By the time World War I ended 100 years ago today, the Russian, German, Austrian, and Ottoman Empires had crumbled, the royal landscape of Europe had changed forever, and about 10 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians had died.  In memory of all who fought and all who died, we publish the link to our Royalty and World War I Index so you can read and remember.
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Unofficial Royalty: Royalty and World War I

compiled and revised by Susan Flantzer

At 11 AM on November 11, 1918 – “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” – a ceasefire ending World War I went into effect. The Russian, German, Austrian, and Ottoman Empires had crumbled, the royal landscape of Europe had changed forever, numerous nations regained their former independence, new nations were created, and about 10 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians had died.

• YouTube: Animated Map Shows How World War I Changed Europe’s Borders

Armistice Day, November 11, is still commemorated in many countries. In the United States, it is Veterans Day, a day to honor the service of all American military veterans. In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, it is Remembrance Day, honoring the memory of those who served in World War I and veterans of all subsequent wars involving British and Commonwealth troops.

All photos unless noted are from Wikipedia. For comparison, see Unofficial Royalty: European Monarchies at the Start of World War I in 1914

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LOST THRONES DURING WORLD WAR I

Principality of Albania

Wilhelm of Wied, Sovereign Prince of Albania (reigned 1914)
Wikipedia: Prince Wilhelm of Wied, Prince of Albania

William of Wied, Sovereign Prince of Albania began his on March 7, 1914. A German prince, he had been chosen to rule in Albania by the Great European Powers but things soon got very bad for William. Albania was in a state of civil war by July 1914, Greece had occupied southern Albania, World War I had started, and when the Albanian government collapsed, William left the country on September 3, 1914. Despite leaving Albania, William insisted that he was still the head of state, however, a four-member regency actually ruled.  William of Wied died in Predeal, Romania on April 18, 1945, at the age of 69.

Eventually, in 1925, Albania was declared a republic with Ahmet Zogu as President who then declared himself King Zog and reigned from 1928 – 1939, until Mussolini’s Italian forces invaded Albania.  After 1939, Zog lived in exile in England, then Egypt, and finally France where he died on April 9, 1961, at the age of 65.

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Austrian-Hungarian Empire

The Austrian-Hungarian Empire collapsed with dramatic speed during the autumn of 1918. The following countries were formed (entirely or in part) on the territory of the former Austrian-Hungary Empire:

• German Austria and the First Austrian Republic
• Hungarian Democratic Republic, Hungarian Soviet Republic, and the Kingdom of Hungary
• Czecho-Slovakia (“Czechoslovakia” from 1920 to 1938)
• State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs (joined December 1, 1918, with the Kingdom of Serbia to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
• The second Polish Republic
• West Ukrainian People’s Republic
• Duchy of Bukovina and Transylvania was joined to the Kingdom of Romania
• Austro-Hungarian lands were also ceded to the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Italy

Karl I, Emperor of Austria (reigned 1916 – 1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Karl I, Emperor of Austria

On November 11, 1918, the same day as the armistice ending World War I, Karl issued a proclamation in which he recognized the rights of the Austrian people to determine their form of government and released his government officials from their loyalty to him. On November 13, 1918, Karl issued a similar proclamation for Hungary. Karl did not use the term “abdicate” in his proclamations and would never admit that he abdicated. Karl and his family eventually settled on the Portuguese island of Madeira. In March of 1922, Karl caught a cold which developed into bronchitis and further developed into pneumonia. After suffering two heart attacks and respiratory failure, Karl died on April 1, 1922, at the age of 34.

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German Empire

The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. For example, both postage stamps and currency were issued for the German Empire as a whole. While the constituent states issued their own medals and decorations, and some had their own armies, the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army. In November 1918, all sovereigns of constituent states of the German Empire were forced to abdicate.

After World War I, the remnants of the German Empire became the Weimar Republic, the unofficial, historical designation for the German state during the years 1919 to 1933. The Weimar Republic faced numerous problems including extreme inflation, political extremism, and poor relationships with the victors of World War I. In 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor with the Nazi Party being part of a coalition government. Within a few months, constitutional government and civil liberties were gone. Hitler seized complete power and the founding of a single-party state began the Nazi era.

German Empire, Kingdom of Prussia: Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia (reigned 1888–1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm II, German Emperor

In the aftermath of World War I, Germany had a revolution that resulted in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm abdicated on November 9, 1918. On November 10, 1918, Wilhelm Hohenzollern crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlands, never to return to Germany. He first settled in Amerongen, living in the castle there. In 1919, Wilhelm purchased Huis Doorn, a small manor house outside of Doorn, a small town near Utrecht in the Netherlands, and moved there in 1920. He lived at Huis Doorn until his death in 1941 at the age of 82.

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German Kingdoms

Bavaria – Ludwig III, King of Bavaria (reigned 1913–1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Ludwig III, King of Bavaria

As World War I was drawing to a close, the German Revolution broke out in Bavaria. Ludwig fled Munich with his family, taking up residence at Anif Palace near Salzburg, thinking it would just be a temporary move. A week later, on November 13, 1918, King Ludwig III would be the first monarch in the German Empire to be deposed, bringing an end to 738 years of rule by the Wittelsbach dynasty.

He returned to Bavaria, living at Wildenwart Castle, Fearing that his life was in danger, he soon left the country, traveling to Hungary, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. He returned to Wildenwart Castle in April 1920 and remained until the following fall, when he traveled to his castle Nádasdy in Sárvár, Hungary where he lived until he died on October 18, 1921, at the age of 76.

Saxony – Friedrich Augustus III, King of Saxony (reigned 1904–1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich Augustus III, King of Saxony

By the end of World War I, unrest had reached most of the major cities in Saxony. Unlike many of his peers, Friedrich August refused to suppress the uprisings by military force. Instead, on November 13, 1918, he released the allegiance of his military, and formally abdicated the Saxon throne, bringing about the end of the monarchy. He retired to Sibyllenort Castle in Lower Silesia (now Poland) where he would live out the rest of his life. King Friedrich August III died on February 18, 1932, at the age of 66 at Sibyllenort Castle after suffering a stroke.

Württemberg – Wilhelm II, King of Württemberg (reigned 1891–1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm II, King of Württemberg

King Wilhelm’s reign came to an end on November 30, 1918, after the fall of the German Empire led to the abdications of all of the ruling families. Before formally abdicating, Wilhelm negotiated with the new government to receive an annual income for himself and his wife, and also retained Schloss Bebenhausen, where the couple lived for the remainder of their lives. The last King of Württemberg died at Schloss Bebenhausen on October 2, 1921, at the age of 73.

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German Grand Duchies

Baden – Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden (reigned 1907-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden

When Wilhelm II, German Emperor abdicated in 1918, riots broke out throughout the German Empire, and Friedrich and his family were forced to flee Karlsruhe Palace, for Zwingenberg Castle in the Neckar valley. They then arranged to stay at Langenstein Castle, where Friedrich formally abdicated the throne of Baden on November 22, 1918. Nearly blind and in poor health, Grand Duke Friedrich II died in Badenweiler on August 8, 1928, at the age of 71.

Hesse and by Rhine – Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (reigned 1892-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine

Sadly, the later years of Ernst Ludwig’s life were marred by tragedy. World War I brought the murders of two sisters, Alix (Emperor Alexandra Feodorovna) and Ella (Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna), in Russia, as well as the loss of the Grand Ducal throne. With the fall of the German states, Ernst Ludwig refused to abdicate but still lost his throne on November 9, 1918. However, he was allowed to remain in Hesse and retained several of the family’s properties. Ernst Ludwig of Hesse died at Wolfsgarten Castle on October 9, 1937, at the age of 68. Tragically, just weeks later, a plane crash in Belgium took the lives of many of his remaining family – his widow, elder son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons – who were on the way to a family wedding in England.

Mecklenburg-Schwerin – Friedrich Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (reigned 1897-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

On November 14, 1918, Friedrich Franz IV was forced to abdicate. and forced into exile. Friedrich Franz and his family traveled to Denmark at the invitation of his sister Queen Alexandrine. There, they lived at Sorgenfri Palace for a year, before being permitted to return to Mecklenburg and recovering several of the family’s properties.

After World War II, Friedrich Franz’s former states became part of Communist East Germany. Along with his wife and son Christian Ludwig, Friedrich Franz fled to Glücksburg Castle in West Germany, the home of his youngest daughter and her husband, with the intention of returning to Denmark. However, Friedrich Franz became ill, he died there on November 17, 1945, at the age of 63.

Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Adolf Friedrich VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (reigned 1914-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Adolf Friedrich VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

A woman with whom Adolf Friedrich had a relationship claimed to have correspondence that linked him to “certain homosexual circles” and threatened to release them to the public unless he gave in to her demands for more money. With World War I still raging, and the possibility of these letters being made public, the 35-year-old Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich VI left his home on the evening of February 23, 1918, to take his dog for a walk. The following morning, his body was found in a nearby canal with a gunshot wound to his head. He left behind a suicide note which suggested that a woman was attempting to smear his name.

In his will, he had requested that Duke Christian Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the son of his good friend Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, become the new Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The heir presumptive – Duke Carl Michael – lived in Russia and had previously indicated that he wished to renounce his rights to the grand ducal throne. However, before the matter could be resolved, Germany became a republic and the various sovereigns lost their thrones.

Oldenburg – Friedrich Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg (reigned 1900-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg

With the fall of the German Empire at the end of World War I, Friedrich August was forced to abdicate his throne on November 11, 1918. He retired to Schloss Rastede where he took up farming. Claiming an “extremely precarious” financial situation, he petitioned the Oldenburg government for an annual allowance the year after his abdication. Friedrich August II, the last Grand Duke of Oldenburg, died at Schloss Rastede on February 24, 1931, at the age of 78.

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (reigned 1901-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Wilhelm Ernst was forced to abdicate on November 9, 1918. He was stripped of his throne and his properties and forced into exile. With his family, he took up residence at Schloss Heinrichau, the family’s estate in Heinrichau, Silesia (now Henryków, Poland). He died there less than five years later, on April 24, 1923, at the age of 46.

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German Duchies

Anhalt – Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt
Unofficial Royalty: Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt

The year 1918 saw three Dukes of Anhalt. Friedrich II died in April and was succeeded by his brother Eduard Georg Wilhelm who then died in September 1918. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son 17-year-old Prince Joachim Ernst under the regency of Eduard’s younger brother, Prince Aribert. Joachim Ernst’s brief reign came to an end on 12 November 12, 1918, when the regent Prince Aribert abdicated in his name. After 1918, Schloss Ballenstedt am Harz remained as the residence of the Anhalt family. Joachim Ernst married twice and had five children.

During World War II, Joachim Ernst was arrested in January 1944 and sent to the Dachau concentration camp. At the end of World War II, Joachim Ernst was arrested by the Soviet occupation troops and sent to the former Buchenwald concentration camp, then a Soviet prison camp called NKVD special camp Nr. 2. He became seriously ill and died on February 18, 1947, at the age of 46.

