Lieutenant Noel Edmund Scott, Royal Engineers

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis, MSCE, P.E., MinstRE
(September 2023)

Figure 1. Lieutenant Noel Edmund Scott, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)

422^nd (West Lancashire) Field Company, Royal Engineers
Who died on 21 September 1917, Age 24

Seventh and youngest son of Thomas and Elizabeth Scott
Of 6, Fortfield Villas, Rathmines, Dublin

2. FAMILY INFORMATION AND EARLY LIFE

Noel Edmund Scott was born in Monasterevan, County Kildare, Ireland on 24 December 1892. He was the son of Thomas Scott (1841-1937) and Elizabeth Scott, née Abraham (1847-1912).[1]

As a child, Noel was schooled by a private tutor. His education was such that by 1908 he was able to enter the office of a quantity surveyor, George Metcalfe. He worked for Mr. Metcalfe for about a year when he realized that his true career would be in the field of architecture. In 1909 he moved to the office of Edwin Bradbury (1875-1948), the President of the Architectural Association, where he began work as an architect’s apprentice. He remained with Bradbury, first as a pupil and then as an assistant, until July 1914.[2]

Figure 2. Young Noel Edmund Scott as an Apprentice Architect.
(Image courtesy of Stuart Roberts)

During his time with Bradbury he attended the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art where he won a first prize for architectural drawing and design. From July 1914 to September 1915 he worked for McDonnell & Reid, an Architectural partnership of Laurence Aloysius McDonnell (1867-1925) and Alexander William Douglas Reid (1884-?). The firm was ended by the Great War when Reid enlisted in the Durham Light Infantry. Scott then moved to Cork to work for Samuel F. Hynes (1854-1931).[3]

Scott was obviously a talented young architect and designer, as indicated by his record of employment by some of the top men in the field in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. However, despite his achievements and the potential for an illustrious and well-compensated career in architecture, Scott decided to join many of his young comrades to fight German tyranny in Western Europe and he elected to do it as an officer in the Corps of Royal Engineers.

On 7 September 1915 Noel Edmund Scott applied for a commission in the Territorial Force. His application shows that he wished to be appointed a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Kent (Fortress) Engineers. He indicated on his application that he was British by birth and that his father was Irish, but that his family was of pure European descent. He declared his surname to be Scott and his Christian names to be Noël Edmund, using an umlaut diacritical mark over the letter “e” in Noel. This perhaps seemed to be a little fanciful and a little snobbish affectation, but one that he chose to use.

Scott gave his date of birth as 24 December 1892 and his place of birth as Monasterevin, County Kildare. His height was 6 feet ½ inch, rather tall for young men of this era. His address was 6 Summerhill Terrace in Cork at the time of his application for the commission.

Scott claimed to have been educated by a private tutor which begs the question as to how he became proficient as a quantity surveyor and as an architect’s assistant. His private tutor probably provided his childhood learning, but surely much, if not most of his technical education was obtained while he was an apprentice. In fact by the time of his completing his application for a commission he claimed that he was an Architect’s Senior Assistant.

Scott responded “no” to each of the questions regarding any previous employment by the government or present or previous service in the naval and military forces. Interestingly, he claimed to have applied for service in the Royal Flying Corps, but it appears that this application in the RFC was never approved.[4]

On 15 September 1915 Scott’s application was approved and he was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers (T.F.) and posted to the School of Military Engineering (S.M.E.) at Chatham, Kent.

His training at the School of Military Engineering was to prepare him for war service. This training would have included courses in field fortifications, construction, surveying, telegraphy, electric lighting, photography, chemistry, military law and tactics. Since Scott already had been working as a surveyor prior to his commission, this portion of his training at the S.M.E. may have been curtailed or perhaps even eliminated.

On 1 June 1916 while he was still at Chatham, Scott was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant[5] and after graduation from the S.M.E. he was posted to the 2/1^st (West Lancashire) Field Company, Royal Engineers. At the time of his posting, the 2/1^st (West Lancs) Field Company was serving with the 57^th (2^nd West Lancashire) Division.

In January 1916 Scott’s company was transferred to the 55^th (West Lancashire) Division and it was with this division that he would serve during the war. On 14 July 1916 he went to France on active service.[6] At the time that Lieutenant Scott joined the company, the unit was commanded by Major C.T. Brown, D.S.O., T.D., R.E. and the Division’s Commander Royal Engineers was Lieutenant Colonel J.E.E. Craster, R.E. Other engineering units assigned to the 55^th Division at the time included the 1/1^st (West Lancashire) Field Company, the 2/2^nd (West Lancashire) Field Company and the 55^th Divisional Signal Company. The field companies could also rely on the division’s pioneer battalion, the 1/4^th South Lancashire Regiment for support in the field.

