Name
Follett Mcneil Drury
27 Dec 1894
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
07/01/1918
24
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lieutenant
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st/1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star (with Clasp & Roses), British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
DUHALLOW A.D.S. CEMETERY
III. E. 9.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
THE MASTER CALLETH THEE
UK & Other Memorials
Wheathampstead Village Memorial, St. Peter's Church Memorial, Gustard Wood, Battlefield Cross on external wall of St. Peter's Church, Gustard Wood, Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
Follett McNeil Drury was born in Hong Kong on 27 Dec 1894, son of Lt. Col. Richard Frederick Drury C.B.E., and Gertrude Elizabeth Drury (nee Holt). Follet was the eldest of three children, His siblings were Patrick (born 1896, London) and Clara M (born 1900, London). The 1901 Census records the family back in the UK, His father had retired from the military and is now employed as a “Chief Land Surveyor & Civil Engineer”. Follett is recorded as aged 7, living with his parents, brother Patrick 7, and sister Clara 1, at, “St. Valentine”, Prince of Wales Road, Carshalton, Surrey.
The 1911 Census records Follett aged 17, a pupil at Wolverley Grammar School, Wolverley, Worcestershire. His Father is recorded at his sisters’ home in Canterbury, Kent.
On leaving school he was employed as a Clerk by The Great Western of Brazil Railway Company, River Plate House, London, E. C..
On 15 December 1913, aged 19, he enlisted in the Honourable Artillery Company (H.A.C.), Armoury House, City Road, London, joining No. 1 Company with the service number 811.
Wartime Service
Follet went to France with 1/1st Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company (H.A.C.) as a Corporal, on 18 Sep 1914 landing at St Nazaire on 20 Sept 1914. (Honourable Artillery Company, a Territorial Force formation provided 3 Battalions of Infantry as well as 5 Batteries of Artillery). By 10 Nov 1914 his Battalion were transferred to 8 Brigade, 3rd Division, and on 9 Dec 1914 transferred to 7 Brigade in the same division, positioned near Ypres.
Follett had a Temporary Commission with the H.A.C. from May 1915 to 19 Sep 1915, when he was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant to the 1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment, arriving in Apr 1916 in the Field at Roclincourt, Arras.
In July 1916 he received a Gun Shot wound to the shoulder, and was evacuated back to the UK and admitted to Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank, London, on 6 Jul 1916, he was discharged on 29 Jul 1916, to convalesce, returning to the front on 1 Dec 1916. In July 1917 the 1st Herts were involved in the Battles of Passchendaele, particularly Pilkem (31 Jul 1917), Menin Road (Sep 1917)and Polygon Wood ( Sep 1917) where Follet was wounded during the front line actions of September, returning to his unit on 9 Oct 1917. He was mentioned in dispatches on 7 November 1917.
On 3 January 1918, he took over as Officer Commanding No. 4 Company, with the rank of Acting Captain. At 23-00 hrs, on 7 January 1918, an enemy shell struck his Company Headquarters Dugout, Follett was killed instantly, and Lieutenant Brown was mortally wounded, dying the following day. Drury and Brown were buried next to one another on 9 Jan 1918 in the Duhallow A.D.S. Cemetery, North of Ypres.
Additional Information
His mother, Mrs. G. E. Drury, Gustard Wood, Wheathampstead, Herts., ordered his headstone inscription: "THE MASTER CALLETH THEE".
His effects of £155-4s-0d, went to his Mother Gertrude Elizabeth Drury. His brother Patrick served with the South Wales Borderers as Lieutenant, he went to France on 25 Nov 1914 and later served in RFC/RAF surviving the Great War.
Acknowledgments
Stuart Osborne, Neil Cooper
Jonty Wild
