LIEUTENANT JOHN HUTCHINSON TRISTRAM, 1st BATTALION WORCESTERSHIRE
LIEUTENANT JOHN HUTCHINSON
TRISTRAM, 1st BATTALION WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT. KILLED IN ACTION 11th MARCH
1915, AGED 22.
Newly married Francis Tristram brought his young
wife, Frances, to live in Ilkley in 1891. He was from a long line of Church of
England clergy and his father was an ecclesiastical and civil lawyer of some
renown. Francis had been born into a comfortable middle class household whose
home was in Mayfair, London., his wife, however, was from Leeds, the daughter
of a woollen manufacturer and the proximity may have been an important factor
in choosing Ilkley as their first home.
Taking up residence in Hawthorne Villa’s on what is
now Grove Road Francis gained employment as what he described as a merchant.
Within a year a son was born, John Hutchinson, on 16th July 1892 and
baptised at St. Margaret’s Church on Queens Road.
John would be the only child of Francis Tristram and
was sent at an early age to school at Wellington College in Berkshire. Noted
for its outdoor and sporting curriculum, the school was seen as excellent
preparation for those who sought a career in the officer corps of the army. At
the age of 16 years John duly applied officer training and was sent to the
Royal Military College at Woolwich.
In 1911, no longer a cadet he was gazetted as a 2nd
Lieutenant in the Worcestershire Regiment. Initially posted to the 3rd
Battalion, in 1913 he was sent to Egypt and joined the regiments 1st
Battalion who were stationed in Cairo.
Francis and his battalion were still in Egypt as the
start of war in August 1914, but events in Europe necessitated their return. At
9.15pm on the evening of the 16th October 1914, the battalion
disembarked from the transport ship ‘Deseado’ at the Port of Liverpool. By 4am
the following morning they boarded trains and 10 hours later arrived at
Winchester where they were marched the 3 miles to their allotted camp.
The Worcester’s would not remain long in England and
by the 9th November they arrived at Le Havre, France. Within just a
few days the battalion was in the front line near to Estaires north of Bethune
were it would spend most of what was remembered as a cold and wet winter.
The constant tours of duty in the front line and the
attritional nature of trench warfare meant a high casualty rate. As officers
succumbed others would be promoted to fill the shortfall and so John was soon
promoted from 2nd to full lieutenant in ‘C’ Company.
With the arrival of Spring in 1915 the British High
Command turned its attention to attack. The area near to the village of Neuve
Chapelle was the chosen location and at the beginning of March arrangements
were made for a full scale attack. A heavy artillery bombardment preceded the
British advance for which the Worcester’s would be in immediate reserve.
However, despite the size of the British bombardment the attacking troops
struggled against a determined German defence. On 11th March the
Worcester Battalion was supporting other regiments as they struggled across
no-man’s land when at about 2pm John and his platoon were asked to make an
almost suicidal dash across a stretch of the line were the distance between the
two sides was less than 60 yards. Gallantry John led his men into an attack
which soon became bogged down after less than 30 yards. German rifle fire had
reduced his platoon by about half and inaccurate British artillery fire falling
onto his position only made matters worse. Sense prevailed and John and his
remaining men were ordered to retire to their own
trenches. Sadly, few men would make it back to the relative safety of the
British front line. John’s exact fate is unknown but he never returned to his
battalion and is believed to have been killed near to the German trenches. He
was just 22 years of age.
Cairo 1911 9 and 10 Platoons
Tristram window Castle Eden Church
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