10/10/2026
On this day in history……..
On this day, October 10th in 1915 a young man, aged only 19, died in France from wounds received in the Battle of Loos near Hulluch on September 26th. He was Herbert Gloyne Forster Forster-Morris, the only son of Rev Herbert Forster-Morris, the Rector of South Hill and Callington from 1909-1918, and his wife Ellen Sophia (Née Gloyne). They lived at the Old Rectory in South Hill.
He was born in Bath on 28th February 1896 and went to St Faith’s School, Cambridge and Exeter School where he was Head Boy. According to the records at Exeter School he was captain of the shooting VIII in 1914 and played in the cricket 1st XI and rugby 1st XV and hockey teams, receiving full colours for all. He was also in the choir! He was a talented young man.
He was nominated for a scholarship and had intended to go to Oxford University with a view to taking Holy Orders but, at the outbreak of the First World War, he decided to enter Sandhurst which he did in July 1914. Before going to Sandhurst, he helped with the training in shooting of the Devonshire Yeomanry.
He passed out of Sandhurst in December 1914 and joined the 1st Battalion South Wales Borderers, being promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in July 1915, serving with the Expeditionary Force in France from August. During the Battle of Loos he was charging at the head of his platoon when he was badly wounded and sadly, he would not recover from his injuries. He died at No.3 General Hospital at Le Tréport on 10th October and is buried in the English Military Cemetery at Le Tréport, Normandy, France. The hospital doctor wrote: ‘That was a brave boy. He showed magnificent courage, for he suffered more than anyone else on the floor’.
The Adjutant of his regiment wrote: ‘His company officers always spoke very highly of him and although he was only with us a very short time, everyone realised when he was wounded that we had lost a really good officer. He was wounded while leading his platoon in the attack on the village of Hulluch in the morning of 26th September’. The Headmaster at Exeter wrote: ‘He was so absolutely straight, so regardless of self, and, in spite of his modesty, such a born leader of men. He is a loss to the Army and to the world. There are not too many of the very best and he was one of the elect. He was a boy of quite unusual force of character, and his influence was far wider than he ever knew. To all who knew him words of praise will sound cold. He was so straight and so loveable’. There is a reredos in the chapel at Exeter School with his name included amongst those of the fallen.
In his last letter home before the battle, Herbert wrote ‘However rough a time I may have in the near future I should be glad to be here for I must do my part’.
We remember him today, 111 years after his death.
Lest we forget.
(Researched by Jo Coleridge)
