Anthony Lionel Fenwick 1893-1918

An undergraduate turned soldier, Anthony Lionel Fenwick was born at Storrington, West Sussex, on 16th December 1893, second son of Walter Lionel Fenwick and his wife, Millicent Fenwick (née Montagu), who later purchased Witham Hall, near Bourne, and became lord of the manor of Witham-on-the-Hill and the principal landowner in the parish.

He was educated at Harrow and then became an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge and when war was declared, Anthony was among the first to join up, being formally enlisted on 22nd August 1914. He was commissioned in the 6th Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment, and sailed with his unit to Gallipoli, landing at Sulva Bay on 5th August 1915.

A shortage of front line officers meant that Anthony was attached to the 6th Border Regiment and it was with this unit that he took part in the attack on Chocolate Hill on 21st August 1915. When the commanding officer was wounded, Anthony and a fellow officer, Lieutenant Durlacher, obtained a stretcher and were carrying the injured man to a place of safety when he was hit again and killed.

Fenwick and Durlacher then rescued five or six wounded men from burning undergrowth under heavy rifle fire. Later in the day, as all the senior officers had been killed or wounded, Anthony took temporary command of the battalion and oversaw the unit's eventual withdrawal from the fighting.

For his conduct on Chocolate Hill Anthony was recommended for the Military Cross and was subsequently mentioned in despatches by General Sir Ian Hamilton; the latter distinction being listed in the London Gazette of 26th January 1916. He went on to fight in France and Flanders with the 6th Lincolns, taking part in the battles of the Somme and Ancre in 1916 and the Passchendale offensive the following year.

On the night of 16th February 1918, he went out on a night patrol near Hulluch with the object of capturing some German prisoners for intelligence gathering purposes. As he was crossing No Man's Land, he came unexpectedly upon a German gun pit and was shot dead by machine gun fire. He was initially listed as missing but his parents were informed of his death when his body was found in a crater over a month later on March 23rd. He was 24 years old and was buried at Philosophe British Cemetery near Bethune.

After Anthony's death had been confirmed, his parents received a number of glowing tributes to their son. His colonel wrote: "Your son will be much missed both as a friend and as an officer by all of us, we were so fond of him. He was quite fearless and a very capable leader."

Another officer wrote: "His officers and men were very fond of him and would have followed him anywhere. He had no fear. Would that we had a few more like him."

NOTE: Photograph of Anthony Fenwick taken at Lincoln in 1915
is reproduced courtesy Lincolnshire County Archives.