| Surname: |
Ellis |
| Initials/Name: |
Rae Adam |
| Country of Service: |
UK |
| Rank: |
Captain |
| Regiment: |
Royal Welsh Fusiliers |
| Unit: |
25th (Montgomeryshire and Welsh Horse Yeomanry) Battalion |
| Service No: |
|
| Age: |
36 |
| Date of Death |
22/09/1918 |
| How died: |
Died of Wounds |
| Awards: |
|
| Cemetery: |
Doingt Communal Cemetery Extention |
| Country: |
France |
| Grave Reference: |
A.33 |
| Local Memorials: |
Stock and a plaque in
All Saints Church
|
| Address: |
Son of Richard Adam and Emma Eliza Ellis, of Greenwoods Stock |
| CWGC Page: |
Rae Ellis |
| |
(should this link fail, search the
CWGC site) |
|
|
---------------------------------------
Below from John Westwood |
|
The
inscription reads
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
RAE.ADAM ELLIS
CAPTAIN 1 / 1ST
MONTGOMERYSHIRE YEOMANRY
ATTACHED 25TH ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS
SECOND AND
ONLY SURVIVING SON OF
RICHARD ADAM AND EMMA ELLIS
OF GREENWOODS
STOCK
WHO AFTER TWO YEARS CAMPAIGN IN
EGYPT AND PALESTINE
DIED OF
WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION AT
RONSSOY FRANCE SEPTEMBER 22ND 1918 AGED
36
INTERRED AT THE MILITARY CEMETERY
DOINGT NR PERONNE |
click here to enlarge
 |
| Click Here Rae's Papers |
|
| It is 1925, and the Great
War had ended in the Armistice seven years earlier, when a letter arrives at
Greenwoods in Stock. It is from the Army and in it Mr. Adam Ellis reads that in
the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, Cairo there is the sum of £11 7s 7d which needs
to be repaid to him as soon as possible. There followed an exchange of letters
and the money was repaid, it closed a painful chapter in the lives of the
Ellis’. |
| Seven years
earlier as the war was drawing to a close Captain Rae Adam Ellis was serving
with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, having been with them on attachment from the
Montgomery Yeomanry (Territorial Army). |
| During the
war he had been promoted three times, having begun as a Second Lieutenant in
August 1914, by November 1917 he had achieved the rank of Captain. |
| He had served
in Palestine for two years, the campaign was important because it kept the Suez
Canal open and this meant that colonial troops could arrive that much quicker
than having to go via South Africa. His battalion was not able to leave the
area until 1917 as there were simply not enough troops, but as that target had
been reached so Capt. Ellis found himself on the Western Front. He died of
wounds when in action on 22nd September 1918, how he died is not known as the
battalion was not engaged in offensive work at the time, they had completed the
second phase of the attack on the Hindenburg Line, and were involved again
until 2nd October, by which time he was dead. What his record shows is that he
was in the 20th Casualty Clearing Station and a telegram was sent reporting his
death the following day and was subsequently buried on the Somme in Doingt
Communal Cemetery. Doingt is a small village on the eastern outskirts of
Peronne, on the left hand side of the D44 road to Ham and St. Quentin. |
| When he died,
Capt. Ellis was 36 years old, he had come from a privileged background. He had
a brother who had been killed some years before, so the loss of their only
remaining son was a bitter blow, especially as we now know so close to the end
of the war. His parents erected a memorial to both him and his brother, and
this can be found in All Saints Church, Stock. As to his records, they are
patchy, his service records are no longer available and what does exist is this
correspondence between the Army and Mr Ellis. The record shows that when he
died the gross value of his estate was £417 16s 6d, a great deal of money
at that time. Why it took so long for the money in the Anglo-Egyptian Bank to
be paid out, we may never know |
| For many
people there is little known about the background work that the Army does to
keep its records straight. One can imagine yet another army working behind the
lines which support the every move of those in the frontline, yet they often go
unrecognised. |
|
Updated 26.07.2024 |