Soon after Lieutenant Scott’s arrival in France, his company took part in a number of significant engagements, all continuations of the Battle of the Somme.[7]

The Battle of Guillemont was an attack on the village which was captured by the Fourth Army on the first day. Guillemont was on the right flank of the British sector, near the boundary with the French Sixth Army. German defences ringed the British salient at Delville Wood to the north and had observation over the French Sixth Army area to the south towards the Somme river. The German defence in the area was based on the second line and numerous fortified villages and farms north from Maurepas at Combles, Guillemont, Falfemont Farm, Delville Wood and High Wood, which were mutually supporting. The battle for Guillemont was considered by some observers to be the supreme effort of the German army during the battle. Numerous meetings were held by Joffre, Haig, Foch, General Sir Henry Rawlinson (commander of the British Fourth Army) and Fayolle to co-ordinate joint attacks by the four armies, all of which broke down. A pause in Anglo-French attacks at the end of August, coincided with the largest counter-attack by the German army in the Battle of the Somme.

On 30 July the 55^th Division took over the line opposite Guillemont and the 164^th Infantry Brigade, together with a company of the 1/4^th South Lancashire Regiment (Pioneers) and Lieutenant Scott’s company, less two sections, occupied the front with the 39^th French Division on its right and the British 2^nd Division on its left. The 164^th Infantry Brigade had been selected to carry out the projected attack on Guillemont, but it incurred very heavy casualties during its occupation of the line preliminary to the attack, that it was decided to also send up the 165^th Infantry Brigade and this brigade together with another company of the Pioneers and the 1/1^st West Lancashire Field Company, R.E. took over a portion of the front on the division’s right flank.[9]

The Battle of Delville Wood was an operation to secure the British right flank, while the centre advanced to capture the higher-lying areas of High Wood and Pozières. After the Battle of Albert the offensive had evolved to the capture of fortified villages, woods, and other terrain that offered observation for artillery fire, jumping-off points for more attacks, and other tactical advantages. The mutually costly fighting at Delville Wood eventually secured the British right flank and marked the Western Front debut of the South African 1st Infantry Brigade (incorporating a Southern Rhodesian contingent), which held the wood from 15 to 20 July. When relieved, the brigade had lost 2,536 men, similar to the casualties of many brigades on 1 July.

On the night of the 4^th/5^th September the 55^th Division went back into the line and the 165^th and 166^th Infantry Brigades with two companies of the 1/4^th South Lancashire Pioneers and the 1/1^st (West Lancashire) Field Company relieved Brigades of the 24^th Division from a point midway between High Wood and Delville Wood, across the Longueval-Flers road, around the front of Delville Wood to Ale Alley, east of Delville Wood. On 7 September the 164^th Infantry Brigade with a company of Pioneers and the 2/1^st (West Lancashire) Field Company, relieved a Brigade of the 7^th Division in the line from Ale Alley to Ginchy Avenue, southeast of Delville Wood.[11]

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Descriptions given by COOP in The Story of the 55^th Division indicate that Major General Sir Hugh Sandham Jeudwine, K.C.B., the G.O.C. of the 55^th Division, appears to have created a “normal association” between the 164^th Infantry Brigade and Scott’s 2/1^st (West Lancashire) Field Company; that is, the company normally supported that brigade in tactical operations.

In the Battle of Ginchy the 16th Division captured the German-held village. Ginchy was about one north-east of Guillemont, at the junction of six roads on a rise overlooking Combles, 2.5 miles to the south-east. After the end of the Battle of Guillemont, British troops were required to advance to positions which would give observation over the German third position, ready for a general attack in mid-September. British attacks from Leuze Wood northwards to Ginchy had begun on 3 September, when the 7th Division captured the village and was then forced out by a German counter-attack. The capture of Ginchy and the success of the French Sixth Army on 12 September, in its biggest attack of the battle of the Somme, enabled both armies to make much bigger attacks, sequenced with the Tenth and Reserve armies, which captured much more ground and inflicted about 130,000 casualties on the German defenders during the month.