Brunswick – Ernst Augustus III, Duke of Brunswick (reigned 1913-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst Augustus III, Duke of Brunswick

On November 8, 1918, Ernst Augustus was forced to abdicate his throne. For the next thirty years, he would remain head of the House of Hanover, living in retirement on his various estates. He lived long enough to see one of his children become a consort to a monarch. In 1947, his daughter Frederica became Queen of Greece when her husband Prince Paul of Greece succeeded his brother as King. Ernst Augustus is the maternal grandfather of Queen Sofia of Spain and the former King Constantine II of Greece. He died at Marienburg Castle in 1953 at the age of 65.

Saxe-Altenburg – Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (reigned 1908-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

Ernst was one of the first sovereigns to realize major changes were coming for Germany and he quickly arrived at an amicable settlement with his subjects. He was forced to abdicate as Duke of Saxe-Altenburg on November 13, 1918. After his abdication, Ernst retired to a hotel in Berlin. After World War II, Ernst became the only former reigning German prince who accepted German Democratic Republic (East Germany) citizenship, refusing to leave his home and relocate to the British occupation zone. He died on March 22, 1955, at the age of 83, the last survivor of the German sovereigns who had reigned until 1918.

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha – Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (reigned 1900-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

On November 9, 1918, the Workers’ and Soldiers Council of Gotha, deposed Charles Edward, a grandson of Queen Victoria, as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Five days later, he signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne.  During the 1920s, Charles Edward joined the Nazi Party and became a prominent member. After the end of World War II, Charles Edward was placed under house arrest at his residence because of his Nazi sympathies. In 1949, a denazification appeals court classified Charles Edward as a Nazi Follower, Category IV. He was heavily fined and almost bankrupted. Charles Edward spent the last years of his life in seclusion. He died on March 6, 1954, at the age of 69 in Coburg.

Saxe-Meiningen – Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (reigned 1914-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

On November 10, 1918, Bernhard abdicated due to pressure from the Meininger Workers and Soldiers Council. His half-brother Ernst waived his succession rights on November 12, 1918, officially ending the monarchy of the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. Bernhard lived his remaining years at Schloss Altenstein in Bad Liebenstein, Germany where he died on January 16, 1928, at the age of 76.

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German Principalities

Lippe – Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe (reigned 1905 – 1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe

Because of the November Revolution after World War I, Leopold was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Leopold died in Detmold, the former capital of the Principality of Lippe on December 30, 1949, at the age of 78.

Reuss-Greiz – Heinrich XXIV, 6th Prince Reuss of Greiz Older Line (reigned 1902-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Heinrich XXIV, Prince Reuss of Greiz

Because of his physical and mental disabilities as a result of an accident in his childhood, Heinrich XXIV was unable to govern and the Principality of Reuss-Greiz was ruled by a regent. On November 11, 1918, the regent, Heinrich XXVII, 5th Prince Reuss of Gera, abdicated in the name of Heinrich XXIV. After the abdication, Heinrich XXIV retained the right of residence of the Lower Castle in Greiz and lived there until his death in 1927 at the age of 49.

Reuss-Gera – Heinrich XXVII, 5th Prince Reuss Younger Line (reigned 1913-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Heinrich XXVII, Prince Reuss Younger Line

Besides being Sovereign Prince Reuss, Younger Line, Heinrich XXVII was Regent of the Principality of Reuss of Greiz, Older Line from 1908 – 1918. (See above.) On November 11, 1918, Heinrich XXVII abdicated his position as Sovereign Prince Reuss, Younger Line and as Regent abdicated for the disabled Heinrich XXIV, 6th Prince Reuss of Greiz, Older Line. The new government made an agreement with Heinrich XXVII and granted him some castles and land. Heinrich XXVII died on November 21, 1928, at the age of 70.

Schaumburg-Lippe – Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (reigned 1911-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe

Adolf II was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and was exiled to Brioni, then Italy, now in Croatia. 53-year-old Adolf and his wife actress Ellen von Bischoff-Korthaus, who he married in 1920, were killed in a plane crash in Zumpango, Mexico on March 26, 1936.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen – Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (reigned 1909-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg

Günther Victor, the last German prince to renounce his throne, abdicated on November 22, 1918. He made an agreement with the government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. Günther Victor died on April 21, 1925, at the age of 72.

Waldeck-Pyrmont – Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (reigned 1893-1918)
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Friedrich was the brother of Marie, the first wife of King Wilhelm II of Württemberg (who also had to abdicate), Emma who married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and Helena, the wife of Queen Victoria’s hemophiliac son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and the mother of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (who also had to abdicate). Friedrich abdicated on November 13, 1918, and negotiated an agreement with the government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and Arolsen Forest. He died on May 26, 1946, aged 81, in Arolsen, the former capital of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont.

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Kingdom of Montenegro

Nikola I, King of Montenegro (reigned 1860–1918)
Wikipedia: Nikola I, King of Montenegro

After the end of World War I, a Serb-dominated meeting decided to depose Nikola and annex Montenegro to Serbia. On November 26, 1918, Serbia (including Montenegro) merged with the former South Slav territories of Austria-Hungary to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. Nikola went into exile in France in 1918 but continued to claim the throne until his death on March 1, 1921, at the age of 79.

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Russian Empire

Russia entered World War I with great patriotism and enthusiasm but the effects of the war caused food and fuel shortage, rising inflation, strikes among low-paid factory workers, and restlessness among the peasants who wanted reforms of land ownership. The tsarist regime was overthrown during the 1917 February Revolution. The government that was formed after the February Revolution was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the 1917 October Revolution. This ultimately resulted in the Communist Soviet Union which fell in 1991.

Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia (reigned 1894–1917)
Unofficial Royalty: Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia

On March 15, 1917, Nicholas II was forced from the throne. He formally abdicated for himself and his son, making his younger brother, Michael, the new Emperor. Michael, however, refused to accept until the Russian people could decide on continuing the monarchy or establishing a republic, which never happened. From March 1917 until July 1918, Nicholas II and his family were held in protective custody, first at Alexander Palace outside of St. Petersburg and then at the Governor’s Mansion in Tobolsk, Siberia, and lastly at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Siberia. On July 17, 1918, Nicholas II, his wife, their five children, their doctor, and three servants were shot to death in the basement of the Ipatiev House.

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KEPT THEIR THRONES BUT NOT FOR LONG

Some European monarchies survived World War I but ceased to exist sometime during the 20th century.

Kingdom of Bulgaria: Due to feeling responsible for being on the losing side of World War I, Tsar Ferdinand I, born Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, abdicated in favor of his son Boris on October 3, 1918. Ferdinand returned to Coburg, his birthplace, and there on September 10, 1948, at the age of 87.

After the outbreak of World War II, Tsar Boris III was courted by Hitler to join his alliance. Boris agreed to several things including the Law for Protection of the Nation, which imposed restrictions on Jewish Bulgarians. However, during a meeting with Hitler in 1943, Boris refused to deport Bulgarian Jews and declare war on Russia. Just weeks later, on August 28, 1943, Tsar Boris III died in Sofia. The circumstances of his death remain mysterious, with many believing that Boris had been poisoned because of his refusal to concede to the demands of the Nazis.

Boris was succeeded by his 6-year-old son Tsar Simeon II.  A Council of Regency was established but the following year the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria, and the regents were deposed and replaced. The Bulgarian monarchy was overthrown in 1946, replaced with a Communist government, and the royal family was forced to leave the country. Following the fall of the communist regime in 1989, Simeon was finally able to return to his homeland. He was known as Simeon Borisov Sakskoburggotski, the Bulgarian version of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In 2001, he was elected Prime Minister of Bulgaria and served until 2005. He remained head of his political party until stepping down in 2009.

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Kingdom of Greece: After a series of political problems in the 1920s and 1930s, the Greek monarchy was abolished in 1924 when a republic was declared. In 1935, the monarchy was restored. In 1964, 23-year-old King Constantine II succeeded his father. On April 21, 1967, a coup d’état led by a group of army colonels took over Greece, and the royal family was forced to flee, living first in Italy and then in England. A republic was declared in 1975 following a referendum that chose to not restore the monarchy. The Greek government did not permit King Constantine II to return to Greece until 1981 when he was allowed to attend the funeral of his mother. After 2003, when the property dispute between King Constantine and the government of Greece was more settled, he was able to make visits to Greece and own property there.

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Kingdom of Italy: Umberto II, the last King of Italy, took the throne in 1946 after the abdication of his father King Vittorio Emanuele III. Two months later, a referendum was held and the majority voted for Italy to become a Republic. On June 12, 1946, King Umberto II was formally deposed and left Italy, banned from ever setting foot on Italian soil. 78-year-old Umberto died on March 18, 1983, in a hospital in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Ottoman Empire: World War I was a disaster for the Ottoman Empire. Allied forces had conquered Baghdad, Damascus, and Jerusalem during the war and most of the Ottoman Empire was then divided among the European allies. The Sultanate limped along for four more years. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey abolished the Sultanate on November 1, 1922, and the last Sultan, Mehmed VI was expelled from the country. The former Sultan went into exile in Malta and later lived on the Italian Riviera, dying on 16 May 16, 1926, in Sanremo, Italy at the age of 65.

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Kingdom of Romania: King Mihai (Michael) was the last King of Romania. Because his father renounced his succession rights, five-year-old Mihai succeeded his grandfather in 1927. In June 1930, in a coup d’état, Mihai’s father King Carol II came to the throne until 1940, when another coup d’état took place. Carol was forced to formally abdicate and Mihai was once again King of Romania. Two years after World War II ended,  Romania had a Communist government, and Mihai was forced to sign a document of abdication and leave the country. Mihai and his family first lived in Italy and then in Switzerland. In 1997,  after the fall of the Communist government, the Romanian government restored Mihai’s citizenship and in the following years, several properties were returned to the royal family and Mihai and his family lived part of the time in Romania. Mihai died at his residence in Switzerland on December 5, 2017, at the age of 96.

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Kingdom of Serbia/Kingdom of Yugoslavia: King Peter II was the last King of Yugoslavia. He spent World War II in exile in England. In November 1945, the new Communist government in Yugoslavia abolished the monarchy and formally deposed King Peter II. Peter left England and lived in France and Switzerland before settling in the United States in 1949. Suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, Peter died on November 3, 1970, in Denver, Colorado, following a failed liver transplant. Per his wishes, he was interred at the Saint Sava Monastery Church in Libertyville, Illinois. To date, he is the only European monarch to be buried in the United States. In January 2013, his remains were returned to Serbia and buried in the Royal Family Mausoleum beneath St. George’s Church at Oplenac.

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Kingdom of Spain: King Alfonso XIII of Spain was the Spanish sovereign from his birth since his father died while his mother was pregnant. In 1923, General Miguel Primo de Rivera seized power in a military coup, with the support of King Alfonso XIII and served as dictator for the next seven years. In January 1930, due to economic problems and general unpopularity, Primo de Rivera resigned as Prime Minister. Alfonso had been so closely associated with the Primo de Rivera dictatorship that it was difficult for him to distance himself from the regime he had supported for almost 7 years. In 1931, elections were held, resulting in the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic. Alfonso and his family fled Spain, settling in France and then Italy. On February 28, 1941, King Alfonso XIII died at the Grand Hotel in Rome at the age of 54.

In 1969, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who ruled Spain from 1936 until his death in 1975, named King Alfonso XIII’s grandson Juan Carlos as his successor, giving him the newly created title “The Prince of Spain”. Franco died on November 22, 1975, and Juan Carlos was proclaimed King.  In 2014, King Juan Carlos I abdicated in favor of his son King Felipe VI.

