The Rhodesian Soldier

Rhodes Scholars Roll of Honour 1918-18


The names of nine Rhodesian Rhodes Scholars who lost their lives in WWI appear on the wall of the Rotunda in Rhodes House, Oxford.


































Captain Vere Arthur Edmonstone ELLIOTT, ‘B’ Battery, 165th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action on 25 March 1918, aged 25 years, Capt. Elliott is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Bienvillers Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Of interest is the fact that Capt Elliott was born in Rorke’s Drift, Zululand. His father, Frederick George Elliott was with the Native Department in Umtali. 


Lieutenant Theodore Arthur CARNEGIE, 12th Battalion, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action on 16 August 1917, Lt. Carnegie’s name appears on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. The memorial, ironically also designed by Sir Herbert Baker, commemorates 35,000 men who died in the Ypres Salient and whose bodies were never found. His mother lived in Bulawayo.


Lieutenant Charles Hercules Augustus Francis NEWTON, 10th Battalion, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action on 13 March 1916, aged 26 years, Lt. Newton is buried in the CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. His father, Sir Francis James Newton, KCMG, CVO, was Acting Administrator of Southern Rhodesia from 1909 to 1914 and British High Commissioner to Southern Rhodesia in 1924. Sir Francis, incidentally, was at Oxford University when Rhodes was there.


Captain Stewart Arthur RODNEY-RICKETS MC, ‘D’ Battery, 82nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action on 31 October 1917, aged 23 years, Capt. Rodney-Rickets is buried in the CWGC Vlamertinge New Military Cemetery, West Vlaanderen, Belgium.


Second Lieutenant John Clarkson TREDGOLD MC (Posthumous), 3rd Battalion, attached 11th Battalion, the Royal Scots. Killed in action on 12 April 1917, aged 21 years, 2Lt. Tredgold’s name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France. The memorial was erected in memory of the 35,000 soldiers from the UK, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras Sector between the Spring of 1916 and August 1918, and who have no known grave. His father, Clarkson Henry Tredgold, was Southern Rhodesia’s Attorney General and later senior judge. His mother Ruth, was the granddaughter of the famous missionary, Robert Moffat. His younger brother, Sir Robert Tredgold, also a Rhodes scholar, became Chief Justice of Rhodesia in 1950. 2Lt. Tredgold’s Military Cross citation was gazetted on 30 May 1917: “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He carried out a dangerous reconnaissance and obtained most valuable information. Later, he rescued several wounded men under heavy fire.” 


Lieutenant Ernest St Clair TULLOCH, 11th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers. Killed in action on 7 July 1916, Lt. Tulloch’s name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France. The memorial carries the names of 72,000 soldiers from the UK and South Africa killed on the Somme and whose bodies were never found. His mother lived in Umtali.


Second Lieutenant Richard George HART, 3rd Battalion, attached 10 Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Killed in action on 30 July 1916, aged 24 years, 2Lt. Hart is buried in the London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval, the Somme, France. His parents lived in North Kana, Northern Rhodesia.


Second Lieutenant Osric Osmond STAPLES, 6th Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Killed in action on 25 September 1915, aged 23 years, 2Lt. Staples’ name is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. The memorial remembers the 20,000 soldiers who lost their lives in the River Lys area, and whose bodies were never found. Another memorial designed by Sir Herbert Baker.


Lieutenant Paul Dominic WILMOT, 3rd Battalion, attached 12th Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment. killed in action on 25 March 1918, Lt. Wilmot’s name is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, the Somme, France. The memorial remembers the 14,000 British and 300 South African soldiers who died on the Somme from 21 March to 7 August 1918, and whose bodies were never found. Lt Wilmot was reported as ‘missing’.