The Battle of Flers–Courcelette was the third and final general offensive mounted by the British Army, which attacked an intermediate line and the German third line to take Morval, Lesboeufs and Gueudecourt, which was combined with a French attack on Frégicourt and Rancourt to encircle Combles and a supporting attack on the south bank of the Somme. The strategic objective of a breakthrough was not achieved but the tactical gains were considerable, the front line being advanced by 2,500–3,500 yards and many casualties were inflicted on the German defenders. The battle was the debut of the Canadian Corps, the New Zealand Division and tanks of the Heavy Branch of the Machine Gun Corps on the Somme.

The Battle of Morval was an attack by the Fourth Army on Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesboeufs held by the German 1st Army, which had been the final objectives of the Battle of Flers–Courcelette. The attack was postponed to combine with attacks by the French Sixth Army on Combles, south of Morval and because of rain. The combined attack was also intended to deprive the German defenders further west, near Thiepval of reinforcements, before an attack by the Reserve Army, due on 26 September. Combles, Morval, Lesboeufs and Gueudecourt were captured and a small number of tanks joined in the battle later in the afternoon. Many casualties were inflicted on the Germans but the French made slower progress. The Fourth Army advance on 25 September was its deepest since 14 July and left the Germans in severe difficulties, particularly in a salient near Combles. The Reserve Army attack began on 26 September in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge.

On 3 January 1917 the 2/1^st (West Lancashire) Field Company was redesignated as the 422^nd (West Lancashire) Field Company as part of the reorganization of the Regular Army and the Territorial Force. At this same time the 55^th Division’s other field companies were redesignated: the 1/1^st (West Lancashire) Field Company as the 419^th Field Company and the 2/2^nd (West Lancashire) Field Company as the 423^rd Field Company. [15]

Lieutenant Scott was given leave to the UK on 28 June 1917 and he remained there until 10 July when he rejoined his company in the Ypres area (West Vlaanderen). On 31 July1917, the first day of the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2 August 1917) and the opening day of the Passchendaele campaign, Lieutenant Scott led a reconnaissance of newly captured German positions.[16]

The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, sometimes called "Battle of the Menin Road", was the third British general attack of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War. The battle took place from 20 to 25 September 1917, in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on the Western Front. During the pause in British and French general attacks from late August to 20 September, the British changed some infantry tactics, adopting the leap-frog method of advance.

Waves of infantry stopped once they reached their objective and consolidated the ground, while supporting waves passed through the objective to attack the next one and the earlier waves became the tactical reserve. General adoption of the method was made possible when more artillery was brought into the salient, by increasing the number of aircraft involved in close air support and by the Royal Flying Corps giving the tasks of air defence, contact-patrol, counter-attack patrol, artillery observation and ground-attack to particular aircraft.

In early September, optimism increased among German commanders that the Flanders offensive had been defeated and several divisions and air units were transferred elsewhere. Drier weather and extensive road repairs made it much easier for the British to move vast amounts of supplies forward from the original front line. Visibility increased except for frequent ground fog around dawn, which helped conceal British infantry during the attack, before clearing to expose German preparations for counter-attacks to British observation and attack.

The British infantry succeeded in capturing most of their objectives and then holding them against German counter-attacks, inflicting many casualties on the German defenders and Eingreifdivisionen, sent to reinforce them, by massed artillery and small-arms fire. German defences on the Gheluvelt Plateau, which had been retained or quickly recaptured in July and August were lost and the British began a run of success which lasted into early October.

The Third Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele), took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders, as part of a strategy decided by the Allies at conferences in November 1916 and May 1917. Passchendaele lies on the last ridge east of Ypres, 5 miles from Roulers (now Roeselare), a junction of the Bruges-(Brugge)-to-Kortrijk railway. The station at Roulers was on the main supply route of the German 4th Army. Once Passchendaele Ridge had been captured, the Allied advance was to continue to a line from Thourout to Couckelaere.

The British plan for the battle fought from 20 to 25 September, included more emphasis on the use of heavy and medium artillery to destroy German concrete pill-boxes and machine-gun nests, which were more numerous in the battle zones being attacked, than behind the original July front line and to engage in more counter-battery fire. The British had 575 heavy and medium and 720 field guns and howitzers, more than double the quantity of artillery available at the Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Aircraft were to be used for systematic air observation of German troop movements, to avoid the failures of previous battles, where too few aircrews had been burdened with too many duties and had flown in bad weather, which made their difficulties worse.

