Another soldier we should not forget.

In researching some of the sad tales of the young men of Sherborne who died in the Great War or the Second World War, I have encountered a surprising story of another man associated with Sherborne but not, technically, a son of Sherborne. I think as a community we need to reconcile that and remember this man for reasons that will become apparent. Let me tell you his story.

Tucked away on a part of the wall in Sherborne Church is a memorial stone:

From what I understand, he died in his early 60s, and his death was attributed to the wounds he received in British East Africa some 24 years earlier. So of course he doesn't appear on the village war memorial because he was still alive when it was erected. I think it's right that we remember him. So, who the heck was he?

Basil Corbett was married to the niece of Edward ,the Fourth Lord Sherborne, so he married into the extended Dutton family. The niece's name was Veronique (Vera) Corbett. What is a bit peculiar is that Vera's maiden name, as well as her married name, was Corbett in both cases. So she was born a Corbett and married another Corbett. Basil and Vera were married in Bombay, in India, in 1912. We think that Basil was born himself in India as a part of a family of Indian Army Officers. Vera spent much of her later life looking after her uncles, here in Sherborne, one of whom was Lord Sherborne.

Vera is buried here in Sherborne. I'm not entirely sure exactly where Basil Corbett was buried.

Basil appears to have been a career soldier in the 13th Rajputs, an Indian Army infantry regiment of some repute. I have found a record of him serving in 1902 as a lieutenant in the Indian Army Staff Corps. By the time he was injured in 1915, he was aged 41 and serving as a double Company Commander and the 13th Rajputs, in charge of probably 200 men, infantry soldiers.

I have researched the action he was injured in, which actually was in November 1914, not 1915, as the memorial states. I can tell you he was shot by a German Maxim machine gun in the hip at about 8:45 in the morning on the 3rd of November 1914.

A good description of the battle is here, albeit it mischaracterises what happened to Basil Corbett - he was badly injured but was not killed as reported here. http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/654822.html

He was eventually evacuated back to England and admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley, a military hospital, on the 1st of May 1915 some six months later. There they x-rayed his severely damaged hip and found the femur was smashed and much shrapnel present. The Netley Records describe his treatment as "massage and movement with crutches". Ouch. That feels a bit like "take two aspirin and come back next week if you don't feel any better." A bit grim for a man with a smashed femur and lots of shrapnel.

In 1939 he was living with his wife Vera at Hatherop rectory, and listed as follows:

Note - "Retired, incapacitated". I can't find any further records of service after 1915, but clearly at some point he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, perhaps while convalescing. It's likely that was the end of his service. And attribution at his death to injuries suffered in 1914/1915 meant effectively he did give his life for his country. He won't be remembered by anyone else, so I suggest that we in Sherborne adopt him and add him to the list of names we remember. In that sense, I think it's important we remember him along with the young men of the village come Remembrance Sunday, as an adopted son. It seems he lived for 25 years with bullets in his smashed hip from that violent action in East Africa in November 1914. That alone deserves our respect.

War damages people in different ways and at different times. Sometimes death is immediate; sometimes it takes a few decades, accompanied by a world of pain. We should make an extra effort to remember those who have maybe been forgotten. No one else will do it, so it's up to us even if it is on one day a year.

"Bol Bajrang Bali ki Jai!" - The battle cry of the 13th Rajputs.