His voice could be heard from the other parts of the field, shouting out ‘Come on, the Durhams

De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour

I have the privilege of looking after the archives at my local rugby union club (Sunderland RFC, founded in 1873). Among the records is a list of those who played for the 1st XV in the season before World War One, ie 1913/14. Their names appear in a club history published in the 1960s as well as a roll of honour for those who lost their lives and another list of those who won awards and decorations. In September 1914, a meeting was held at the club to wish good luck to those who were off to war and their details were entered in a minute book which still survives. At a later date, rank and regiment was added, allowing me to note basic military details for 12 of the 15 players in the side. By adding information from the 1960s club history I was able to come up with the following:

• John Hopper, captain and full back – 2nd lieutenant 7th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
• John N Gillies, wing, – Private 7th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
• Chas Pickersgill, centre – 2nd lieutenant 7th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
• C T Ranken, wing, – 2nd lieutenant 3rd Northumbrian Brigade Royal Field Artillery
• L J Foster, fly half, -2nd lieutenant 2/7th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
• Edward Hayden Moore M.C. scrum half – captain 3rd Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment– killed in action
• John G Rutherford – 2nd lieutenant 7th 4th Northumbrian Battalion (Howitzer Brigade)
• Herbert Lawrence Todd – captain 4th Northumbrian Battalion (Howitzer Brigade)
• John H Edwards – lieutenant 14th Durham Light Infantry – killed in action
• Wm. F McMillan – Corporal Gordon Highlanders
• F Cecil Longden – captain 4th Durham Light Infantry –killed in action
• Fred V Bell – 2nd lieutenant Tyneside Scottish

Rugby, cricket, tennis and squash at club level were for the middle and upper classes and this is reflected in the players’ ranks; most of them attended grammar, public or private schools. Their addresses and ages were discovered thanks to a couple of surviving membership books (1907-12 and 1913-20), enabling me, via the Keyword, Family Forename and Address search tools at TheGenealogist.co.uk, to find more about their social background. For the purposes of the current article however, the big question was whether the latest military additions to the same site could help me fill in details of their military careers.

The search engine for The Genealogist’s military collections requires names, a useful detail (eg Durham/Northumbrian) and a limiting date – in this case 1916 +/- two years. I entered these and was able to discover information about promotions, war wounds, bravery and captivity (see box, right, for further details).

For example, John Hopper and his fellow back Charles Pickersgill were both wounded in May 1915, which makes sense as the 7th DLI suffered badly in the Ypres sector during that month. James Harry Edwards was wounded in autumn of the same year and recovered only to be killed by a sniper later in the war. Lancelot J Foster became a prisoner of war in May 1918 and was repatriated in December of the same year. Charles Ranken was mentioned in despatches while Herbert Lawrence Todd rose rapidly in the Ranks of his Howitzer Brigade because he had been in the territorials prior to the war.

By far the most useful information came in the cases of two of those who were killed in action. Frederick Cecil Longden’s name appears on a series of army lists, showing that he had links with the training corps at Armstrong College, University of Durham (now Newcastle University) and a ‘Casualty List Wounded’ record shows that he was wounded while on attachment to the Northumberland Fusiliers in October 1915. However, in the case of both Longden and Edward Hayden Moore it is their Roll of Honour entries in the highly informative and moving Du Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour which fully flesh out their careers and, more importantly, their personalities (see below for more on this Roll).

The family and background of both men are provided in full. Longden had attended Durham School and was a territorial before war broke out. After being wounded he returned to the DLI and was killed in action at Miraumont on the Ancre on 24 August 1918. His body is buried nearby. Moore went to Haileybury College, was from a military family and was training to be a solicitor. Before he died of wounds near Bethune in April 1917 he had already been wounded, had won the military cross and had been mentioned in despatches. (Records covering casualties and decorations can also be consulted at TheGenealogist.co.uk) These are invaluable pieces of information but the joy of Ruvigny’s Roll lies in the quotes from those who knew the men. The regimental chaplain’s comments on Longden are worth recording in full:

Our brigade received orders to attack Miraumont, on the Ancre. Dawn just beginning to break, showed our men that they were practically surrounded by the enemy, who poured in a galling fire from the front and flanks. Seeing that, Capt. Longden led his company forward in the most gallant manner possible, leading his men by a good forty or fifty yards, and inspiring them to advance by his coolness and bravery. His voice could be heard from the other parts of the field, shouting out: ‘ Come on, the Durhams.’ He was almost on top of the enemy when he was hit in the head by a machine-gun bullet, which killed him instantaneously. But his gallantry, and that of some other officers, was not in vain. Our men cleared the ridge and took some hundreds of prisoners as well. May I add a personal appreciation of Capt. Longden’s character I don’t want to be affected or unreal, but I can honestly say that very seldom have I met one who appealed to me so much as a type of fine, clean manhood. He was constantly volunteering to lead fighting patrols.

Moore’s commanding officer wrote: He was one. of my best company commanders, and was exceedingly good at his work, always cool and collected under fire, and set a fine example to all ranks, he was very popular with officers and men. And another: A most efficient officer, a true sportsman in every sense of the word and a sympathetic and firm friend.

Most family historians will agree that it is this kind of personal detail which brings ancestry truly to life, even when noted down in the saddest of circumstances. The stories of Edward Hayden Moore, true sportsman and Frederick Cecil Longden a man of good clean manhood certainly had an effect on the two young men who play in their positions for Sunderland RFC 1st XV today.