William Lummis: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 20122021}}

|death_date = 2 November 1985 (ageaged 99 years)

|known_for = [[military]]Military [[historianhistory]]

|occupation = soldierSoldier, [[Church of England]] [[clergyman]]

[[Canon (priest)|Canon]] '''William Murrell Lummis''' [[Military Cross|MC]] (4 June 1886 &ndash; 2 November 1985) was a British military historian most noted for the research he conducted on the [[Victoria Cross]], the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]], and [[Rorke's Drift]].<ref name=Dutton>Roy Dutton, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CwDdEHu2hVgC&pg=PA358 ''Forgotten Heroes: The Charge of the Light Brigade''], InfoDial Ltd, (2007) - Google Books pg. 4</ref>

[[Image:lummis-1904.jpg|thumb|160px|left|<{{center>|William Lummis c. 1904</center>}}]]

Born in [[Coddenham]], [[Suffolk]], Lummis was the oldest of seven children born to George Murrell Lummis (1860 &ndash; 19121860–1912) and Louisa Sparrow (1854 &ndash; 19331854–1933).<ref>[http://www.lummis.org/p38.htm Lummis Family History]</ref> After leaving school at the age of 14, Lummis worked as a clerk in a Magistrates' Clerk's Office in his hometown of Coddenham before enlisting, aged 18, in the [[11th Hussars]] as a trooper in 1904.<ref name="Times">"Obituary: Canon W. M. Lummis", ''[[The Times]]'', 19 November 1985; pg. 18; Issue 62299; col G</ref> InBy 1911 he was a [[Lance Sergeant]] and became responsible, among manyamongst other thingsduties, for the editing of the 11th Hussars' regimental journal.<ref name="Times"/> At that time he met the survivors of the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]] who had gathered for a reunion. In 1912 he endeavoured to create a complete and accurate roll of the men who had served in the 11th Hussars in the [[Crimean War]].<ref name=harvey>Harvey, David (1999). ''Monuments to Courage : Victoria Cross Headstones and Memorials.'' Vol.1, 1854-19161854–1916. K & K Patience</ref>

By the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]] in August 1914, he was [[Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant]], the youngest in the [[British Army]]. He served on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] throughout the War, taking part in the [[Great Retreat|Retreat from Mons]] and seeing action in [[Flanders]].<ref name=harvey/> He was commissioned in 1916<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29544|page=3881|date=11 April 1916|supp=y}}</ref> and transferred to his county regiment, the [[Suffolk Regiment]], serving with the regiment's second battalion for the remainder of the war.<ref name="Times"/> He was awarded the [[Military Cross]] (MC) for bravery on 21–23 August 1918 during the [[Second Battle of the Somme]].<ref name="Times"/> He commanded the battalion on 23 October 1918 at its last First World War action, the [[Battle of the Selle]], when it took all its objectives.<ref name="Times"/> The full citation for his MC appeared in ''[[The London Gazette]]'' in November 1918, by which time the war was over, and reads as follows:

{{Quote|For conspicuous gallantry and good leadership. Through thick fog he led his company, under complete control, to the objective. He personally rushed an enemy machine gun and killed the crew. Later he led his company forward with great determination, in face of very heavy fire. He set a splendid example of determined courage to those under him.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31043|page=14250|date=29 November 1918|supp=y}}</ref>}}

After the Warwar ended, he remained in the Armyarmy, serving in [[British Raj|India]], [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and [[Ireland]]. He was appointed Adjutant and Quarter-Master in the Army School of Education in India, returning to [[England]] in 1925,<ref name="Times"/> rejoining his regiment on 14 October.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33139|page=1651|date=5 March 1926}}</ref> He was promoted to [[captain (land)|captain]] on 21 January 1928,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33393|page=4020|date=12 June 1928}}</ref> and on 9 December 1930 he reached the retirement age for service,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33668|page=7890|date=9 December 1930}}</ref> remaining in the reserve of officers for a further five years.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34230|page=7955|date=10 December 1935}}</ref> On leaving the Army he researched the other four [[Light cavalry|Light Brigade]] regiments which had also taken part in the Charge of the Light Brigade.<ref name=harvey/>

