Brian Clarke
Cumberland
Male
England
1889-03-11
Luton, Bedfordshire, England
1915-08-15
Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, Turkey
From: http://www.worldwar1luton.com/individual/captain-brian-clarke-cumberland
Brian Cumberland was born 11th March 1889, the only son of Hugh Cumberland J.P Land Agent & Auctioneer & Jeanie nee Clarke. In 1901 he was at a boys’ boarding school in Harpenden, but in the 1911 census he is home with his sisters, mother & father at The Lynchets, Hart Hill.
Before joining the Bedfordshire regiment, he passed his exams to become a member of the Auctioneers & Surveyors Institute so he could join the family business who's offices were in Castle Street. He obtained a 2nd Lieutenancy in the Bedfordshire Territorials in 1911, was promoted to Lieutenant in May 1913 and then Captain on 29th August 1914.
On 17th January 1912 he was initiated into his father’s Masonic Lodge of Saint John The Baptist. He was a keen sportsman, good at tennis and a well-known member of the South Bedfordshire Golf Club.
On 6th August 1915 the British & Commonwealth forces opened up a new front on the Gallipoli peninsular with the intention of breaking the deadlock that had set in at Helles and ANZAC. New landings were made in the Suvla Bay area with the idea of taking the surrounding hills & attacking the Turkish Army from the rear and forcing their way to victory.
Captain Cumberland arrived at Suvla Bay with 1/5th Battalion on 12th August 1915. He was killed in action 3 days later, aged 26. He was described by his Battalion CO as a “superb leader”. He “called on his company for the last charge up the crest (towards Kidney Hill itself) and in the act of waving them on, he was shot through the head”.
He is buried in Azmak Cemetery, Suvla, Gallipoli, Turkey. His father erected a memorial to him in the Crawley Green Road cemetery.
1912 - 1912
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1
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Round 1
A.H. Dickens 1 *
Brian Clarke Cumberland
4-6
6-4
6-3