CAPTAIN BENJAMIN CHARLES SPARROW, 1st BATTALION 39th GARHWAL RIFLES.


CAPTAIN BENJAMIN CHARLES SPARROW, 1st BATTALION 39th GARHWAL RIFLES. KILLED IN ACTION 10th MARCH 1915.




The name of Captain Benjamin Charles Sparrow is recorded on Ilkley War Memorial, although, his only link to the town appears to be that his aunt and Uncle lived on West View. Charles Sparrow was actually born in Devon, the son of a wealthy limestone merchant and attended Cheltenham College. In 1899 he entered the Royal Military College Sandhurst and was 'Gazetted' into The Royal Berkshire Regiment. He served in South Africa during the Boer War before transferring to the Indian Army in 1904. In 1915 he and his regiment, 1st Battalion 39th Garhwal Rifles, were part of the Indian Corps fighting on the Western Front. On 10th March 1915, during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle Charles Sparrow was killed in action. He is buried in the Laventre British Military Cemetery.


From Illustrated London News


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