Remembering Cecil Godfrey Rawling, who was killed at Hooge crater on the 28th October 1917.

Not just a brave soldier and enlightened commander he was an accomplished writer and explorer. Holder of the CIE, CMG and the DSO.

According to some he had left the comfort of his dugout to speak to friends, though Captain Kelly of the 110th brigade writes differently in his account.

'He had gone out to supervise personally the unloading of some wagons which had been interrupted by a burst of shell fire. The incident was characteristic of his disregard for danger, which he had shown among other ways by a habit in ordinary trench warfare of walking over the top instead of by communication trenches as was laid down in orders for everyone else.'


The writer John Buchan wrote of his good friend, in reference to why he was such a good soldier during the war:

'He was always slightly lost; therefore he could never be completely lost, whether in Tibet or on a Flanders battlefield. That is perhaps the reason why he was so successful an explorer and so good a soldier. The man who insists on having the next stage neatly outlined before he starts will be unnerved if he can not see his way. Cecil drove on cheerfully into the mist, because he had been there so often before and knew that somewhere on the farther side was clear sky.'


I am inclined to agree.

Never forgotten.
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see here for a fuller biography of Rawling

Cheers, Arm. A salutory reminder that they didn't all live in chateux.

Obviously a brave man who led by example.

God bless him and may he rest in peace.

Geoff

Raising a glass to Cecil

Steven,

I could not put it any better.

Cecil,

You are Not Forgotten

Ian.

We Will Remember Him.

Gone but not forgotten

Kind regards

Steve

Cecil Rawling, may you forever rest in peace.

Thank you
Stephen

Rest in Peace.

Remembering

Thank you for the freedom that I enjoy.

RIP

Scottie.

A fascinating account of the life of a born soldier - Rest peacefully.

For those of you that would like to read more about his adventures you can download his books "The Great Plateau" and "The Land of New Guinea Pygmies" from that fantastic store of books on the Internet Archive.

Maricourt