Captain Henry Clifford Stroud, R.E.

Figure 1. Captain Henry Clifford Stroud, R.E.[1]
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)

Stroud was a young Civil Engineer who joined the Territorial Force of the British Army even before the Great War began in 1914. He clearly saw his duty to serve his country as an engineer officer while also pursuing his civilian career. When war was declared in August of 1914, his unit was mobilized and was sent to France. He did not get the opportunity to serve at the front for very long, as he was severely wounded a short time after his arrival there. Following his convalescence he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps and was, unfortunately, killed in an aircraft accident in the last year of the war.

2. FAMILY INFORMATION AND EARLY LIFE

Henry Clifford Stroud was the son of Henry Stroud (1861-1940), a professor of physics at Armstrong College of the University of Durham, and Eva Antoinette Stroud, née Emett, (1861-1928). In addition to Henry, the Strouds had two daughters: Irene Helena Stroud (1888-1972) and Bessie Vera Whiting Stroud (1891-1970).[2]

Henry was born on 25 July 1893 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland. As a youngster he attended the Newcastle Royal Grammar School and in 1910 he entered Armstrong College where his father was a professor.[3] Showing a keen interest in engineering while at Armstrong College, he was elected a Graduate of the North East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in 1910. The 1911 Census of England and Wales shows Henry living at the family home, “Cresta,” in North Heaton, Newcastle, with his parents, sisters and two domestic servants. Henry is shown in the census as a 17-year old engineering student.

The years spent with the Officers Training Corps instilled in Henry a desire to serve in the Army. With his OTC background and his academic work and experience in engineering, he applied for a commission in the Territorial Force. On 12 June 1912 he was gazetted a Second Lieutenant (supernumerary) in the Northumbrian Divisional Royal Engineers and was posted to the 1^st (The Newcastle) Northumbrian Field Company Divisional Engineers from the Durham University Contingent, Senior Division, Officers Training Corps.[6]

Although he was now an officer in the Territorial Force, he was allowed to continue his education at Armstrong College. On 15 April 1913 he became a student attached to the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).[7] He graduated from Armstrong College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering in 1913 and went on to attend King’s College Cambridge to receive a BA degree.[8] It was fortunate that the start of the Great War was still a year away, thus allowing him to continue his education.

Stroud was promoted to Lieutenant on 10 June 1914.[9] That summer he attended annual training with the 1/1^st Northumbrian Field Company under the command of Major G.C. Pollard, R.E.[10] with the Northumbrian Division.

With war with Germany looming on the horizon, the Northumbrian Division was called home from annual training on 3 August 1914. The Northumbrian Division Engineers, under Lieutenant Colonel Frederick S. Crawford, R.E.[11] returned to their headquarters Drill Hall at Barras Bridge in Newcastle to prepare for additional training and deployment to France.[12] On 4 August 1914 the division was mobilized and on 26 December 1914 Stroud and his company left the Northumbrian Division to join the 28^th Division forming at Winchester[13] under the command of Major General Edward Stanislaus Bulfin.

Figure 3. Major General Edward Stanislaus Bulfin.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

The 1/1^st Northumbrian Field Company, R.E. embarked for France on 19 January 1915 and landed at Le Havre. Stroud’s stay in France was to be a very short one. The first major engagement of the 28^th Division was at Gravenstafel (22-23 April 1915), but Stroud was severely wounded in both legs on 8 February 1915 and was hospitalized at Versailles.[14]

Upon disembarking at Le Havre, Stroud and his company moved to join the remainder of the division’s units in the area between Bailleul and Hazebrouck. As this area was well behind the front lines, it appears that it may have been close enough to receive artillery fire from the Germans. For Stroud to have been wounded in both legs while he was at some point between Bailleul and Hazebrouck, it can only be assumed that his wounds were due to shrapnel from an artillery shell.

After being initially treated for his wounds at Versailles, on 30 April 1915 Stroud was returned home for further treatment and convalescence. He was sent to the 1^st Northern Hospital where he was in very familiar surroundings. His alma mater, Armstrong College had been converted to this hospital. It appears that the Army graciously sent him to a hospital near his home where he could be visited frequently by friends and relations.

Figure 4. Convalescing Soldiers and Nursing Sisters at the 1^st Northern General Hospital
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

After a period of treatment it was determined that he could not return to active service, at least not with a unit of the Royal Engineers, due to the severity of his wounds. He was posted to Otley (probably Farnley Camp) in Yorkshire where he was appointed an instructor in Field Engineering and later an instructor in Bombing.[15]

On 18 October 1915 Stroud was appointed a Temporary Captain in the Northumberland Divisional Engineers,[16] although he was no longer serving with the unit and on 1 June 1916 he was promoted to the substantive rank of Captain in the Royal Engineers.[17] Despite these promotions he did not return to duty with a field unit of the R.E.