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by Susan Flantzer

• 2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Richard Gerald Ava Bingham
• Lieutenant-Colonel The Honorable Harold Ritchie
• Timeline: October 1, 1918 – October 31, 1918
• A Note About German Titles
• October 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Richard Gerald Ava Bingham

Embed from Getty Images
Royal Air Force planes in a “100” formation over Buckingham Palace celebrating the centenary of the Royal Air Force on July 10, 2018

As I gather my thoughts in July 2018 to write about a member of the Royal Air Force, I recall that earlier in the month the centenary of the Royal Air Force was celebrated in London with a service at Westminster Abbey, a parade down the Mall, and a fly-past over Buckingham Palace of 100 historic planes, all attended by members of the British royal family.

2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Richard Gerald Ava Bingham, a pilot in the 209th Squadron of the Royal Air Force, was the youngest of the ten children of John Bingham, 5th Baron Clanmorris and Matilda Catherine Maude Ward.

Richard had nine older siblings:

• Arthur Bingham, 6th Baron Clanmorris (1879 – 1960), married Mowbray Leila Cloete, had one son
• Lieutenant-Colonel The Honorable John Bingham (1880 – 1978), married Vera Mary Darbyshire, had two daughters
• Rear-Admiral The Honorable Edward Bingham (1881 – 1939), married Vera Patterson, had one son and one daughter, divorced in 1937
• The Honorable Harriette Bingham (1882 – 1917), married Sir Herbert Lightfoot Eason, had one daughter
• The Honorable Emily Bingham (1884 – 1957), married Herbert Dixon, 1st Baron Glentoran, had four daughters and one son
• The Honorable Hugh Bingham (1885 – 1946), married Dorothea Minnie Sinclair, had two sons and one daughter
• The Honorable Henry Bingham (1887 – 1902), died at age 14
• The Honorable Eleanor Bingham (1892 – 1972), married Major Harold Murray Fleming, had children
• Squadron Leader Hon. George Bingham (1894 – 1972), married Barbara Melvill de la Ferté

All of Richard’s five surviving brothers also fought in World War I. His brother Edward, who was in the Royal Navy and was in command of a destroyer division, was awarded the Victoria Cross for naval bravery in the 1916 Battle of Jutland. When his ship sunk, Edward was picked up by a German destroyer and remained a prisoner of war until the end of the war. He later attained the rank of Rear-Admiral and was Naval Aide-de-Camp to King George V. Richard’s brother George was taken a prisoner of war by the Germans in May 1915 and later also served in World War II.

Richard was on March 8, 1896, at the family home, Bangor Castle in Bangor, Northern Ireland. He was educated at Cheltenham College in Cheltenham, Gloucester, England and joined the Royal Air Force in 1917. On October 8, 1918, near Bourlon in northern France, 22-year-old Richard was flying a Sopwith Camel during an air battle and collided with another Sopwith Camel flown by Captain Dudley Allen. Both men were killed and were buried with 88 other fallen men at the Triangle Cemetery in Inchy-En-Artois, France.

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Lieutenant-Colonel The Honorable Harold Ritchie

Lieutenant-Colonel The Honorable Harold Ritchie was born in Dundee, Scotland on October 30, 1876, the youngest of the ten children of Charles Thomson Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee and Margaret Ower. The 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee was a businessman and Conservative Member of Parliament from 1874 until 1905 when he was created a peer. He served as Home Secretary from 1900 to 1902 and as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1902 to 1903.

Harold had seven older sisters and two older brothers:

• The Honorable Jane Gregor Ritchie (1859 – 1933), married Thomas Barclay Cockerton
• The Honorable Elizabeth Wilhelmina Ritchie (1860 – 1950), married Sir Mervyn Edmund Macartney
• William Ritchie (1862 – 1879), died at age 17
• The Honorable Margaret Ower Ritchie (1864 – 1944), married George James Young
• Charles Ritchie, 2nd Baron Ritchie of Dundee (1866 – 1948), married Sarah Ruth Jennings, had four sons and one daughter
• The Honorable Anne Wilmot Ritchie (1869 – 1948), married Mark Lemon Romer, Baron Romer, had two sons
• The Honorable Mary Emily Ritchie (1870 – 1956), married Francis Xavier Joseph Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, had three daughters and one son
• The Honorable Maud Ritchie (1872 – 1958), unmarried
• The Honorable Eleanor Ritchie (1874 – 1955), unmarried

Harold was educated at Bradfield College in Bradfield, Berkshire, England and then he attended Winchester College in Winchester, Hampshire, England. While Harold was at Winchester College he was a House Prefect and was on the rowing team.

On January 29, 1907, Harold married Ella Priestley, daughter of Robert Chambers Priestley. The couple had four children:

• Major Ian Charles Ritchie (1908 – 1982), married (1) Ann Dundas Whigham, had one son and one daughter, divorced 1946 (2) Pamela Eveleen Elizabeth Vickers
• Jean Ritchie (1910 – ?), married Captain John Buller Edward Hall
• William Nigel Ritchie (1914 – 1996), married Sibylla Baronin von Hirschberg, had one daughter and two sons
• Pamela Helen Ritchie (1915 – ?), married Major James Dunbar Whatman

In October 1914, Harold joined the 11th Battalion Scottish Rifles and went to France in September 1915. In November 1915, Harold was ordered to Salonica, Greece where he served with distinction and received the Distinguished Service Order.  He was twice wounded twice in September 1918 was awarded a Bar to his Distinguished Service Order for gallantry in the field.

Harold returned to France in June 1918 and served with the 1st Battalion of the Cameronians, eventually becoming the commander of the battalion. In October 1918, he was transferred to the command of the 1st Battalion Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment. On October 22, 1918, the battalion moved into position in preparation for an attack near Le Cateau, France. Harold was wounded by machine gun fire when he was on a reconnoitering mission on October 23, 1918, and died on October 28, 1918, two days before his 42nd birthday. He was buried at the Awoingt British Cemetery in Cambrai, France.

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Timeline: October 1, 1918 – October 31, 1918

• September 29 – October 26: Pursuit to Haritan in the Middle East
• October 3: Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria abdicates and his son accedes to the throne as Tsar Boris III
• October 3 – 27: Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge northeast of Reims, in Champagne, France
• October 8 – 10: Second Battle of Cambrai in Cambrai, France, a phase of the Battle of the Hindenburg Line
• October 14 – 17: Battle of Montfaucon in the Grand Est region, France, intermediate phase of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
• October 14 – 19: Battle of Courtrai in Belgium, closing phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• October 15: Battle of Mont-D’Origny in France, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• October 17 – 26: Battle of the Selle in France, closing phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• October 20: Germany suspends submarine warfare
• October 20: Battle of Lys and Escaut in France, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• October 20: Battle of Serre in France, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• October 23 – 30: Battle of Sharqat in present-day Iraq
• October 24 – November 4: Battle of Vittorio Veneto in Italy, Austro-Hungarian army is routed
• October 24 – 28: Second Battle of Monte Grappa in Italy, beginning phase of Vittorio Veneto
• October 25: Battle of Aleppo in present-day Syria
• October 29: State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs proclaimed
• October 30: The Ottoman Empire signs the Armistice of Mudros

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire. The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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October 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website. If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Richard Gerald Ava Bingham (see above)

• son of John George Barry Bingham, 5th Baron Clanmorris and Matilda Catherine Maude Ward
• born March 8, 1896 at Bangor Castle in Bangor, Northern Ireland
• 2nd Lieutenant in the 209th Squadron, Royal Air Force
• killed in action October 10, 1918, age 22
• buried at Triangle Cemetery in Inchy-En-Artois, France
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p22458.htm#i224575

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Prince Heinrich XLIV Reuss

• son of Prince Heinrich LXXIV Reuss and Eleonore, Gräfin zu Stolberg-Wernigerode
• born January 30, 1894 in Gross Krauche, Saxony, Germany
• his brother Prince Heinrich XLVI Reuss was killed in action at La Bassée, Belgium on October 20, 1914, age 18
• died of wounds received in action October 29, 1918 at Laon, France, age 24
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00070873&tree=LEO

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Lieutenant-Colonel The Honorable Harold Ritchie (see above)

• son of Charles Thomson Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee and Margaret Ower
• born October 30, 1876
• married 1907 Ella Priestley, had two sons and two daughters
• Lieutenant-Colonel in the 1st Battalion of the Cameronians
• died from wounds received in action October 28, 1918 at Le Cateau, France, age 41
• buried at the Awoingt British Cemetery in Cambrai, France.
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p68216.htm#i682157

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by Susan Flantzer

• Lieutenant Colonel Lord Alexander Thynne
• Timeline: September 1, 1918 – September 30, 1918
• A Note About German Titles
• September 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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Lieutenant Colonel Lord Alexander Thynne

Born on February 17, 1873, Lord Alexander Thynne was the youngest of the six children and the third of the three sons of John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath and The Honorable Frances Vesey, daughter of Thomas Vesey, 3rd Viscount de Vesci.

Known as Alex, he had five older siblings:

• Thomas Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath (1862–1946), married Violet Caroline Mordaunt, had five children, their eldest son 2nd Lt. John Thynne, Viscount Weymouth was killed in action in 1916. See Unofficial Royalty: February 1916 – Royalty and World War I
• Lady Alice Thynne (1863–1942), married Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart, 8th Baronet , no children
• Lady Katherine Thynne (1865–1933), second wife of Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer , had one son
• Lord John Thynne (1867–1887), unmarried
• Lady Beatrice Thynne (1867–1941), unmarried

Alex joined the Wiltshire Yeomanry Territorials as a second lieutenant in 1897 and served in the Boer War (1899-1902). In 1910 , he was elected an Member of Parliament for Bath and held that position until his death. At the start of World War I, he was in camp with the Wiltshire Yeomanry Territorials as a Major in command of “A” Company and the second in command of the regiment. His first cousin Colonel Ulric Thynne was the commanding officer.

Alex arrived in France in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme and almost immediately became the commanding officer of the 8th Battalion Gloucester Regiment due to the previous commanding officer’s injury. On July 30, 1916, while urging his men on, Alex was shot in the chest, damaging his right lung and liver. He spent some time in an army hospital in Boulogne, France and returned in mid-August to England to recover. In mid-December, having been declared fit for duty and now attached to the 10th Battalion Worcester Regiment, he returned to France.

In January 1917, Alex received the Distinguished Service Order and the Croix de Guerre. He returned to the Wiltshire Regiment and became the commanding officer of the 6th (Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry) Battalion. The battalion was engaged in heavy fighting in Ypres and Cambrai. In March 1918, the battalion was in Baupaume and suffered heavy casualties. Alex was wounded by a piece of shrapnel that was embedded in his left arm. By the end of March 1918, he was back in England recovering. Despite suffering severe wounds twice, Alex was anxious to return to duty. On the same day he was deemed fit to return to duty, he wrote a letter requesting to return to his original battalion in France. He could have taken a position behind the lines or back in England or he could have returned to his duties in Parliament – Members of Parliament were exempt from military service – but that was not his style.

