Name
Thord Caudwell
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/11/1917
20
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Captain
London Regiment (Queen's Westminster Rifles)
16th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
MOEUVRES COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
III. B. 5.
France
Headstone Inscription
Thing that are not seen are eternal
UK & Other Memorials
Caldicott School Memorial, Hitchin*1
Pre War
He was born on the 10th August 1897 the son of Lucy Caudwell, of Chyvarrian, St. Buryan, Cornwall, and the late Ben Caudwell. Who was one of the masters at King Edward VII School, Sheffield.
His home was at 29, Sale Hill, Sheffield.
He joined the Caldicott School in January 1909 and left in July 1911 going to the Leys at Cambridge with a £40 scholarship.
According to an article in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph "he had a splendid school record: he won a scholarship to Leys School in 1911, and gained a classical scholarship at Christ's College Cambridge in 1915. He joined the Inns of Court O.T.C. in February, 1916."
Wartime Service
He was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in January 1917 and went to the Front in February 1917, served with the 16th Battalion, London Regiment, Territorial Force, which was part of the 169th Brigade in the 56th Division.
He was killed in action on the 30th November 1917 while an Acting Captain during the Battle of Cambrai. At the date of his death, the Battalion was positioned in the vicinity of Tadpole Copse, west of Moeuvres to withstand fierce German attacks involving much close-quarter fighting.
He is now buried at Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension in France., having been moved there during a concentration of graves – he was identified by the name on his collar. His headstone reads “Thing that are not seen are eternal” as requested by mother.
A military Chaplain wrote: "There was an enemy post causing casualities among the men he commanded, and to save his men he called for two volunteers to go with him and drive the Huns away. Unfortunately he was shot by a sniper and died immediately."
The CO wrote: "Your son was one of my best men, and had done splendidly during battle. Had he been spared he would have gained his captaincy. On the day his lost his life the regiment gained imperishable fame, and his name will live with the history of the regiment, He is a very great loss to us. He was an exceptionally capable young officer, and could always be relied upon."
Additional Information
Possibly appears as T Crodwell on the school memorial. *1 This memorial (names only) was removed to Caldicott School, Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire, when the school moved to that site.
Acknowledgments
Terry Ransome, www.caldicott.com/HistoryWW2.aspx, Jonty Wild