Figure 5. Captain Stroud’s Pilot Certificate.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

From its creation in 1907, Brooklands, in Surrey, had been at the centre of breaking speed records, motor racing, advances in science and technology and where many aircraft were built, tested and flown. In 1916 Stroud had the opportunity to learn to fly at what was listed on the card above as the “Military School, Brooklands.” Figure 5 appears to indicate that Stroud received Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate 3427 for qualifying as a pilot on a Maurice Farman Biplane.

On 22 September 1916 Stroud was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, undoubtedly due to his pilot training at Brooklands. He was gazetted a 2^nd Lieutenant (temporary Captain) Flying Officer in the R.F.C.[18] The London Gazette of 28 February 1917 indicated that he was a “2^nd Lieutenant (temporary Captain) to be Lieutenant with precedence from 10 June 1914” as previously mentioned.

In July 1917 Lieutenant Stroud was posted to Rochford Aerodrome in Essex with the 61^st Squadron R.F.C. for the defence of London. The 61^st Squadron R.F.C. was formed at RAF Rochford on 24 July 1917 (or on 2 August of that year), as one of the first three single-seater fighter squadrons of the London Air Defence Area intended to counter German daytime air raids. It was equipped with the Sopwith Pup. The squadron first went into action on 12 August, when a formation of 10 Gotha bombers came in over the mouth of the Thames. Sixteen Pups of the 61^st Squadron took off to intercept them and succeeded in turning the enemy back, but not before two bombs had been dropped near 61’s hangars on Rochford Aerodrome. See German Bombing of Britain, 1914-1918.

In 1918 Stroud’s squadron was re-equipped with Se5s. On 7 March 1918 he was killed flying around midnight in Essex; the only night that the Germans raided when there was no moon. He took off in an Se5a, No. B679, at 2330 hours to intercept a German raider heading for London. A minute earlier Alexander Bruce Kynoch of the 37^th Squadron based at Stow Maries had taken off in a Royal Aircraft Factory BE12, No. C3208, to intercept the same raider. In the darkness the two aircraft collided and fell in Dollymans Farm, Essex.

Figures 8 and 9. The Aircraft Involved in the Collision.
The Se5a (left) and the BE12 (right)(Images courtesy of Wikipedia)

Figures 10 and 11. Captain Kynoch and his Grave.
(Images courtesy of Wikipedia)

Captain Alexander Bruce Kynoch had been born in Edmonton, Greater London in 1894. He had served with the Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment at Gallipoli, Egypt and Macedonia before being seconded to the Royal Flying Corps. Kynoch was buried at Islington and St. Pancras Cemetery in East Finley, London, Plot G. 1. 7422.[19]

Stroud’s memorial service in St. Thomas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was well attended, not only by his private friends, but by representatives of Armstrong College, the College of Medicine, the University’s Officers’ Training Corps, and the Northumbrian Royal Engineers. He was buried at St Andrew’s Church, Rochford and a permanent memorial of the accident was placed at the spot where the two planes crashed. The memorial is still there and consists of an aeroplane propeller and plaque mounted on a plinth.

Probate of the Will of Henry Clifford Stroud took place at Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 23 September 1918. His effects, in the amount of £1,139, 18 shillings and 1 pence (about $75,000 US in 2024 currency) were left to his father, Henry Stroud.[20] Professor Stroud endowed a physics prize in his son’s honour at the University of Durham. This prize was still being awarded well into the 1940s.[21]

Figure 15. The 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and Memorial Plaque.
(Image from the author’s collection)

On 21 June 1920 Professor Stroud applied for his son’s 1914-15 Star.[22] The medal was sent to him on 1 September 1920. He also received his son’s British War Medal and Victory Medal on or about 9 April 1921. Examples of these medals are shown in Figure 15 below. He also would have received a Memorial Plaque to commemorate his son’s death during the war.

Note: The medals and memorial plaque shown below are not those of Captain Stroud. Stroud’s plaque would have been cast with his name in the rectangle above the lion’s head. The images are meant to indicate the types of medals and the plaque that his family would have received to commemorate his service during the Great War of 1914-1918.

[1] The collar badges Stroud is wearing in Figure 1 are unusual, as they do not have the “UBIQUE” scroll beneath the grenade. Close examination of the photograph indicates that the badges do have nine flames, a feature that distinguishes them from the Royal Artillery badge, which only has seven flames.

Figure 16. The Royal Engineers Officers’ Collar Badge.
(Image from the author’s collection)

[5] Projects undertaken by the Arol company included the replacement for the Tay Bridge (completed in 1887), the Forth Bridge (completed in 1890) and Tower Bridge (completed in 1894). The firm was also contracted by the Harland and Wolff Shipyard, Belfast, to construct a large gantry (known as the Arrol Gantry) for the construction of three new super-liners, one of which was called the RMS Titanic.

[9] London Gazette, 28 February 1917. His promotion was not gazetted until this date, but his date of rank was backdated to 10 June 1914.

[10] Later Lieutenant Colonel, CMG, DSO and Commander Royal Engineers 32^nd Division.

[11] Northumberland Division Commander Royal Engineers from 23 May 1907 to 16 April 1915.

[18] London Gazettes, 16 October 1916 and 20 October 1916.