Alex was back in France by the end of May 1918 and on September 14, 1918, he was killed at the age of 45. The following letter was written by an army chaplain to his next of kin, his brother Thomas Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath:

“It is with very great regret that I write to offer you my sincere sympathy on the death of your brother Lord Alex. Thynne, in command of this battalion. He was killed while on his way to take over some fresh Head-Quarters. A shell burst right on top of the party whilst they were trying to shelter in a ditch at the side of the road. The doctor was badly wounded, the Signal Officer was killed instantly, and your brother died from the effects of his wounds within a few minutes. The bodies were brought down to our transport lines this morning, and they were buried this evening at 6.00pm. The Senior Chaplain took the service and I helped him. The coffin was carried by four sergeant-majors and the bugler sounded the “Last Post” at the end of the service. The Divisional General was present and a good many others. Your brother’s death will be a great loss to the Battalion, to every man of which he endeared himself. Personally, although I have been only a few months with him, I shall miss him very much.” (Information from Led by Lions: MPs and Sons Who Fell in the First World War by Neil Thornton)

Lieutenant Colonel Lord Alexander Thynne was buried in the Bethune Town Cemetery in Pas de Calais, France.

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Timeline: September 1, 1918 – September 30, 1918

• September 1–2 – Battle of Peronne, a phase of the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, Mont Saint-Quentin, near Péronne, Picardy, France
• September 2–3 – Battle of Drocourt-Queant Line, final phase of the Second Battle of the Somme, between the French towns of Drocourt and Quéant
• September 10 – Battle of Savy-Dallon, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• September 12 – Battle of Havrincourt, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive, in Havrincourt, France
• September 12–19 – Battle of Saint-Mihiel, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive, in Saint-Mihiel, France
• September 14 – Battle of Vauxaillon, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• September 14–29 – Vardar Offensive, final offensive on the Balkan Front, in Vardar Macedonia (present day Republic of Macedonia)
• September 15 – The Allies (French and Serbs) break through the Bulgarian lines at Dobro Polje, a phase of the Vardar Offensive, in Dobro Pole (present day Republic of Macedonia)
• September 18 – Battle of Epehy, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive in Épehy, France
• September 18–19 – Third Battle of Doiran, a phase of the Vardar Offensive, in Dojran Lake, Kingdom of Serbia (present-day Republic of Macedonia)
• September 18 – October 17 – Battle of the Hindenburg Line, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive, the Allies break through the German lines, at the Hindenburg Line in France
• September 19–25 – Battle of Megiddo, the British conquer Palestine in Tel Megiddo and surroundings, Ottoman Syria (now Israel)
• September 19–25 – Battle of Nablus, a phase of the Battle of Meggido
• September 19–25 – Third Transjordan Attack, a phase of the Battle of Nablus in the Jordan River valley
• September 19–25 – Battle of Sharon, a phase of the Battle of Megiddo
• September 19 – Battle of Tulkarm, a phase of the Battle of Sharon
• September 19 – Battle of Arara, a phase of the Battle of Sharon
• September 19–20 – Battle of Tabsor, a phase of the Battle of Sharon
• September 20–21 – Battle of Nazareth, a phase of the Battle of Sharon
• September 23 – Battle of Haifa, a phase of the Battle of Sharon
• September 25 – Battle of Samakh, a phase of the Battle of Sharon
• September 25 – Second Battle of Amman, a phase of the Third Transjordan Attack
• September 26 – November 11 – Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the final phase of the Hundred Days Offensive and of World War I, in France
• September 26 – Battle of Somme-Py, Initial phase of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, in France
• September 27 – Battle of Jisr Benat Yakub, a phase of the Capture of Damascus
• September 27 – October 1 – Battle of the Canal du Nord, a phase of the Battle of the Hindenburg Line, in Canal du Nord, France
• September 28 – October 2 – Fifth Battle of Ypres (also known as Advance on Flanders), a phase of the Battle of the Hindenburg Line in Ypres, Belgium to Ghent, Belgium
• September 29 – October 10 – Battle of St. Quentin Canal, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• September 30 – Bulgaria signs the Armistice of Salonica, an armistice with the Allies
• September 30 – Battle of Saint-Thierry, initial phase of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
• September 30 – Charge at Kaukab, a phase of the Capture of Damascus
• September 30 – Charge at Kiswe, a phase of the Capture of Damascus

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments, but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army. German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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September 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Wolf Ernst, Graf von Stolberg-Wernigerode

• son of Constantin, Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode and Elisabeth, Princess of Stolberg-Wernigerode
• born December 7, 1895 in Merseburg, Saxony (Germany)
• killed in action September 1, 1918 in Soissons, France, age 22
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00062845&tree=LEO

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Prince Ferdinand of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich

• son of Ludwig, Prince of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich and Louise, Gräfin zu Lynar
• born May 25, 1886
• killed in action September 1, 1918
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00354861&tree=LEO

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Prince Albrecht of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

• son of Prince Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Princess Gerta of Ysenburg and Büdingen
• born December 23, 1886 in Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• killed in action September 9, 1918 in Gouzeaucourt, France
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00191500&tree=LEO

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Lieutenant Colonel Lord Alexander George Thynne (see above)

• son of John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath and The Honorable Frances Vesey
• born February 17, 1873
• unmarried
• Lieutenant Colonel in the Wiltshire Regiment
• killed in action September 14, 1918 in France, age 45
• buried at Béthune Town Cemetery in Pas de Calais, France
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p2453.htm#i24526

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Lieutenant Colonel The Honorable Arthur Reginald Clegg-Hill

• son of Rowland Clegg-Hill, 3rd Viscount Hill and his second wife The Honorable Isabella Wynn
• born June 15, 1877 at Hawkstone Hall in Hodnet, Shropshire, England
• married 1905 Evelyn Hilda Sinclair Bell, had two daughters who did not survive infancy
• Acting Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
• killed in action September 18, 1918 in Salonika, Greece, age 41
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p22104.htm#i221032

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Ferdinand-Joseph, Graf von Galen

• son of Augustinus, Graf von Galen and Levina, Gräfin von Korgg
• born September 4, 1898 in Sigmaringen, Hohenzollern, Prussia (Germany)
• killed in action September 21, 1918 in Couroy near Reims, France, age 20
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00218242&tree=LEO

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Ferdinand, Graf von Wolff Metternich zur Gracht

• son of Ferdinand, Graf von Wolff Metternich zur Gracht and Flaminia, Prinzessin zu Salm und Salm-Salm, Wild- und Rheingräfin
• born May 30, 1881
• killed in action September 29, 1918 in Bellicourt, France, age 37
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00089158&tree=LEO

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by Susan Flantzer

• Three Sons Gone – Again
• Timeline: August 1, 1918 – August 31, 1918
• A Note About German Titles
• August 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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Three Sons Gone – Again

The further along I got in writing this series of articles (started in August 2014), I have discovered noble families that lost more than one son in World War I. Of course, this did not happen in only British noble families but in families from all over the United Kingdom and in families from all the other countries who participated in the war. How painful it must be to lose a son in a war but to lose multiple sons must be unbearable.

I wonder why surviving sons were allowed to go into combat situations. I think about the film “Saving Private Ryan” in which a group of soldiers searches for Private Ryan, the last surviving brother of four soldiers. “Saving Private Ryan” was loosely based upon four Niland brothers.  It was believed that three brothers had been killed in World War II and the surviving brother was sent back to the United States to complete his service. It was later learned that another surviving brother was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

The United States military now has a Sole Survivor Policy, implemented in 1948. The motivation for the policy were the five Sullivan brothers who were all killed when the USS Juneau was sunk during World War II. The policy protects members of a family from the draft or from combat duty if they have already lost family members in military service.

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Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley and his wife Elizabeth Smith had four sons and one daughter. Because Frederick Cawley was created 1st Baron Cawley in January 1918 and Harold and John had already died, they did not have the style “The Honorable”.

• Robert Cawley, 2nd Baron Cawley (1877 – 1954)
• Captain Harold Cawley (1878 – 1915)
• Major John Cawley (1879 – 1914)
• The Honorable Hilda Mary Cawley (1881 -1956)
• Captain The Honorable Oswald Cawley (1882 – 1918)

Robert, Cawley, 2nd Baron Cawley, the eldest son and heir, had fought in the Boer War (1899 – 1902) but not in World War I. However, Robert’s third son Captain The Honorable Harold Cawley was killed in action during World War II at the age of 23. The other three sons of Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley all served in World War I and were all killed in action.

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Less than a month after the start of World War I, Major John Cawley was killed in action on September 1, 1914 in Nery, France at the age of 34. A career soldier, John attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and joined the 20th Hussars in India in 1897. He served in the Boer War (1899 – 1902). In 1913, John was appointed Brigade Major of the 1st Cavalry Brigade and accompanied the brigade to France at the start of World War I.

John was killed in action during the Action at Nery in Nery, France during the retreat after the Battle of Mons. A fellow soldier gave an account of his death: “Our brigade was attacked soon after dawn at Nery by a force double our number – a Cavalry Division with 12 guns. Owing to thick mist, they managed to het within 600 yards of us; 350 horses of the Bays stampeded and their men went after them, and the L Battery was cut to pieces. The occasion was one which called for personal example, and Major Cawley, by permission of the General, went to help to restore order and get the broken remnants in their places, The situation being met and everyone in his place, he joined the advanced line and was almost immediately killed by a piece of shell. The splendid manner in which he met his death in deliberately facing the awful fire to help others when he really need not have done so, is only what his whole life had led us to expect.” (Account from The Bond of Sacrifice: A Biographical Record of All British Officers who Fell in the Great War, Volume 1 by L. A. Clutterbuck, W. T. Dooner)

Acting alone, the British 1st Cavalry Brigade defeated the German 4th Cavalry Division in the Action at Nery.

Major John Cawley was buried at the Nery Communal Cemetery in Nery, Departement de l’Oise, Picardie, France.

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A little more than a year after the death of John, Captain Harold Cawley was killed in action during the Gallipoli Campaign in the Ottoman Empire (now in Turkey) on September 24, 1915 at the age of 37. Harold attended New College, Oxford, was a barrister and served in the House of Commons from 1910 until his death in 1915.

In 1904, Harold joined a territorial battalion, the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Manchester Regiment.  At the start of World War I in 1914, he volunteered for active service and was appointed aide de camp to Major-General William Douglas, the commanding officer of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division.  However, Harold wanted to go to the front lines – “I have always felt rather a brute skulking behind in comparative safety while my friends were being killed.” He left Division Headquarters to rejoin the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Manchester Regiment at the front at Gallipoli in early September 1915.

On September 20, 1918, a Turkish mine was exploded near the battalion’s position creating a crater. Harold realized that the crater had created a position for an advanced post and set out with four soldiers to take control of it. A fight occurred with the grenades and gunfire being exchanged. One of Harold’s men was shot through the head and killed and another was temporarily blinded and deafened by a grenade explosion but the small group maintained their position. On September 23, the group suspected that the Turks were digging a trench toward the crater. Just after midnight of September 24, 1918, Harold, who was trying to see what the Turks were doing, was shot through the head by a sniper. The crater that Harold fought so hard to hold was officially named Cawley’s Crater and it is still there in Canakkale, Turkey today. (Information from Led by Lions: MPs and Sons Who Fell in the First World War by Neil Thornton)

Harold was buried at Lancashire Landing Cemetery in Gallipoli, Turkey.