On 20 September, the Allies attacked on a 14,500-yard front and by mid-morning had captured most of their objectives, to a depth of about 1,500 yards. Lieutenant Scott’s company took part in the offensive action and was assigned the job of repairing a track known as W6 to the northeast of Ypres. During this action, Scott was wounded in the head by a sniper at about 1100 hours in the vicinity of Gallipoli Farm. The following is an excerpt from a field report made by one Corporal P. Jones of the 423^rd Field Company, another 55^th Division field company working in close proximity to Scott’s 422^nd Company:

“. . . shortly afterwards I saw Lt Scott of the 422 Field Coy RE, carrying a wounded man on his back towards GALLIPOLI FARM. I then went and reported to him and asked his advise as to what I should do and he agreed that it was impossible to proceed to DELVA and so we had better consolidate at GALLIPOLI. I then mustered a party of 15 Sappers and Infantry and dug a trench 40 yds long and put one MG Emplacement at each end. In the meantime Lt Scott was badly wounded in the head by a sniper at about 11.00am. I then had him dressed by a Stretcher Bearer and put fairly comfortable. I then had orders to man the trench with my party and the garrison (6^th King’s Liverpool regt.) as the enemy was counterattacking. We manned the trench until I received orders from the OC Garrison to get my men and take Lt Scott to a Dressing Station. I got four men and took him to POMMERN CASTLE and handed him over to the RAMC who dressed him and took him away.”

It would appear that Scott took few precautions by standing upright close to the front line and making himself a prime target for a German sniper. This was certainly a mistake for a man who was over 6 feet in height. His carelessness cost him dearly.

The Germans made many hasty counter-attacks, beginning around 1500 hours until early evening, all of which failed to gain ground or made only a temporary penetration of the new British positions. The German defence had failed to stop a well-prepared attack made in good weather. Minor attacks took place after 20 September, as both sides jockeyed for position and reorganized their defences. A mutually-costly attack by the Germans on 25 September, recaptured pillboxes at the south western end of Polygon Wood. Next day, the German positions near the wood were swept away in the Battle of Polygon Wood.

Lieutenant Scott was evacuated from the Dressing Station at Pommern Castle to the 12^th Casualty Clearing Station at Mendinghem, near Poperinghe, where he died of his wounds on 21 September 1917. He was buried at Mendinghem Military Cemetery, Plot V, Row D, Grave 14.

The 422^nd Field Company lost four other men during this action on 20 September 1917, including:

A complete list of Officers and Other Ranks of the company who were killed or died during the war is presented in Annex A or this report.

For his service in the Great War Noel Edmund Scott was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal with Mention in Despatches oak leaf. Many of the references found during the research regarding Scott’s service indicate that he was Mentioned in Despatches (MID) for his services during the Somme campaign. No London Gazette notice for his MID could be found, however the Commonwealth War Graves Commission does indicate that he did receive such an award. His medals are shown in the Figure below. These are his actual medals, which are in the possession of a family member. The bronze oak leaf for his Mention in Despatches is not shown with the Victory Medal. It would be placed on the Victory Medal ribbon as shown below.

Figure 3. Left to right – the British War Medal and Victory Medal with their Original Boxes of Issue.
(Image courtesy of Stuart Roberts)

Figure 5. Lieutenant Scott’s Medal Index Card.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

The reverse side of the Medal Index Card shows that the medals were sent to Scott’s father on 26 October 1922 at 6 Fortfield Villa on Dartry Road in Dublin. As Noel’s next-of-kin his father also would have received a bronze memorial plaque to commemorate his son’s death while on active service. The plaque would have been cast with Scott’s name in the rectangle above the lion’s head as shown in the Figure below.

Lieutenant Noel Edmund Scott was thought of highly by his contemporaries. One of his fellow officers wrote this about him:

“Whatever Noel Scott took up he attacked with the utmost vigour. He set out to become a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and he worked early, late, and all the time until he had passed the Preliminary and Intermediate Examinations of the body, and had he been spared his energy would have forced him through the Final in good time…His character may be expressed by the word "Energy"; in his work, in his walk, in his talk, he was full of push; withal of an affectionate disposition.”

COOPS (p. 182) records the following casualties in the 422^nd Field Company during the war.

COOP, J.O. The Story of the 55^th (West Lancashire) Division. Daily Post Printers, Liverpool, 1919.

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

[1] Family Tree.

[2] Dictionary of Irish Architects.

[3] Ibid.

[4] All of the information dealing with his application for a commission was taken from his Army Form E. 536.

[5] London Gazette, 1 November 1917. This promotion was made after his death, but was backdated to 1 June 1916. It is not known whether he ever was advised of this pending promotion before his death in September 1917.

[6] Medal Index Card.