Lummis ran [[Boy Scout]] troops from 1909, firstly at [[Shornecliffe]] and later at [[Aldershot]], in [[India]], and at [[Ipswich]] and [[Kesgrave]] until the late 1930s. In 1948 he was re-commissioned as a [[Royal Army Chaplains' Department|Chaplain to the Forces, 4th Class]], with the Suffolk [[Army Cadet Force]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=38440|supp=y|page=5676|date=22 October 1948}}</ref> and in 1950 became a [[first lieutenant|lieutenant]], also in the SuffokSuffolk ACF,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=40150|supp=y|page=2364|date=16 April 1954}}</ref> and continued to serve until his retirement in 1954.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41071|supp=y|page=2931|date=14 May 1957}}</ref>

Lummis' first regiment, the [[11th Hussars]] rode in the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]] during the [[Crimean War]]. Whilst editing the regimental journal, Lummis met and interviewed many surviving members of the Charge.<ref name=Dutton/><ref name = "Times"/> (The last veteran of Balaklava died in 1927)<ref>[[Terry Brighton|Brighton, Terry]]; ''Hell Riders: The Truth About the Charge of the Light Brigade'', p. xxi. (2004: Viking) {{ISBN|978-0-670-91528-6}}</ref> Hearing about the 1875 reunion when over 2000 men claimed to have taken part, he set about preparing a roll of those who charged, soon fleshing the list out with biographies. Over his lifetime, this built into a major archive, acknowledged as a major source by [[Lawrence W. Crider]] for his book, ''In Search of the Light Brigade''.<ref>Crider, Lawrence W.; ''In Search of the Light Brigade''. (2004: Eurocommunica Publications) {{ISBN|978-1-898763-12-3}}</ref> Lummis was also the co-author, with Kenneth G. Wynn, of ''Honour the Light Brigade'', which was published when he was 83 years old.<ref name=harvey/>

His collection of artefacts (including many photographs) and his archives from his Victoria Cross and Light Brigade research were deposited with the [[Imperial War Museum]]<ref>Imperial War Museum accession nos: 12142, 47934K, 16863</ref> and the [[National Army Museum]]. When the Royal Mail produced a series of stamps in 2006 commemorating the Victoria Cross, they featured photographs and artifacts from the Lummis archive at the [[National Army Museum]].<ref>[http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump2?catId=22900465&mediaId=22900498 Commemorative stamps]</ref> His tape-recorded memoirs, covering the period 1904-19191904–1919, are in the [[Imperial War Museum]] sound archives.<ref>Imperial War Museum accession no: 9098</ref> His notes and papers on the histories of Norfolk parishes (1931–1967) went to the [[Norfolk Record Office]].<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=D2972 Lummis, William Murrell (''fl.'' 1931-1967) Anglican Clergyman] detail from the [[National Register of Archives]], [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]]. Retrieved 2008-07-25.</ref> His [[Crimean War]] archives were shared with [[David Charles Harvey|Dave Harvey]], Ken Horton, Glenn Fisher, Andrew Sewell, Roy Mills,<ref name="Boys archive">[http://www.chargeofthelightbrigade.com/ ''The Lives of the Light Brigade: the E. J. Boys Archive'']</ref> and [[Edward James Boys]].<ref name="Boys archive"/> Since Lummis' death in 1985, the [[Crimean War Research Society]] has awarded the Canon Lummis Trophy annually for original research into the [[Crimean War]].

William Lummis married Agnes Templeton (1897 &ndash; 19761897–1976) in 1919<ref name="Times"/> and was the father of Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Templeton Lummis (1920–1999) of the Suffolk Regiment and a World War II military historian.