HOME PAGE

Lieutenant
HORACE FROST MARRIS
Royal Engineers 

by 

Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis, MSCE, PE, MinstRE
(June 2023) 

Figure 1. Lieutenant Horace Frost Marris, M.C., R.E.
(Image courtesy of The War Record of Old Dunelmians, 1914-1919) 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

            The principal references used in the preparation of this narrative were from a number of sources.  They include official registries in the United Kingdom, a number of family trees, internet web sites, and The London Gazette.  All sources are contained in the REFERENCE section at the end of the narrative and are cited throughout in the ENDNOTES.  Every effort has been made to accurately portray the military service of Lieutenant Marris.  

2.  FAMILY INFORMATION AND EARLY LIFE

Family Information

            Horace Frost Marris was born in Habrough, Lincolnshire on 22 May 1889.  He was the son of the Reverence Charles Colquhoun Marris (1854-1933), the Vicar of Harbrough, Grimsby, and Edith Marris, née Frost (1854-1940).[1]

Early Life

            Horace entered the Second Master’s House at Durham School in September 1903 and was a member of the football XI.  He left Durham School in July 1906 to work as an engineer at the immigration dock on the Humber.  He was employed there under the Great Central Railway until August 1914.[2]

3.  ENLISTMENT AND TRAINING 

Enlistment 

            Marris enlisted as a Sapper (Regimental Number 40631) in the Royal Engineers and trained with the 10^th (Irish) Division in the Curragh.  

Training 

The 10th (Irish) Division was not part of the regular, pre-War army, but was made up of new recruits after a call for men made by Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War. It recruited men from across Ireland (and beyond) and was trained at the Curragh during the autumn and winter of 1914. 

The Commander of the 10^th Divisional Engineers was Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Kendall Fair, R.E.  He had under his command the following units: 

65^th Field Company (O.C., Major J.H.DeW. Waller, R.E.

66^th Field Company

85^th Field Company

10^th Divisional Signal Company 

            In addition to the field companies, Lieutenant Colonel Fair could also work with men of the division’s Pioneer Battalion, the 5^th Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel The Earl of Granard, K.P. 

            The 10^th Division consisted of three infantry brigades: the 29^th , 30^th and 31^st .  The brigade commanders coordinated with the Commander Royal Engineers to establish a “normal association” between the brigades and the field companies so that the brigades were supported by the 65^th Field Company, the 66^th Field Company and the 85^th Field Company, respectively. 

            In March of 1915 the divisional engineers were located at Carlow in southeast Ireland and during that month they moved to the Curragh.  The following month the division concentrated at Basingstoke for division and brigade training exercises and on 28 May the division was inspected by His Majesty King George V in Hackwood Park.  Training of the division units continued into June and on 27 June orders were received to deploy to the Dardanelles.      The training period for the division lasted for just under a year and on 7 July 1915 the 10^th (Irish) Division deployed to Gallipoli.  Marris was already a Sergeant when the division arrived off shore at the Gallipoli Peninsula.  He had obviously demonstrated some excellent leadership skills during training in order to rise to the rank of Sergeant after only a year of service. 

4.  POSTINGS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

Gallipoli (1915)

            The 10^th Division took part in an amphibious landing at Sulva Bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula as part of the British August Offensive, the final British attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Gallipoli. The landing, which commenced on the night of 6 August 1915, was intended to support a breakout from the ANZAC sector, five miles to the south.

Although initially successful, against only light opposition, the landing at Suvla was mismanaged from the outset and quickly reached the same stalemate conditions that prevailed on the Anzac and Helles fronts. On 15 August, after a week of indecision and inactivity, the British commander at Suvla, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford, was relieved of his command. His performance during the operation at Sulva Bay was often considered one of the most incompetent feats of generalship of the Great War of 1914-1918.[3]

            The Suvla landing was to be made by the newly formed British IX Corps, initially comprising two brigades of the 10th (Irish) Division and the entire 11th (Northern) Division. The offensive was to open on 6 August 1915 with diversions at Helles (the Battle of Krithia Vineyard) and Anzac (the Battle of Lone Pine). The landing at Suvla was to commence at 2200 hours, an hour after the two assaulting columns had broken out of Anzac heading for the Sari Bair heights. The original plan at Suvla was to put the 11^th Division ashore south of Nibrunesi Point, the southern headland of the bay, as it was not considered safe to land in the dark within the bay itself where there were uncharted shoals. The 30^th and 31^st Brigades of the 10^th Division would land the following morning.[4]  Using the “normal association” previously described, Sergeant Marris and his 85^th Field Company probably had planned to go ashore with the 31^st Brigade commanded by Brigadier-General F.F. Hill, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.