Before his death, Harold wrote a series of letters to his father, who was a member of the British cabinet at the time, describing the mishandling of the Gallipoli Campaign. Because Harold was a Member of Parliament, his letters were not censored and he was able to write an honest view of the situation. The gist of his criticism was that soldiers were being sacrificed without reason and through sheer stupidity. In 1916, Harold’s father served on the Dardanelles Commission investigating the Gallipoli Campaign and the contents of Harold’s letters no doubt were on his mind.

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Less than three months before the end of World War II, Captain The Honorable Oswald Cawley was killed in action near Merville, France on August 22, 1918 at the age of 35. Oswald attended New College, Oxford and after graduation, he worked in his father’s business, the Heaton Mills Bleaching Company.

In May 1914, three months before the start of World War I, Oswald joined the Shropshire Yeomanry. In March 1916, the Shropshire Yeomanry was sent to the Middle East where the participated in fighting in Egypt, Gaza and Palestine. In May 1918, Oswald’s regiment, now designated as the 10th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, left for the front lines in France. In January 1918, after his father had been created a peer and had to leave the House of Commons, Oswald had been elected to his father’s seat in a by-election. While his regiment was training before going to the front lines, Oswald made a quick trip back to London to officially take his seat in the House of Commons.

On July 10, 1918, Oswald’s regiment took over a part of the front line trench. The regiment was ordered to move forward as part of a general advance on August 22, 1918. According to Major Wood, the regiment’s commanding officer, “Advancing through high standing corn the battalion continued until within a few hundred yards of the concealed enemy, who met them with a devastating fire from carefully concealed positions…a determined counter-attack and severe hand-to-hand fighting took place.”

The regiment was forced to retreat due to heavy causalities but Oswald was not among those retreating. In a letter to Oswald’s parents, Major Wood said, “Your son’s company was on the right…The enemy laid low, until we were right on their line, and then they put down a heavy barrage behind us and had many machine-guns in front. Your son was hit in the arm, which was dressed by his company stretcher-bearers , and then went on and was wounded again the second time in the jaw, and after that we could hear no news, and we had to fall back to our own line.” In early October, Oswald’s body was discovered on the battlefield and he was buried nearby. (Information from Led by Lions: MPs and Sons Who Fell in the First World War by Neil Thornton)

In January 1919, Oswald’s father, who had served in the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and had some influence, requested that Oswald be buried with his brother John at Nery Communal Cemetery. The following month the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) informed Lord Cawley that his request was impossible at that time. After an exchange of letters, it was discovered that the reburial was prevented by expense and logistics rather than policy. Lord Cawley then attempted to buy the land where Oswald was buried but could not do so because of French government policy. In August 1919, Oswald’s grave was moved to Chocques Military Cemetery. Again in December 1919, Lord Cawley attempted to persuade the Imperial War Graves Commission to bury his sons together. This could not be done at the time due to the interpretation of French policy but the Imperial War Graves Commission said it would reconsider in the future. This reconsideration took place in March 1920 and in August 1920 Oswald was reburied next to his brother John at Nery Communal Cemetery.

In memory of his three sons, Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley endowed a ward (Cawley Ward) at Ancoats Hospital in Ancoats, north of Manchester, England. All three brothers are commemorated on the Parliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament. Oswald and Harold are among the 22 Members of Parliament who died during World War I and John is included on the memorial as the son of a Member of Parliament.

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Timeline: August 1, 1918 – August 31, 1918

• August 5 – Czechoslovak People’s Army of Komuch takes Kazan from the Bolsheviks and captures the Imperial Russian gold reserve
• August 8 – November 11 – Hundred Days Offensive in Amiens, France to Mons, Belgium , last offensive on Western Front
• August 8 – 12 – Battle of Amiens in Amiens, France, first phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• August 9 – 12 – Battle of Montdidier, east of Amiens, Picardy, France
• August 13 – September 3 – Battle of San Matteo in Punta San Matteo, Italy
• August 17 – 29 – Second Battle of Noyon in Noyon, France, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• August 21 – September 3 – Second Battle of the Somme along the Somme River in France, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
• August 21 – 22 – Third Battle of Albert, opening phase of the Second Battle of the Somme
• August 21 – September 3 – Second Battle of Bapaume, a phase of the Second Battle of the Somme
• August 26 – September 3 – Fourth Battle of Arras in Arras France, a phase of the Second Battle of the Somme
• August 26 – 30 – Fourth Battle of the Scarpe in Monchy-le-Preux, France, a phase of the Fourth Battle of Arras
• August 26 – September 14 – Battle of Baku in Baku, Azerbaijan, last Turkish offensive of the war
• August 30 – 31 – Battle of Lioma in Lioma, Portuguese East Africa (present-day Mozambique)
• August 31 – September 3 – Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin in Mont Saint-Quentin, near Péronne, Picardy, France , a phase of the Second Battle of the Somme

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments, but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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August 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Johannes, Graf von Preysing-Lichtenegg-Moos

• son of Johann, Graf von Preysing-Lichtenegg-Moos and Christiane, Gräfin von Arco-Zinneberg
• born June 30, 1889 in Moos, Bavaria
• killed in action August 11, 1918 in Hallu, France during the Second Battle of the Somme, age 29
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00173463&tree=LEO

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Captain The Honorable Oswald Cawley (see above)

• son of Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley and Elizabeth Smith
• born October 7, 1882
• Captain in the Shropshire Yeomanry and Member of Parliament
• killed in action August 22, 1918 in Merville, France , age 35
• buried in Néry Communal Cemetery in Nery, Departement de l’Oise, Picardie, France
• two of his four brothers also were killed in action: John Cawley on September 1, 1914 and Harold Cawley on September 24, 1915
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p21216.htm#i212156

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Lieutenant Colonel Lord Alfred Eden Browne

• son of Henry Ulick Browne, 5th Marquess of Sligo and Catherine Henrietta Dicken
• born November 30, 1878
• married 1908 Cicely Wormald, who died August 16, 1918, 11 days before the death of her husband, had four children, their eldest son Denis Edward Browne was the 10th Marquess of Sligo
• Lieutenant-Colonel and commander of the 186th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
• killed in action when in command of his brigade near Vis-en-Artois, France while supporting a Canadian attack August 27, 1918, age 39
• buried at Dainville British Cemetery in Dainville, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
• http://thepeerage.com/p3476.htm#i34759

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Friedrich Johannes, Graf von Brühl

• son of Johannes Mauritius, Graf von Brühl and Paula, Gräfin von Spee
• born April 16, 1891 in Potsdam, Prussia
• killed in action in Laon, France August 31, 1918, age 27
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00103552&tree=LEO

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by Susan Flantzer

• Romanov Executions
• Timeline: July 1, 1918 – July 31, 1918
• A Note About German Titles
• July 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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Romanov Executions

One hundred years ago, in July 1918, thirteen members of the Romanov family were executed. The previous month, on June 13, 1918, Emperor Nicholas II’s brother 39-year-old Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich and Nicholas Johnson, his British secretary, were taken to the woods outside Perm in Siberia, Russia and shot. Their bodies have never been found.

• Unofficial Royalty: Execution of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich

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On July 17, 1918, Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their five children, along with three of their most loyal servants and the court doctor, were shot to death by firing squad in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Siberia, Russia.

All seven of the Romanov family plus the family physician Dr. Eugene Botkin and three servants (maid Anna Demidova, cook Ivan Kharitonov, and footman Alexei Trupp) were escorted to a basement room. Chairs were brought in for Nicholas, Alexandra, and Alexei. The family believed they were being evacuated to a new location.

Eight members of the firing squad entered the basement room along with Yakov Yurovsky, the commandant of the Ipatiev House. A few minutes later Yurkovsky informed the prisoners that they were about to be executed. Nicholas arose in shock but was quickly shot down. Chaos ensued as the executioners gunned down the family members and their servants.

Alexandra and her daughters had sewn jewels into their clothing to provide money if the family was sent into exile and these jewels acted for a time as shields against the bullets. Anna Demidova carried a pillow also sewn with jewels. Eventually, the soldiers brought out bayonets to kill the last remaining survivors. After several minutes of ricocheting bullets and stabbings, all eleven members of the party were dead.

• Unofficial Royalty: Execution of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and His Family

Those executed were:

• Emperor Nicholas II, 50 years old
• Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, 46 years old
• Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, 23 years old
• Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna, 21 years old
• Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, 19 years old
• Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, 17 years old
• Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, 14 years old
• Dr. Eugene Botkin, physician for Nicholas II and his family
• Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov (cook)
• Alexei Yegorovich Trupp (footman)
• Anna Stepanovna Demidova (maid)

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On July 18, 1918, the day after the execution of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, elder sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who had started a convent and became a nun, and five other Romanovs along with Varvara Alexeievna Yakovleva, a nun from Elizabeth’s convent, and Feodor Semyonovich Remez, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich’s secretary, were executed by the Bolsheviks. They were taken to an abandoned mine shaft outside of Alapayevsk in Siberia, Russia that was partially filled with water, were then hit in the head and thrown into the mine shaft. When Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich resisted, he was shot in the head and thrown down the mine shaft. When it was obvious that the prisoners were not dead, grenades were thrown down the mine shaft. All was quiet but after a short time, talking was heard and more grenades were thrown down the mine shaft. The prisoners then started singing the prayer “Lord, Save Your People.” This terrified the executioners. They had no more grenades and it was necessary for them to finish their job. The executioners set fire to wood and threw it down the shaft. The hymns and prayers continued for a while and then stopped. The mission was accomplished.

• Unofficial Royalty article Execution of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Five Other Romanovs

The Romanovs executed were:

• Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, widow of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, 53 years old
• Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, 48 years old
• Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich who was a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, 32 years old
• Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich, son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich who was a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, 27 years old
• Prince Igor Konstantinovich, son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich who was a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, 24 years old
• Prince Vladimir Paley, son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, 21 years old

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In addition, four more Romanovs were executed in January 1919.

On January 28, 1919, four Grand Dukes were taken to the courtyard of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia and then escorted towards a ditch that had been dug in the courtyard. As they passed the Peter and Paul Cathedral where their ancestors were buried, they each made the sign of the cross. Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, who was ill, was carried out on a stretcher. The three Grand Dukes who had walked out were lined up before the ditch, in which there were already bodies. Grand Duke Paul was shot on his stretcher. Grand Dukes Nicholas, George, and Dmitry were all killed by the same blast, causing them to fall into the ditch.

• Unofficial Royalty: Execution of Four Grand Dukes – January 28, 1919

The Grand Dukes executed were:

• Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, 59 years old
• Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I and brother of Nicholas above, 55 years old
• Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, 58 years old
• Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, son of Emperor Alexander II, 58 years old

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Timeline: July 1, 1918 – July 31, 1918

• July 4 – Battle of Hamel in Le Hamel, Somme, France
• July 12 – Haiti declares war on Germany
• July 14 – Battle of Abu Tellul in Palestine
• July 15 – August 6 – Second Battle of the Marne and last German offensive on the Western Front which fails when the Germans are counterattacked by the French
• July 15 – 17 – Champagne-Marne Offensive (consisting of the Fourth Battle of Champagne and the Battle of the Mountain of Reims), a phase of the Second Battle of the Marne. last phase of the Spring Offensive and last German offensive of World War I
• July 17 – Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks out of fear that they might be released by Czechoslovak and White troops (see above)
• July 18 – Execution of Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna and five other Romanovs (see above)
• July 18 – Battle of Chateau-Thierry, a phase of the Second Battle of the Marne
• July 18 – 22 – Battle of Soissons, a phase of the Second Battle of the Marne
• July 19 – Battle of Tardenois, a phase of the Second Battle of the Marne
• July 19 – Honduras declares war on Germany

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments, but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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July 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Friedrich Franz, Graf von Hohenau

• son of Friedrich, Graf von Hohenau  and Charlotte von der Decken
• great-grandson of Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia
• 2nd cousin of Wilhelm II, German Emperor
• born July 7, 1896 at Castle Albrechtsberg in Dresden
• officer in the Leib Cuirassier Regiment
• killed in action July 25, 1918 at Péronne, Somme, France in battle , age 22
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00335865&tree=LEO

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Alexander, Graf von Salm-Hoogstraeten

• son of Alfred Wilhelm, Graf von Salm-Hoogstraeten and Adolfine, Freiin von Erlanger
• born June 24, 1890 in Trautenberg, Austria
• killed in action July 24,1918, age 28 at Cittadella, Italy
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00261608&tree=LEO

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by Susan Flantzer

• William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse
• Timeline: June 1, 1918 – June 30, 1918
• A Note About German Titles
• June 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse

William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse was the eldest of the three children of Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse and The Honorable Frances Cassandra Hawke-Harvey. The Earl of Rosse was created twice in the Irish Peerage, both times for the Parsons family. The Parsons were originally an English family from Leicestershire, England. Five Parson brothers settled in Ireland during the late 16th century. William was born on June 14, 1873, at the family seat since 1620, Birr Castle, near Birr, County Offaly, Ireland.

William had two siblings:

• The Honorable Geoffrey Parsons (1874 – 1956), married Margaret Gladstone, no children
• Lady Muriel Parsons (1876 – 1927), married Brigadier-General Harold Grenfell, had three daughters

William was educated at Eton College and in 1891, started his studies at Christ Church College, University of Oxford. In 1896, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in a militia battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment. A year later he transferred to the Coldstream Guards in the regular British Army, fought in the Boer War from 1899-1900, and received the Queen’s South Africa Medal. William then joined the Irish Guards upon its formation in 1900 and was promoted to Major in 1906. In 1908, he resigned his commission with the Irish Guards. William became the 5th Earl of Rosse upon his father’s death in 1908.

On October 19, 1905, William married Frances Lois Lister-Kaye who used her middle name, Lois.

William and Lois had three children:

• Michael Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse (1906 – 1979), married Anne Messel, had two children including Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse; Anne Messel through her first marriage to Ronald Armstrong-Jones was the mother of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, husband of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom
• Lady Bridget Parsons (1907 – 1982), unmarried
• The Honorable Desmond Parsons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Parsons (1910 – 1937), unmarried

(Note: In 1960, Antony Armstrong-Jones took his new bride Princess Margaret to Birr Castle to visit his mother Anne, Countess of Rosse, the wife of Michael Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse who was William’s son.)

William served as an Irish Representative Peer in the House of Lords from 1911 to 1918 and Lord-Lieutenant of King’s County from 1908 to 1918.

Despite that he was 41-year-old and had already served in the Boer War, William rejoined the Irish Guards at the onset of World War I. He was second-in-command of his battalion on May 10, 1915, at the Battle of Festubert when he was very severely wounded in the head by a piece of shrapnel. He was evacuated to England to determine the extent of his wounds. The shrapnel that hit William had gouged out part of his head and left him 80% incapacitated. He was sent home to Birr Castle where his family cared for him. On June 10, 1918, William died from his wounds. His well-attended military funeral took place on June 13, 1918, and he was buried in the family vault at Birr Old Graveyard at St. Brendan’s Church in County Offaly, Ireland.

After her husband’s death, Lois married William’s close friend in the Irish Guards, Yvo Richard Vesey, 5th Viscount de Vesci. They had no children of their own but together they brought up William’s children.

Works Cited

• Chch.ox.ac.uk. (2017). Major William Edward Parsons 5th Earl of Rosse | Christ Church, Oxford University. [online] Available at: http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/fallen-alumni/major-william-edward-parsons-5th-earl-rosse [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Earl of Rosse. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Rosse [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). William Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Parsons,_5th_Earl_of_Rosse [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017].
• Irish Life & Lore. (2017). Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse (b. 1936). [online] Available at: https://www.irishlifeandlore.com/product/brendan-parsons-7th-earl-of-rosse-b-1936/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017].

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Timeline: June 1, 1918 – June 30, 1918

• June 1 – 26 – Battle of Belleau Wood, part of the German Spring Offensive, at Belleau Wood near Marne River, France
• June 8 – Action of Arsuf near the Auju River, Jaffa (now in Israel)
• June 8 – October – Germany interferes in the Caucasus
• June 9 – 12 – Fourth phase of the Spring Offensive, Operation Gneisenau (also known as Battle of Matz) – Germans do not achieve their strategic goals.
• June 13 – Execution of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia (Unofficial Royalty article to be published June 13, 2018.)
• June 13 – 23 – Second Battle of the Piave in Piave, Italy – Austro-Hungarian offensive is repelled
• June 30 – Battle of Moreuil Wood on the banks of the Arve River, France

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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June 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website. If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

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Major The Honorable George Edward Boscawen

• son of Evelyn Edward Thomas Boscawen, 7th Viscount Falmouth and The Honorable Kathleen Douglas-Pennant
• born December 6, 1888
• Aide-de-Camp to the Governor-General of Canada HRH The Duke of Connaught in 1913
• Major in the Royal Artillery
• died from wounds received in action June 6, 1918 in Liesse, France, age 29
• buried La Ville-aux-Bois British Cemetery in Picardie, France
• brother Lieutenant The Honorable Vere Douglas Boscawen killed in action October 29, 1914 at Ypres, Belgium, age 24
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p5360.htm#i53595

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William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse (see article above)

• son of Laurence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse and The Honorable Frances Cassandra Hawke-Harvey
• born June 14, 1873
• married 1905 Frances Lois Lister-Kaye, had three children including a son Michael Parsons who succeeded him as 6th Earl of Rosse at the age of twelve
• Major in the Irish Guards
• died June 10, 1918, age 44, at the family home Birr Castle in County Offally, Ireland from very severe head wounds received in action at the Battle of Festubert on May 10, 1915
• buried in the family vault at Birr Old Graveyard at St. Brendan’s Church in County Offaly, Ireland
• http://thepeerage.com/p1091.htm#i10909

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by Susan Flantzer

• Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock
• Timeline: April 1, 1918 – May 31, 1918
• A Note About German Titles
• April- May 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock

Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock was the second son in his family to be killed in action during World War I. His younger brother Captain The Honorable Eric Fox Pitt Lubbock was killed in aerial combat in Ypres, Belgium on March 11, 1917, at the age 23.

Born in London on June 10, 1888, Harold was the elder of the three sons and the third of the five children of John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury and his second wife Alice Augusta Laurentia Lane Fox-Pitt.  His mother was daughter of Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers, whose collection of about 22,000 objects was the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford which this author can verify is quite interesting. Harold’s father John Lubbock was a banker and a Liberal Member of Parliament who is most known for bank holidays which he introduced in the Bank Holidays Act 1871.  Lubbock was also an archaeologist and coined the terms “Palaeolithic” and “Neolithic” to denote the Old and New Stone Ages.

Harold had six half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Ellen Frances Hordern who died in 1879. His eldest half-brother John Birkbeck Lubbock succeeded their father as the 2nd Baron Avebury. The 2nd Baron never married and when he died, he was succeeded by Harold’s son John Lubbock, 3rd Baron Avebury.

Harold was educated at St. Aubyns School, a preparatory school in Rottingdean, and Eton College. He then attended Trinity College, Cambridge University. After university, Harold entered the family profession, banking, and eventually became a partner in Coutts & Co, the seventh oldest bank in the world. Several years before the outbreak of World War I, Harold joined The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Yeomanry, a volunteer force.

On June 10, 1914, Harold married The Honorable Dorothy Charlotte Forster, daughter of Henry William Forster, 1st and last Baron Forster and The Honorable Rachel Cecily Douglas-Scott-Montagu. The couple had two children:

• John Lubbock, 3rd Baron Avebury (1915 – 1971), married (1) Cecily Sparrow, no children, divorced (2) Diana Westcott King, one daughter, divorced (3) Betty Gay Ingham, no children
• The Honorable Ursula Moyra Lubbock (1917 – 1992), married Dorian Williams, no children, divorced

At the beginning of World War I, Harold served with The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Yeomanry in the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign fighting a losing campaign against the troops of the Ottoman Empire. In December 1915, his regiment was sent to Palestine where he served as an Adjutant and was promoted to Captain. Harold yearned to serve on the Western Front and so he obtained a transfer to the Grenadier Guards with a reduced rank of Lieutenant. On December 28, 1917, he was sent to France. He finally made it to the trenches of the Western Front on March 29, 1918.

On March 21, 1918, the Germans began their spring offensive in France, Operation Michael also called the Second Battle of the Somme and Harold took part in the defensive action. Unfortunately, he did survive long, being killed in action on April 4, 1918, near Arras, France at the age 29. The regimental history says:

“The 2nd Battalion went up into the line [on 3 April 1918] and found the trenches very wet. On the 4th, during a heavy shelling, which was entirely directed against no.1 Company on the right, Lieutenant the Hon H F P Lubbock was killed by a shell which pitched in the trench. This was a great loss to the battalion, for he was an officer of sound judgment, who did not know what fear was. Corporal Teague MM was killed at the same time, and 6 men were wounded.”

Harold was buried in Boisleux-au-Mont Communal Cemetery in Boisleux-au-Mont, France. Sadly, his widow also lost both her brothers in the war.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lubbock,_1st_Baron_Avebury [Accessed 29 Oct. 2017].
• Lubbock, T. (2017). Captain The Honourable Harold Fox-Pitt Lubbock. [online] Rutland Remembers. Available at: http://www.rutlandremembers.org/fallen/277/lubbock-captain-the-honourable-harold-foxpitt [Accessed 29 Oct. 2017].
• Luscombe, S. (2017). The Grenadier Guards. [online] Britishempire.co.uk. Available at: http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/britishinfantry/grenadierlubbock.htm [Accessed 29 Oct. 2017].

