, discreet and often set in a religious environment, such as a church or in quiet places conducive to reflection and prayer.
The establishment by Royal Charter of the Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves Commission (CWGC) in 1917 has ensured an accurate record as well as the maintenance of the graves worldwide of all those who have made the supreme sacrifice for their country since 1914. Today, the CWGC maintains the graves or memorials of 48 British Officers, 35 Gurkha Officers and 1559 Gurkha Other Ranks of the 2nd Goorkhas. Although this article is mostly about memorials found in the UK to a relatively small number of British Officers, there are many official memorials and graves worldwide for the hundreds of Gurkha officers and men of the Regiment who also died. The Basra Memorial has the greatest number of Gurkha Sirmooris, with 330 (Plate 1). Many names are also to be found at the Indian Memorial, Neuve Chapelle (178), the Singapore Memorial (71) and the Cassino War Cemetery (66). More details of these and other cemeteries and memorials can be found on the webpage about 2nd Goorkhas’ casualties.
Plate 1- The Basra Memorial
In addition to the generic memorials in the UK to Gurkhas who lost their lives, there is a special memorial dedicated to the 2nd Goorkhas, the window in the Indian Army Room at RMA Sandhurst (Plate 2). Major General Lewis Pugh CB CBE DSO, the then Colonel of the Regiment, was the driving force behind the project. The window was unveiled in December 1967 by HRH Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Mrs Angus Ogilvy GCVO. Designed and made by Lawrence Lee ARCA, it commemorated the anniversary of the centenary of the Sirmoor Rifles’ most celebrated battle honour, ‘Delhi 1857’ as well as remembering all those who had sacrificed their lives up to that point during the Regiment’s one hundred and fifty years of service to the Crown. The model for the British Officer was Lt Col Digby Willoughby MC, and that of the Truncheon Jemadar was Hon Capt ( GCO) Partapsing Gurung MVO MBE. The inscription on the window reads ‘One hundred and fifty years of service to the Crown and in memory of the many members of the Regiment who sacrificed their lives and whose bodies lie on the battlefields of the world’.
Plate 2- Memorial window , Indian Army Room , RMA Sandhurst
The First World War resulted in the highest number of British Officer deaths of any campaign or war. The names of the twenty-seven officers who had lost their lives during that war was commemorated by a brass memorial plaque inscribed with their names and was originally placed in St Thomas’s Church, Dehra Dun (Plate 3).
In addition to the First World War memorial, there were plaques to the following individual officers:
• Capt John Fisher ( Commandant ) killed at the Battle of Sobraon 1846.
• Ensigns Charles Wheatley and Sutherland Ross, both killed during the Siege of Delhi 1857.
• Lt Col Sullivan Becher died 1887.
• Lieut Boileau drowned 1890.
• Bvt Col Eaton Travers died 1899.
• Brig Gen Lewis Hall died 1928.
Plate 3 – Brass memorial to British Officers killed in the First World War
After the Regiment left India in 1947 all the memorial tablets installed in the Dehra Dun church were transferred to the Garrison Church in Winchester. They were rededicated in 1957 at a special service to commemorate the anniversary of the centenary of the Siege of Delhi.
The Regiment subsequently commissioned a second bronze plaque to commemorate the twenty-four British Officers who lost their lives during the Second World War. In May 1953, this was also placed in the Garrison Church, Winchester. When the Garrison Church closed in 1985, all the 2nd Goorkhas plaques were removed and placed in the Gurkha Museum for safekeeping. The two world war memorials are currently installed on the rear staircase of the museum, and those to individual officers were transferred to the Visitors’ Centre at Sir John Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe where they can now be seen.
Plate 4 – Brass memorial to British Officers killed in the Second World War
Finally, the Regiment commissioned another small plaque for those four officers who had lost their lives during the Malayan Emergency and Brunei Rebellion. In January 1968, this was installed in St John’s Garrison Church, Dover Road, Singapore. This plaque is also now in the Visitors’ Centre, St John Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe.
Plate 5 – Memorial tablet St John’s Garrison Church, Dover Road, Singapore.
In addition to these regimental memorials, there are many others, mostly for individuals. They include stained glass windows and brass or wooden plaques in places of worship, together with names inscribed on village and school war memorials. There is even a sundial and a mention in Wisden’s ‘Lives of Cricket’s Fallen’.