The objective of IX Corps was to seize the ring of hills that surrounded the Suvla plain: Kiretch Tepe to the north along the Gulf of Saros, Tekke Tepe to the east and the Anafarta Spur to the south-east. The 32nd and 33rd Brigades of the 11th Division began to come ashore at "B Beach" south of Nibrunesi Point shortly before 2200 hours. In the first action fought by a New Army unit, two companies from the 6th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, drove the Ottoman defenders off the small hillock of Lala Baba which overlooked the beach. In doing so, the British took heavy casualties.  Shortly afterwards the 34th Brigade attempted to land at "A Beach" within Suvla Bay but the landing went awry from the start.  Elsewhere the landing was in chaos, having been made in pitch darkness which resulted in great confusion with units becoming mixed and officers unable to locate their position or their objectives.[5] 

Progress on 7 August was minimal. The two brigades of the 10th Division came ashore, adding to the confusion.  Reinforcements were arriving, the 53rd (Welsh) Division had started coming ashore on the night of 8 August, and the 54th (East Anglian) Division arrived on 10 August, but command remained paralyzed.[6]

The terrible mishandling of the landing at Sulva Bay caused Kitchener to appoint  Lieutenant-General Julian Byng to command IX Corps. On 15 August Hamilton dismissed Stopford and, while Byng was travelling from France, replaced him with Major-General Beauvoir De Lisle, commander of the British 29th Division at Helles. Hammersley was also dismissed but Hamilton intended to retain Mahon in command of the 10^th Division. However, Mahon was incensed that de Lisle, whom he disliked, was appointed above him and quit, saying "I respectfully decline to waive my seniority and to serve under the officer you name." He abandoned his division while it was in the thick of the fighting on Kiretch Tepe. The commander of the 53^rd (Welsh) Division, Major-General John Lindley, voluntarily resigned.[7]  

The Royal Engineers credit the 85^th Field Company with participation in the landing at Sulva Bay from 6 to 21 August 1915.  The company also is said to have participated in the Battle at Sari Bair from 6 to 10 August and the Battle of Scimitar Hill on 21 August.[8]  During the time that the company was involved in operations at Gallipoli it lost five men killed in action, seven men who died of wounds and one man from disease or accident.  See Annex A for a full account of these casualties.

The 10th (Irish) Division was withdrawn from Gallipoli on 30 September 1915, re-deployed to Salonica and remained there for two years.  Sergeant Marris was invalided home in December 1915, perhaps due to illness or a wound.

5. COMMISSIONED SERVICE AND CAMPAIGNS

France and Flanders (1916-1917)

            Having distinguished himself at Gallipoli, Marris was chosen for a commission in the Royal Engineers.  He was commissioned a Temporary 2^nd Lieutenant on 29 January 1916 and after some additional training, probably in an Officers Training Corps (O.T.C.) unit, he was posted to the 76^th Field Company with the Guards Division in France in July 1916.  Between the time of his posting to this company and his death on 12 December 1917, his unit was involved in numerous campaigns and battles and suffered a large number of fatal casualties.  According to Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers, the 76^th Field Company was credited with participation in the following actions: (See Note 1)

·         The Battle of Flers-Courcelette:   15 – 22 September 1916

·         The Battle of Morval:                   25 – 28 September 1916

·         The Battle of Pilckem:                  31 July – 2 August 1917 (See Note 2)

·         The Battle of Langemarck:           16 – 18 August 1917

·         The Battle of Menin Road:           20- 25 September 1917

·         The Battle of Poelcappelle:           9 October 1917

·         The Battle of Passchendaele:        12 October 1917

·         The Battle of Cambrai:                 20 November – 2 December 1917

NOTES:

(1)   On 15 March 1917 Marris was confirmed in the rank of 2^nd Lieutenant, thereby removing the word “Temporary” from his rank.[9]

(2)   On 4 June 1917 Marris was awarded the Military Cross for action in February 1917.  The citation for his award reads as follows:[10]

“Working nightly for a fortnight on Posts, when the lines were 45 to 100 yards apart, putting in very good work.

