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Those who fell in the 1914-1919 War:
Captain Arthur Noel Loxley
Killed on the 1st January 1915 on the H.M.S.
Formidable, when it became the first British Battleship to be
sunk in the Great War.
Captain Loxley was commanding the 15,250 ton Warship
on exercise 37 miles off the Devon Coast when German U-Boat
24 torpedoed her. Captain Loxley, his second-in-command, Commander
Ballard, and the signaller stayed at their posts throughout,
sending flares and rockets off at regular intervals. There was
no panic, the men waiting calmly for the lifeboats to be lowered.
Someone played ragtime on the piano, others sang. The Chaplain
risked his life going below to find cigarettes. Suddenly the
ship gave a tremendous lurch, the Captain shouted 'Lads,
this is the last, all hands for themselves, and may God bless
you and guide you to safety'. He then walked to the forebridge,
lit a cigarette and, with his terrier Bruce on duty at his side,
waited for the end in true Royal Naval tradition. Of the 750
crew on board, only 199 were rescued from the ice cold swells
and relentless gales that had battered the stricken ship, having
fought to stay alive in their damaged life boats for 22 hours.
Captain Arthur Noel Loxley went down with his
ship, therefore has no known grave, but is remembered on the
Chatham Naval Memorial.
More information on the sinking of the H.M.S.
Formidable can be seen here.
Second Lieutenant John Vere Isham
5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales) Dragoon Guards
John died 3rd June 1916 at the Military Hospital
in France, aged 20. He was the son of Sir Vere Isham and Millicent
Isham, of Lamport and is buried in Grave I. A. 28. at Etaples
Military Cemetery. John Isham's father would have been the 11th
Baronet of Isham and his family are described as perhaps one
of the county's most 'distinguished and interesting' families,
having originally bought Isham in 1560. The first Baronet was
created in 1627 and the family have numerous interesting members
recorded in history, including Sheriffs, Architects and Knighthoods.
The Northamptonshire County records Office hold
many records on the Isham family, including letters written
by John whilst in France before his death.
Lieutenant William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse, V.C.
2nd Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.
William died of wounds received on the 26th April
1915, aged 27. He was the son of Edward Moorhouse, of Parnham
House, Dorset and husband to Linda Rhodes-Moorhouse. His body
is buried in the grounds of Parnham House, Beaminster, to the
west of the house.
His father had lived and married in New Zealand
before returning to England to start a family, making William
half Maori as a result. Educated at Harrow and Cambridge, William
devoted his time to fast cars and motorcycles, later becoming
involved in the early days of aviation. Unfortunately, William
knocked down and killed a boy whilst racing his motorbike near
Brighton Pier around 1906 but charges of Manslaughter were later
withdrawn. Having been associated to Jas Radley in the manufacture
of monoplanes around 1909, the adventurous William gained his
pilot's certificate in October 1911. He competed in 'Daily Mail'
prize flights from London to Manchester and around England,
and was first to demonstrate how aeroplanes could be used to
carry parcels by flying from Northampton to Hendon with boxes
of boots.
In August 1912 he was the first to cross the
channel from Douai in France to Ashood in England with two passengers
(one being his wife) in a Brequet biplane. William was posthumously
awarded the first ever Victoria Cross presented to the British
Air Services. After fearlessly bombing a German advance that
left him hit in three places and his plane peppered with bullet
and shrapnel holes, William returned to base but died from his
wounds the following day.
An extract from "The London Gazette," dated 22nd
May 1915, records the following citation regarding his Victoria
Cross:
"For most conspicuous
bravery on 26th April, 1915, in flying to Courtrai and dropping
bombs on the railway line near that station. On starting the
return journey he was mortally wounded, but succeeded in flying
for 35 miles to his destination, at a very low altitude, and
reported the successful accomplishment of his object. He has
since died of his wounds."
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