[7] Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.

[8] Battle of the Somme.

[9] COOP, pp. 30 and 31.

[10] Battle of the Somme.

[11] COOP, p. 37.

[12] Battle of the Somme

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Army Council Instructions.

[16] Family Tree.

[17] Battle of the Menin Road.

[18] The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists only a total of 55 all ranks.

ANNEX A Fatal Casualties in the 422nd Field Company during the Great War of 1914-1918
Surname	Forename	Initials	Date Of Death	Rank	Regt. No.
DODGE		J J	21/05/1918	Sapper	67901
HAMSON	ANTONY WILLIAM FRANKLAND	A W F	21/05/1918	Sapper	85508
KELLY		P	21/05/1918	Sapper	412186
LOVELL	JOHN HENRY	J H	21/05/1918	Sapper	200099
TONG	GEORGE	G	15/08/1918	Lieutenant
CLIFFORD		J	20/09/1917	Sapper	422778
HEMPSALL	GEORGE CECIL	G C	20/09/1917	Sapper	177258
THOMAS	WALTER HERBERT	W H	20/09/1917	2nd Corporal	426279
FALL	HARRY	H	10/04/1918	Sapper	504621
PRICE		J	14/10/1916	Sapper	7126
ADAMS		A	16/06/1918	Sapper	101721
PEARCE		F E	8/11/1918	Sapper	490321
BROWN		A G	31/07/1917	Sapper	22200
RANKIN		J	8/03/1918	L/Corporal	422168
RIMMER	HARRY	H	9/04/1918	Sapper	426365
CRAIG		A	8/3/1918	Sapper	412715
JOHNSON		T	9/04/1918	Corporal	426329
LEYLAND		H	9/04/1918	Sapper	426354
NUTTALL		J	9/04/1918	Sapper	426441
TURTILL		H S	9/04/1918	Serjeant	426516
HAMILTON	EDWARD	E	30/03/1918	Sapper	426317
BARRON		J	9/04/1918	Sapper	470277
MARLAND	SAMUEL	S	21/07/1917	Sapper	426804
HEATON	JAMES	J	1/08/1917	Sapper	426390
CARR		A H	31/07/1917	Sapper	183127
EDWARDS	CHARLES	C	31/07/1917	L/Corporal	426346
DOWN	GEORGE ALBERT	G A	30/11/1917	Sapper	540819
EDWARDS	GEORGE	G	30/11/1917	L/Corporal	488668
HENSHALL		H	31/07/1917	Serjeant	426523
GALLAGHER	VINCENT	V	30/11/1917	Sapper	426314
HILLMAN	ALFRED WILLIAM THOMAS	A W T	30/11/1917	Sapper	203392
McCOLL	HUGH	H	30/11/1917	Sapper	188535
REED	BERT	B	30/11/1917	Sapper	471745
BEARDWOOD	JOSEPH	J	10/01/1917	Sapper	426416
SCOTT	WILLIAM	W	30/11/1917	Sapper	470892
SIDDALL	HERBERT BAKER	H B	30/11/1917	Sapper	474240
LINDOW		A	31/07/1917	Sapper	426430
THOMPSON		J M	31/07/1917	Sapper	426510
CASE	JOSEPH	J	26/09/1916	Sapper	426454
BRANTON	JACOB AYNSLEY	J A	30/11/1917	Sapper	470262
JOHNSON	FREDERICK CHARLES	F C	20/09/1917	Sapper	428583
BRUCE	SYDNEY	S	13/04/1918	Sapper	155260
MARSHALL		G A P	27/05/1917	Sapper	488595
ADDINGTON	CHARLIE	C	12/06/1918	Sapper	224831
RODGER	JOHN	J	11/11/1918	Driver	412255
SCOTT	NOEL EDMOND	N E	21/09/1917	Lieutenant
HULME	HENRY ERNEST	H E	7/06/1917	Sapper	426547
WEBSTER	JOSEPH	J	7/06/1917	Sapper	426859
WILSON	WILLIAM	W	12/07/1917	Sapper	426275
TIMMS	FRANK ARTHUR	F A	29/03/1918	Sapper	486596
WELLMAN	HARRY (HENRY)	H	9/04/1918	Serjeant	526520
SMITH	EDWARD	E	7/06/1917	Sapper	426299
EVANS	JOHN	J	28/05/1917	Driver	426755
HAYES	CEDRIC GEORGE	C G	9/04/1918	Lieutenant
NEWSOME		G	3/06/1917	Sapper	426391