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Timeline: April 1, 1918 – May 31, 1918

• • March 30 – April 5 – First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in northern France, a phase of Operation Michael
  • April 1 – Royal Air Force founded by combining the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service
  • April 4 – 5 – Battle of the Avre, near the Avre River in Amiens, France, final phase of Operation Michael
  • April 7 – 29 – Second phase of the Spring Offensive, Operation Georgette, in France (also known as Battle of the Lys)
  • April 7 – 9 – Battle of Estaires, first phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 10 – 11 – Third Battle of Messines, a phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 12 – 13 – Battle of Hazebrouck, a phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 13 – 15 – Battle of Bailleul, a phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 17 – 19 – First Battle of Kemmel, a phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 18 – Battle of Bethune, a phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 24- 27 – Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, a phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 25 – 26 – Second Battle of Kemmel, a phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 29 – Battle of Scherpenberg, final phase of Operation Georgette
  • April 30 – May 4 – Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt in the Jordan River Valley
  • May 10 – 11 – Battle of Kaniow near Kaniv, Ukraine
  • May 21 – Ottomans invade Armenia
  • May 21 – 29 – Battle of Sardarabad, a phase of the invasion of Armenia, near Sardarapat (present-day Nor Armavir, Armenia)
  • May 21 – 29 – Battle of Abaran, a phase of the invasion of Armenia in Bash Abaran, Armenia
  • May 24 – 28 – Battle of Karakilisa, a phase of the invasion of Armenia, in Vanadzor, Armenia
  • May 27 – June 6 – Third Battle of the Aisne by the Aisne River near Paris, France (also known as Operation Blücher-Yorck, third phase of the Spring Offensive)
  • May 28 – Battle of Cantigny in Cantigny, France
  • May 29 – 31 – Battle of Skra-di-Legen in Skra, Greece

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire. The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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April – May 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website. If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Photos below of Harold Lubbock and William FitzRoy are from www.findagrave.com and photo below of Erbprinz Philipp Hermann is from https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.geni.com

Captain The Honorable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock (see article above)

• son of John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury and Alice Augusta Laurentia Lane Fox-Pitt
• born June 10, 1888 in London, England
• married 1914 The Honorable Dorothy Charlotte Forster, had two children
• Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards
• killed in action April 4, 1918 near Arras, France, age 29
• buried at Boisleux-au-Mont Communal Cemetery in Boisleux-au-Mont, France
• brother Captain The Honorable Eric Fox Pitt Lubbock was killed in aerial combat March 11, 1917, age 23
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p4609.htm#i46083

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Philipp Hermann, Erbprinz zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich

• only son of Karl, 6th Fürst zu Solms-Lich-Hohensolms and Princess Emma of Stolberg-Wernigerode
• born September 13, 1895 in Wernigerode, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
• unmarried
• killed in action April 8, 1918 at Konstantinovka, Ukraine, age 22
• buried at Solms family cemetery in Lich, Hesse, Germany
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00024408&tree=LEO

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Lieutenant Ebenezer Maclay

• eldest son of Joseph Paton Maclay, 1st Baron Maclay and Martha Strang
• born 27 December 27, 1891,
• killed in action April 11,  1918 near Arras, France, age 26
• buried at Doullens Communal Cemetery in Doullens, France
• brother Lieutenant William Strang Maclay killed in action June 28, 1915 at Gallipoli, age 19
• http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/ww1-biography/?id=4555
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p31182.htm#i311812

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Ferdinand Carl Heinrich Fischler, Graf von Treuburg

• son of Franz Xaver Fischler, Graf von Treuburg and Ludovika von Wendt
• born February 6, 1893 in Murnau, Bavaria, Germany
• married 1917 Elisabeth von Gehe, no children
• killed in action April 18, 1918 at La Bassée, France, age 25
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00292706&tree=LEO

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Lieutenant William Henry Alfred FitzRoy, Viscount Ipswich

• only son and heir of Alfred William Maitland FitzRoy, 8th Duke of Grafton and Margaret Rose Smith
• born July 24, 1884 in London, England
• married 1913 Auriol Margaretta Brougham, had three children, son John Charles William FitzRoy succeeded his grandfather as 9th Duke of Grafton
• Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force
• killed in a plane crash April 23, 1918, age 33 (predeceased both his father and grandfather, the 7th Duke of Grafton)
• buried at St Genevieve Churchyard in Euston, Suffolk, England
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p1042.htm#i10411

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Lieutenant The Honorable Philip Granville James Fitzalan-Howard

• • son of Francis Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Glossop and Hyacinthe Scott-Kerr
  • born April 15, 1895 in London, England
  • married 1916 Gladys Cecily Clara Norton, one daughter born two months after his death
  • Lieutenant in the Welsh Guards
  • died from wounds received in action May 24, 1918, age 23
  • buried in Bac du Sud British Cemetery in Bailleulval, France
  • http://www.thepeerage.com/p6065.htm#i60650

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by Susan Flantzer

• Sons One, Two, and Three – Gone
• Timeline: March 1, 1918 – March 31, 1918
• A Note About German Titles
• March 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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Sons One, Two, and Three – Gone

Every month I have been writing these articles, I am saddened by the deaths of soldiers so young. Even sadder are the times I came across families losing more than one son. The film Saving Private Ryan, in which there is a search for the last surviving brother of four soldiers during World War II, always comes to mind. Although that story is fictional, there are many cases of families, rich and poor, losing multiple children in many wars.

Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe and his wife Maud Marianne Calvert had six sons.  They are one of the many families that lost multiple children in war and there is a royal connection.  Their six sons were:

• Henry Archibald Cubitt (January 3, 1892 – September 15, 1916)
• Alick George Cubitt (January 16, 1894 – November 24, 1917)
• William Hugh Cubitt (May 30, 1896 – March 24, 1918)
• Roland Calvert Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe (January 26, 1899 – October 28, 1962), married Sonia Keppel (daughter of The Honorable George Keppel and Alice Keppel, a mistress of King Edward VII), had three children including Rosalind, mother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
• Archibald Edward Cubitt (January 16, 1901 – February 13, 1972), married (1) Lady Irene Helen Pratt, no children; (2) Sibell Margaret Norman, had two children
• Charles Guy Cubitt (February 13, 1903 – August 1979), married Rosamund Mary Edith Cholmeley, had three children

The eldest three were killed in action in order of their birth in 1916, 1917, and 1918. The two youngest sons were too young to have served during World War I. The fourth son, the eldest surviving son, was Roland Calvert Cubitt. Despite the fact that his three elder brothers had been killed in action, 19-year-old Roland was about to be sent to France as a Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guard when the Armistice was signed in November 1918. However, in the article below, there is some speculation that due to the deaths of his three brothers, someone in the War Department stopped Roland from going off to war.  Roland succeeded his father as 3rd Baron Ashcombe. In addition, he is the maternal grandfather of Queen Camilla – and so these three brothers who died in World War I were her great-uncles.

About the deaths of her three great-uncles, Queen Camilla said: “I cannot imagine what it must have been like for my great-grandparents to receive such devastating news. It is so hard for us, a century later, to understand what the soldiers of the Great War and their families went through.”

In 2014, to mark the centenary of World War I, Queen Camilla, then The Duchess of Cornwall, was asked to choose a poem for an anthology of poems of recollections of World War I, Only Remembered, edited by Michael Morpurgo.  She chose the poem The Christmas Truce by Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, and said this about the poem:

“It is about the spontaneous, unofficial ceasefire between British and German troops along the Western Front on Christmas Day. Huddled in flooded, freezing trenches, facing each other over the hideous shell-holes and barbed wire of No Man’s Land, it was a moment when both sides recognized what united them as men, rather than what divided them as soldiers.

Poetry is like time travel, and poems take us to the heart of the matter. This poem made me cry. It is such a touching and perceptive evocation – through its deceptively simple language and powerful imagery – of the truth of life in the trenches, and of that moment of hope when the sounds of wars were silenced.”

Daily Mail: The ‘Saving Private Ryan’ mystery that haunts Camilla’s family: Three brothers killed in the trenches, a fourth raring to go… but he’s told – you can’t go. So who gave the order that saved the Duchess’s beloved grandfather

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Captain Henry Archibald Cubitt of the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards – killed in action September 15, 1916, age 24, during the four-month-long Battle of the Somme in France

Henry was educated at Stone House School, Broadstairs, and Eton College. In 1911, 19-year-old Henry obtained his commission in the Coldstream Guards. On August 12, 1914, eight days after the start of World War I, Henry left for France where he took part in the Retreat from Mons, the First Battle of the Marne and the Battle of Aisne. Two months before his death, he was promoted to the rank of Captain.

During the four-month-long Battle of the Somme, on September 15, 1916, the regimental history of the Coldstream Guards remarks, ” three battalions of the Coldstreams attacked in line together… Almost immediately … two Coldstream battalions came under the most terrific machine gun fire… “and Major Vaughan, the Second-in-command of the 3rd Battalion, and Capt. Cubitt, the Adjutant, were both killed before they had gone a hundred yards.” Henry was buried at Carnoy Military Cemetery, France.

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Lieutenant Alick George Cubitt of 15th King’s Hussars – killed in action November 24, 1917, age 23, at Bourlon Wood, France during the First Battle of Cambrai

Like his older brother Henry, Alick was educated at Stone House School, Broadstairs, and Eton College. In addition, he trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was then commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 15th The King’s Hussars. At the start of World War I, Alick was sent to France and fought at the Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, and the Battle of Loos.

In November 1917, during the First Battle of Cambrai, Alick’s regiment, as part of 9th Cavalry Brigade, was near Bourlon Wood and was expected to capture the Wood. While their horses were unsaddled, fed, and resting, the regiment was ordered to trenches on the front line where there was close hand-to-hand combat and Alick was killed. His remains were never found, and he is remembered with more than 7,000 missing soldiers on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing, Louverval, France

Lieutenant William Hugh Cubitt of 1st Royal Dragoons died on March 24, 1918, age 21, from wounds received in action on March 21, 1918, near the village of Ham, France

Called by his second name Hugh, he was educated at Mr. E.L. Bent’s (a prep school) and at Eton College. When World War I started, 18-year-old Hugh entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was then commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the 1st Royal King’s Dragoons in November 1914. On May 22, 1915, Hugh left for France and joined the Dragoons at the Front a week later. He served with the Cavalry Corps and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1916.

On March 21, 1918, the Germans began their spring offensive, Operation Michael, also known as Second Battle of the Somme. On that first day, the British army quickly improvised a defense near the village of Ham, France using a mounted squadron (soldiers on horses) including Hugh’s troop of the 1st Royal Dragoons. This was one of the last times the British army used the old traditional cavalry (soldiers mounted on horses) in the advancing technology of war that instead used machine guns and tanks.

Galloping along on their horses, the British cavalry with their swords had some brief success but eventually were overcome by the German machine guns. The regimental history of the Royal Dragoons states, “Knee to knee at first, opening out a little as they dashed forward, the 10th and the Royals covered the ground at a gallop. Many fell, among them Lieutenant Cubitt, but the German fire was wild and did not stop the horsemen, who came right in among them, cutting them down left and right.” Hugh was severely wounded and died three days later, on March 24, 1918, at the 46th Casualty Clearing Station. He was first buried at a cemetery near the 46th Casualty Clearing Station. After the war was over, Hugh’s remains were among the 108 remains that were collectively re-buried at Noyon New British Cemetery in Noyon, France. Because the remains were not buried individually, Hugh’s headstone reads, “Buried near this spot.”