Any memorial is poignant, none more so than the 4,000 names inscribed on the walls and pillars of the Royal Memorial Chapel, RMA Sandhurst. A wooden panel lists the names of the fourteen British officers of the 2nd Goorkhas who had attended the College (as it was known in those days) and who lost their lives during the First World War. ( Plate 6) .
Plate 6 Wooden panel Royal Memorial Chapel, RMA Sandhurst
In 2025, a new stained glass window will be unveiled in the Chapel, to remember the late Sir John Chapple GCB CBE ADC ( Gen) MA. This officer was Colonel of the Regiment from 1986 to 1994 and became the first and only 2nd Goorkha to have become Chief of the General Staff and a Field Marshal.
Elsewhere, three other 2nd Goorkhas are remembered by stained glass windows. Major Neil Macpherson, who was killed on 31 October 1914 in France, has a window at St Barnabas Church, Beckenham, Kent (Plate 7). Second Lieutenant Harold Lucas, killed on 2 November 1914 in France is remembered at All Saints Church, Theydon Garnon, Essex. Major ‘Eric’ Stephenson, the only 2nd Goorkha to have been ‘capped’ for representing England at football was killed on 8 September 1944 in Burma and has a window in his honour at Ligett Park Methodist Church, Leeds.
Plate 7 Stained glass window memorial to Major Neil Macpherson
The names of 2nd Goorkhas are also remembered on brass plaques. Major Basil Nicholl, killed on 8 March 1916 in Mesopotamia, is remembered in St Teilo’s Church, Merthyr Mawr. Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Woollcoombe was lost at sea on 28 February 1942 after escaping from Singapore and is remembered in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Ashbury, Devon. The latter was set up thanks to an initiative by Brigadier Christopher Bullock MC OBE and unveiled in May 2020 by Brigadier Ian Rigden OBE, President of the Sirmoor Club.
Plate 8 – Brass memorial to Lt Colonel Geoffrey Woollcombe
Other than the marble plaques removed from St Thomas’s Church, Dehra Dun, the only one known in the UK commemorates Captain Francis Barton, killed on 2 November 1914 in France, in St Nicholas’s Church, Dundalk, County Louth. There are several memorials in wood. One, in the West London Synagogue, is dedicated to 2nd Lieutenant Walter Tanburn IARO attached 1st Battalion, who was killed on 13 April 1917 in Mesopotamiais. The finest wooden memorial is for Lieutenant Gordon Sanderson. He was killed on 13 October 1915 in France, one of the last casualties sustained by the 2nd Battalion before they left France for the Middle East. The memorial, in Arts and Crafts style, is in Holy Trinity Church, Rathmell, Yorkshire.
Plate 9 – Wooden memorial to 2nd Lieutenant Gordon Sanderson
The names of 2nd Goorkhas British Officers are also to be found on memorials in the towns and villages from which they came:
• Wooton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire: Major Henry Becher, killed on 2 November 1914, France.
• Tenby, Pembrokeshire: 2nd Lieutenant John Walcott,. killed on 2 November 1914 in France.
• Northam, Devon: Major Herbert Nicolay, killed on 10 March 1915 in France.
• Ryde, Isle of Wight: Major Giles Rooke 10GR attached 2nd Battalion, killed on 9 May 1915 in France.
• Newton Abbott, Devon: Captain Ian Nicoll, killed on 18 February 1944 in Italy.
• Rusper, Sussex: Lieutenant Victor de la Rue KRRC seconded to the 3rd Battalion, killed 28 April 1943 in Burma.
• Surbiton, Surrey: Major George Silcock, who died on 14 January 1945 in Burma.
Probably the most unusual location for a 2nd Goorkha name on a memorial is the Transcoma War Memorial, Park Circle, Winnipeg, Canada, on which the name of Major John Herrick is recorded. He served with the 3rd Battalion but was killed on 24 October 1920 while serving with 11GR in Mesopotamia. Originally from Nottingham, Herrick moved to Canada where, at the age of 21, he enlisted in the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles) and saw action in France as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was later commissioned into The Nottingham Yeomanry (Sherwood Rangers) before transferring to the Indian Army in 1918.
War Memorials of many of the public schools also remember the names of 2nd Goorkhas. Some schools have memorial halls where the names are recorded:
• Marlborough College.
Major Henry Becher, killed on 2 November 1914 in France.
Major Peter Collins, killed on 7 June 1945 in Burma.
Major Basil Nicholl, killed on 8 March 1916 in Mesopotamia.
Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Woollcombe, missing at sea off Sumatra, 28 February 1942.
• Wellington College.
Lieutenant David Combe, killed on 10 February 1942 in Singapore.
Captain Alexander Dallas-Smith, died as a Japanese POW on 8 March 1942 in Malaya.
Second Lieutenant Colin Dunlop, killed on 3 February 1917 in Mesopotamia.
Captain B Hancock, executed as a Japanese POW on 20 September 1942 in Malaya.
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Lindsay died of injuries incurred on active service on 16 September 1914 in Devon.
Captain H Marsh, who died of wounds on 2 February 1917 in Mesopotamia.
Lieutenant James Reid, killed on 2 November 1914 in France.
Major the Honourable Lionel ‘Bunny’ Shore, killed on 20 July 1944 in Italy.
Captain David Stephens, who died of wounds on 12 December 1962 in Brunei.
Some schools have memorial cloisters. That at Eton College records name of Lieutenant Victor de la Rue, who was killed on 28 April 1943 in Burma. Haileybury has the names of Captain F Barton, killed on 2 November 1914 in France, and Captain A Graham, killed on 20 December 1914, also in France. Sedbergh remembers Lieutenant J Atkins, killed on 27 May 1944 in Italy. Winchester College names Lieutenant H Lucas, killed on 2 November 1914, in France. Winchester College is unique in that the cap badges from 120 regiments in which men from the school served decorate the walls, corbels and roof beams of the Memorial Cloister.
Plate 10 – Memorial Cloister, Winchester College
Clifton College has a memorial arch on which are recorded the names of four 2nd Goorkhas’ officers:
Captain Beauchamp Duff, killed on 7 November 1914 in France.
Major Hugh Lyons – Montgomery, killed on 5 May 1944 in Burma.
Captain C Mullaly, killed on 9 May 1915 in France.
Second Lieutenant W Tanburn, killed on 13 April 1917 in Mesopotamia.
Radley College also has a memorial arch on which appears the name of Captain Richard Bucknall who was killed on 10 February 1942 in Singapore.
There are several miscellaneous memorials. A sundial at the Qutb Complex, New Delhi, commemorates Second Lieutenant George Sanderson who was killed on 13 October 1915 in France. He was a talented architect and much respected archaeologist. Those who subscribed towards the cost of the Memorial Sundial (which still stands today) included the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge, the Maharajahs of Bikaner, Patiala, Burdwan and Udaipur and Sanderson’s colleague Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Plate 11- Memorial sundial to Second Lieutenant Gordon Sanderson in Delhi
Second Lieutenant John Walcott, killed on 2 November 1914 in France, is mentioned in Wisden’s ‘ Lives of Cricket Fallen. Major The Honourable Lionel ‘Bunny’ Shore, killed on 20 July 1944 in Italy, is listed in the Book of Remembrance of The House of Lords. Captain Henry Marsh, who died of wounds on 2 February 1917 in Mesopotamia, appears on the 1921 Masonic Roll of Honour for the 1914-18 war.
Thanks to the generosity of Brigadier Lionel Collins CB CSI DSO OBE ADC (Commandant 1st Battalion 1925 – 1929 ), a fine Library to the memory of his son Major Peter Collins was installed in his son’s boarding house, C1, at Marlborough College, where it exists to this day. Peter Collins was killed on 7 June 1945 in Burma and was recommended posthumously for the Victoria Cross, although he did not receive this award.
Plate 12- Memorial Library to Major Peter Collins at Marlborough College
Finally, two 2nd Goorkhas officers listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission are buried in the United Kingdom. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Lindsay died on 16 September 1914 at Bishopsteignton, Devon and is buried in the cemetery for St Michael and All Angels Church, Beetham, Cumbria. Lieutenant Walter Thompson, who died on 16 April 1920, is buried in the cemetery for St Mary’s Church, Morthoe, Devon where he enjoys possibly the finest view of any Sirmoori memorial or grave, looking out over Woolacombe Bay.
Plate 13- Grave of Lt Walter Thompson, Morthoe, Devon
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records all the names of British Officers of the 2nd Goorkhas who, since 1914, have lost their lives in overseas campaigns. In addition to the memorials listed above there are probably others that still lie undiscovered. They all record the brave sacrifices of remarkable men who fought and died serving their country, their Regiment and their fellow Gurkha officers and men, and in every way deserve to be remembered.
JRH
April 2025