            Lieutenant Marris was badly wounded by a shell on 2 December 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai.  He died of his wounds in hospital on 12 December.  In addition to Marris, the 76^th Field Company suffered 24 other fatalities during the time that he was serving in the unit (See Annex B).  The 76^th Field Company was one of the most heavily engaged companies of the Royal Engineers to serve in the Great War.

            Marris was buried in the Tincourt New British Cemetery, Section IV, Row B, Plot 26.  Probate of his Will took place in London on 10 July 1918 with his effects going to his father, the Reverend Charles Colquhoun Marris of “Hazeldeane,” Dean Road in Guildford, Surrey.  His effects amount to £205 – 5 shillings – 6 pence (about $13,200 US in 2023 currency).

5. MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

            In addition to his Military Cross, Lieutenant Marris was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.  He appears on the medal roll for the 1914-15 Star as a Sergeant and on the roll for the British War Medal and Victory Medal as a 2^nd Lieutenant. 

            Horace Marris father applied for his 1914-15 Star on 20 March 1919 and his British War Medal and Victory Medals were issued to his father on 20 January 1921.  His family also would have received a Memorial Plaque to commemorate his death in service.  Presumably the Military Cross was issued to Marris while he was still alive. 

NOTE: The medals and Memorial Plaque shown above are not those of Lieutenant Marris.  They are included here for illustrative purposes only. 

Figure  5. The Great War Medal Index Card of
Lieutenant Horace Frost Marris, M.C., R.E.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

ANNEX A
Casualties of the 85^th Field Company, Royal Engineers at Gallipoli in 1915 

  
Legend: KIA – Killed in Action; DOW – Died of Wounds; Died – of disease or accidentally killed.

 ANNEX B
Casualties of the 76^th Field Company, Royal Engineers in France and Flanders,
July 1916 – December 1917 

Legend: KIA – Killed in Action; DOW – Died of Wounds; Died – of disease or accidentally killed.

 REFERENCES: 

Books 

1. COOPER, B. The Tenth (Irish) Division in Gallipoli.  Herbert Jenkins Limited, London, 1918.

2. THOMPSON, A.B. and MOSES, E.W. (editors). The War Record of Old Dunelmians, 1914-1919.  Robert Youll, Sunderland, 1919. Obituary.  

Civil Documents 

1918 Probate Calendar, p. 165. 

Databases 

1. Soldiers Died in the Great War.  The Naval and Military Press, Dallington, East Sussex, 1998.

2. Officers Died in the Great War.  The Naval and Military Press, Dallington, East Sussex, 1998.  

Family Tree 

Horace Frost Marris by Melanie Starkey. 

Internet Web Sites 

1. Wikipedia: The Landing at Sulva Bay

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_at_Suvla_Bay

2. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commemorative

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/

3. Wikipedia: 1917 Birthday Honours (Military Cross)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917_Birthday_Honours 

London Gazette 

1. Supplement to the London Gazette, 4 June 1917, pp. 5476 and 5481.

2. Supplement to the London Gazette, 15 March 1917, p. 2608.  

Medal Rolls 

1. Royal Engineers Medal Roll: British War Medal and Victory Medal (40361 Sergeant).

2. Royal Engineers Medal Roll: British War Medal and Victory Medal (Lieutenant).

3. Medal Index Card.  

Periodicals 

Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.  The Royal Engineers Journal.  The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1925-1932. 

Unit Chronologies  

1. 85^th Field Company, Royal Engineers (R.E. Battle Honours).

2. 76^th Field Company, Royal Engineers (R.E. Battle Honours).

 ENDNOTES: