Descendants remember "gallant men" of the Berkshire Yeomanry who fought at Gallipoli

Sons of men who fought at Gallipoli continue to honour fallen commander

THE sons of local men who fought at
Gallipoli continued their own personal act
of remembrance at a recent service.

Captain Philip Musgrave Neeld Wroughton commanded Second Squadron of the Berkshire Yeomanry during the battle for Scimitar Hill, in which he was wounded. He was promoted to major following the action and and took charge of the Yeomanry’s D Squadron – comprised of volunteers from Wantage and Hungerford – in Palestine. Major Wroughton was killed at the Second Battle of Gaza on April 19, 1917, aged 29.

He was lord of the manors of Brightwalton,
Chaddleworth and Woolley. He was also the High Sherriff of Buckinghamshire and sat as the MP
for Berkshire and then Abingdon. The young major was highly popular with his men.

Following his death, received a letter from from an officer in major Wroughton’s brigade, part of which read: “Although he never liked soldiering, he was a born soldier and leader of yeoman – they all loved him.

“He was the ideal Yeomanry officer, the English country gentleman, who disliked the war intensely, but made every sacrifice to help finish it, and died like the very gallant gentleman he was, fighting at the head of his squadron.”

Following his death, a memorial service was held at the parish church in Chaddleworth, following one in London, in order that the inhabitants of north Berkshire should have the opportunity to pay their last respects.

Every year after his death, soldiers from his squadron have paraded at the family memorial in the grounds of Woolley Park. The soldiers also asked their sons to carry on marking the anniversary; a tradition which continues to this day.

On April 19, the three remaining ‘sons of D Squadron’, Ben Salter, Robin Prior and Ronald Hart, joined Major Wroughton’s great-nephew Sir Philip Lavallin Wroughton, who served as the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire from 1995 until 2008, to remember the men of the Berkshire Yeomanry and their commander on the 98th anniversary of his death.

Mr Prior also attended the centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign at the Cenotaph, London, on ANZAC Day, April 25.

Mr Hart, now in his 90s, whose father was Henry Taylor Hart, from Wantage, said: “I have attended the Wroughton Memorial service for 50-odd years. I well remember when there were some 60 on parade, now there are none of the regiments left.

"It is very important that we descendants never forget these gallant men."