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cubitt,_2nd_Baron_Ashcombe [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].
• Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. (2017). First World War centenary: the war poem that moves the Duchess of Cornwall to tears. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10932405/First-World-War-centenary-the-war-poem-that-moves-the-Duchess-of-Cornwall-to-tears.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].
• Ranmorewarmemorial.info. (2017). Ranmore War Memorial. [online] Available at: http://ranmorewarmemorial.info/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

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Timeline: March 1, 1918 – March 31, 1918

• March 2 – Germans capture Kiev
• March 3 – The new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the peace treaty with Germany ending Russia’s participation in the war
• March 7 – German artillery bombard the Americans at Rouge Bouquet near Baccarat, France
• March 8–12 – Battle of Tell ‘Asur from the Mediterranean coast to western edge of Jordan Valley
• March 8–13 – Battle of Bakhmach in Bakhmach now in Ukraine
• March 21 – April 5 – First phase of the German Spring Offensive in France, Operation Michael (also known as Second Battle of the Somme)
• March 21–23 – Battle of St. Quentin, first phase of Operation Michael and of the Spring Offensive
• March 21 – April 2 – First Transjordan attack on Amman, now in Jordan
• March 23 – August 7 – Artillery bombardment of Paris
• March 24–25 – First Battle of Bapaume, a phase of Operation Michael
• March 25 – First Battle of Noyon, a phase of Operation Michael
• March 26 – French Marshal Ferdinand Foch is appointed Supreme Commander of all Allied forces
• March 26–27 – Battle of Rosieres, a phase of Operation Michael
• March 26-27 – Action of Khan Baghdadi west of Baghdad in present-day Iraq
• March 27–31 – First Battle of Amman in present-day Jordan, a phase of the First Transjordan Attack
• March 28 – Third Battle of Arras (also known as First Battle of Arras 1918), a phase of Operation Michael
• March 30 – April 5 – First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, a phase of Operation Michael

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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March 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Because of the dates of death, it is probable that all these deaths occurred during the German Spring Offensive in France, Operation Michael (also known as Second Battle of the Somme).

Emich Ernst Hermann Heinrich Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen

• son of Emich V, Fürst zu Leiningen and Feodore Viktoria Alberta, Prinzessin zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg
• great great grandson of Queen Victoria’s mother born Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and her first husband Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen
• born December 29, 1896
• unmarried
• killed in action March 21, 1918, age 21
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p5107.htm#i51065

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Prince Heinrich XXXVIII Reuss zu Köstritz

• son of Prince Heinrich XVIII Reuss zu Köstritz and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• born November 6, 1889 in Ludwiglust, Germany
• unmarried
• killed in action March 22, 1918 in Brabant-sur-Meuse, France, age 28
  buried at the Ludwiglust Schloss
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p11159.htm#i111583

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Freiherr Johann Friedrich von Solemacher-Antweiler

• son of Freiherr Johann Friedrich von Solemacher-Antweiler and Gräfin Anna Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht
• born April 3, 1891 in Deutz, Germany
• unmarried
• killed in action March 23, 1918, age 26
• http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00209098&tree=LEO

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Captain The Honorable Alfred Aubrey Tennyson

• son of Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson and Audrey Georgiana Florence Boyle
• grandson of poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• born May 2, 1891
• unmarried
• Captain in the Rifle Brigade
• killed in action March 23, 1918, age 26
• brother Sub-Lieutenant The Honorable Harold Courtenay Tennyson killed in action January 29, 1916
• remembered on the Pozieres Memorial to the Missing in France
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p59165.htm#i591643
• Memorials & Monuments on the Isle of Wight – Biography – Tennyson brothers of Freshwater

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Captain The Honorable Reginald Nicholas Francis Barnewall

• son of Charles Aloysius Barnewall, 18th Baron Trimlestown and Margaret Theresa Stephens
• born September 24, 1897
• unmarried
• Captain in the Leinster Regiment
• died from wounds received in action March 24, 1918, age 20
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p59665.htm#i596641

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Lieutenant The Honorable William Hugh Cubitt (see article above)

• son of Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe and Maud Marianne Calvert
• born May 30, 1896
• unmarried
• Lieutenant in the 1st Royal Dragoons
• died from wounds received in action March 24, 1918, age 21
• buried at Noyon New British Cemetery in Noyon, France
• great uncle of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
• brother Captain The Honorable Henry Archibald Cubitt killed in action September 15, 1916
• brother Lieutenant The Honorable Alick George Cubitt killed in action November 24, 1917
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p6195.htm#i61950

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2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Edward Wodehouse

• son of John Wodehouse, 2nd Earl of Kimberley and Isabel Geraldine Stracey
• born April 12, 1898
• unmarried
• 2nd Lieutenant in the 16th Lancers
• killed in action March 30, 1918, age 19
• remembered on the Pozieres Memorial to the Missing in France (see photo above)
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p3646.htm#i36457

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Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Gerard Alexander Hamilton, Master of Belhaven

• son of Colonel Alexander Charles Hamilton, 10th Lord Belhaven and Stenton and Georgiana Katharine Richmond
• born February 22, 1883
• married Lady Grizel Winifred Louisa Cochrane, no children
• Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Field Artillery
• killed in action in France March 31, 1918, age 35
• buried at Rouverel Communal Cemetery in Picardie, France
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p4545.htm#i45447

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Captain Charles Thomas Anderson Pollock

• son of Ernest Murray Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth and Laura Helen Salt
• born April 12, 1889
• married Alice Joyce Becher, had one son David Bertram Pollock who succeeded his grandfather as 2nd Viscount Hanworth
• Captain in the Inns of Court OTC
• killed in action March 31, 1918, age 28
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p27183.htm#i271830

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by Susan Flantzer

• Tragedy at Sea – Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell
• Captain The Honorable Harold Alfred Vyvyan St. George Harmsworth
• Timeline: February 1, 1918 – February 28, 1918
• A Note About German Titles
• February 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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Tragedy at Sea – Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell

On the evening of January 31 – February 1, 1918, twenty-six-year-old Royal Navy Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrell of HMS Submarine K-17 died along with 103 other sailors in a tragic series of accidents in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The accidents were called the Battle of May Island, named after an island in the Firth of Forth. However, it was no battle but rather an entirely accidental tragedy with no enemy forces present.

The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell was the elder of the two sons and the third of the four children of William George Tyrrell, 1st Baron Tyrrell of Avon and Margaret Ann Urquhart. Hugo had two elder sisters and one younger brother, 2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Francis Chichester Victor Tyrrell, who also died during World War I on February 15, 1915 from wounds received in action. Therefore, when Hugo’s father died in 1947 at the 80, the barony became extinct as both his sons had died.

Around 40 ships left the port of Rosyth on the Firth of Forth, Scotland bound for fleet exercises in the North Sea. On the night of January 31 to February 1, 1918, five collisions occurred between eight ships. Two submarines were lost and three other submarines and a light cruiser were damaged. The accident was kept secret during the war and a memorial was finally dedicated 84 years later, on January 31, 2002, in the harbor of Anstruther, Scotland opposite the Isle of May.

Hugo was one of the 59 sailors aboard the HMS K-17, a submarine powered by steam and electricity. K-17 was sailing behind the cruiser HMS Courageous when the Courageous changed course to avoid two trawlers ahead. K-17 turned but two other submarines, K-22 and K-14, were involved in a collision. Meanwhile HMS Fearless, another cruiser, was steaming towards the area, oblivious of the accident. The Fearless plowed into K-17. The order to abandon ship was quickly given but within eight minutes K-17 sank. Any survivors were now in the water and the other submarines attempted to pick them up. Sadly, the destroyers were unaware of the location of the accident and plowed through the survivors.

All remains of the deceased sailors remain at the wreck site which is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell is remembered at the Chatham Naval Memorial in Chatham, Kent, England which records the names of 18,500 Royal Navy officers who died or were buried at sea in World War I and World War II.

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Captain The Honorable Harold Alfred Vyvyan St. George Harmsworth

Captain The Honorable Harold Vyvyan Alfred St George Harmsworth, known as Vyvyan, was born in London on August 2, 1894. He was the eldest of the three sons of Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, the founder of the newspapers The Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, and Mary Lilian Share. Lord Rothermore’s second son Lieutenant The Honorable Vere Sidney Tudor Harmsworth killed in action November 13, 1916, so he was succeeded by his third son Esmond Cecil Harmsworth as 2nd Viscount Rothermere.

Vyvyan attended Eton College and then enrolled at Christ Church College at the University of Oxford in 1913. At the start of World War I, he joined the 2nd Battalion the Irish Guards and saw action in France. He described the conditions in the trenches in a letter to his father dated January 13, 1915: “Hell is the only word descriptive of the weather out here and the state of the ground. It rains every day! The trenches are mud and water up to one’s neck, rendering some impassable – but where it is up to the waist we have to make our way along cheerfully. I can tell you – it is no fun getting wet up to the waist and right through, as I did last night. Lots of men have been sent off with slight frost-bite – the foot swells up and gets too big for the boot.”

Vyvyan was wounded two times and each time he returned to the trenches. In December 1917, he was wounded at the Battle of Cambrai and was sent back to England to recuperate. In a letter to his father, he was very positive about his recovery, “My wounds are healing very rapidly – in fact I don’t worry about them now. I have been awfully lucky, no vital or difficult spots, such as knees touched.” However, he did not recover. 23-year-old Vyvyan died of those wounds on February 12, 1918 in the Lady Northcliffe Hospital for Officers in London founded by his aunt, Mary Harmsworth, Viscountess Northcliffe, Lady Hudson.  He was buried at Hampstead Cemetery in West Hampstead, London.

Lord Rothermere endowed The Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History Chair at the University of Oxford in Vyvyan’s memory which still continues today. History was his favorite subject. One of the conditions is that the occupant of the Chair be a citizen of the United States.

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Timeline: February 1, 1918 – February 28, 1918

• February 15-16 – Battle of Rarancza near Rarańcza (Ridkivtsi), Bukovina in present-day Ukraine
• February 18 – March 3 – Operation Faustschlag in Western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Baltics, last offensive on Eastern Front
• February 19 – British begin their assault on Jericho, then part of the Ottoman Empire, now in the Palestinian Territories and is located near the Jordan River in the West Bank
• February 21 – British capture Jericho
• February 21 – Germans capture Minsk, then part of Russia, now the capital of Belarus, part of Operation Faustschlag
• February 24 – Germans capture Zhytomyr, then part of Russia, now in Ukraine, part of Operation Faustschlag
• February 25 – German troops capture Estonia, then part of Russia, now an independent country, part of Operation Faustschlag
• February 28 – Germans capture Pskov in Russia and Narva in Estonia part of Operation Faustschlag

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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February 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell

• son of William George Tyrrell, 1st and last Baron Tyrrell of Avon and Margaret Ann Urquhart
• born 1891
• unmarried
• Lieutenant in the Royal Navy
• drowned in the North Sea aboard HMS Submarine K-17 February 1, 1918, age 26
• brother 2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Francis Chichester Victor Tyrrell died from wounds received in action February 15, 1915
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p47200.htm#i471999

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Captain The Honorable Harold Alfred Vyvyan St. George Harmsworth

• son of Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere and Mary Lilian Share
• born August 2, 1894
• unmarried
• Captain in the Irish Guards
• died from wounds received in action February 12, 1918, age 23
• brother Lieutenant The Honorable Vere Sidney Tudor Harmsworth killed in action November 13, 1916
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p7351.htm#i73502

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Friedrich, Graf von Hohenau

• son of Georg Albrecht Wilhelm, Graf von Hohenau and Margarethe, Prinzessin zu Hohenlohe-Oehringen
• born September 29, 1890 in Slawentzitz, then part of Germany, now in Poland
• unmarried
• killed in action February 26, 1918 in Russia during Operation Faustschlag, age 27
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p10872.htm#i108717