[Illustration: =Nigel John Lawson Boyd=]
=BOYD, PERCY GERNON=, Private, No. 3158, 10th (Liverpool Scottish) Battn. King’s Liverpool Regt., eldest _s._ of Samuel Boyd, of 19, Hale Road, Liscard, Cheshire, Accountant and Secretary, Liverpool Shipping Company, by his wife, Emma, dau. of William Ker, of Liverpool; _b._ Egremont, Wallasey, co. Chester, 1 Sept 1890; educ. Liscard High School, and joined the Army on the outbreak of the war Aug. 1914. He died from shell wounds received in action at Locre, Flanders, 22 Jan. 1915, and was buried in the churchyard there; _unm._ Major N. S. Anderson, D.S.O., wrote: “He was in my company (No. 1) and was under my command. I was thoroughly satisfied with all his work. He was a good soldier.” And a comrade wrote: “He was a real good soldier, and a very brave one too. It was only the night before Lieut. Turner was killed that he was out with him putting barbed wire in front of the trenches.” He was an active and keen footballer, being a member of the Liscard Old Boys’, Brompton, and other clubs, and won the mile handicap at his school annual sports.
[Illustration: =Percy Gernon Boyd.=]
=BOYLE, HON. JAMES=, Capt., Royal Scots Fusiliers, 2nd surviving _s._ of David, 7th Earl of Glasgow, G.C.M.G., by his wife, Dorothea Elizabeth Thomasina, dau. of Sir Edward Hunter-Blair, 4th Bt.; _b._ Shewalton, co. Ayr., 11 March, 1880; educ. Wanganui College, New Zealand, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and joined the Ayrshire Militia 27 May, 1898, and served through the South African War, 1901–2, part of the time with mounted infantry and for some time on staff duties, receiving the Queen’s medal with five clasps. In 1903 he joined the Regulars and was gazetted as 2nd Lieut. to the Royal Scots Fusiliers, becoming Lieut. 6 June, 1906, and Capt. 10 April, 1912. From 1908–9 he was extra Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Victoria, and from 1909–11 Aide-de-Camp, and later, 1912–14, A.D.C. to Gen. Sir H. Smith-Dorrien, Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Command. He was killed in action at Chateau Warneton, near La Bassée, on 18 Oct. 1914 (being officially reported wounded and missing for seven weeks, until a letter was received from a German officer who reported he was buried at Chateau Warneton). He _m._ in London, 15 Sept. 1908, Katherine Isabel Salvin (Marston House, Banbury), sister of Capt. Geoffrey Vaux Salvin Bowlby, Royal Horse Guards, killed in action 13 May, 1915, and dau. of the late Edward Salvin Bowlby, of Gilston Park, Herts, and had three children: Patrick John Salvin, _b._ 21 April, 1910; Edward James, _b._ 26 Feb. 1912; and Belinda Margaret Graeme, _b._ 4 Dec. 1913.
[Illustration: =Hon. James Boyle.=]
=BOYLE, THOMAS=, Private, No. 15645, 13th (Service) Battn. Royal Scots (Lothian Regt.), _s._ of Thomas Boyle, of 33, Lyons Lane, Port Glasgow; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action at Hooge, 27 Sept. 1915.
=BOYLE, THOMAS WILLIAM=, Private, No. 10345, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, only _s._ of William Boyle, Coldstream Guards, by his wife, Bridget (102, Marian Street, Gateshead, co. Durham), dau. of Thomas Jackson; _b._ Gateshead, 18 July, 1896; enlisted 4 Sept. 1913; died of wounds received in action at Ypres, 23 Oct. 1914; _unm._
[Illustration: =Thomas William Boyle.=]
=BOYLE, WILLIAM=, Private, No. 14602, 4th Battn. Middlesex Regt.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; died 4 Nov. 1914, while a prisoner of war.
=BOYS, CHARLES HENRY=, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9527), 200302, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=BRABAZON, HON. ERNEST WILLIAM MAITLAND MOLYNEUX=, =D.S.O.=, Staff Capt., 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, 4th and yst. _s._ of Reginald, 12th Earl of Meath, P.C., K.P., by his wife, Lady Mary Jane Maitland, only surviving dau. of Thomas, 11th Earl of Lauderdale, G.C.B.; _b._ Richmond, co. Surrey, 22 March, 1884; educ. Dover College and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, 9 Jan. 1904, promoted Lieut. 5 Sept. 1906, and Capt. 3rd Battn. 4 April, 1912. On the outbreak of war he went to the front with his regt., was attached to the Staff, and was killed in action near La Bassée, 17 June, 1915. He was buried in Cambrin Cemetery, near where he fell. Capt. Brabazon was mentioned in F.M. Sir John French’s Despatch [London Gazette, 1 Dec. 1914], in the following terms: “Has shown conspicuous efficiency in Staff duties and in keeping up communication with a long line of front composed of many units, where communication was often difficult. He has carried and delivered messages under fire with promptness and dispatch.” For these services he received the D.S.O. Lord Cavan, commanding the Guards’ Brigade, wrote: “We simply loved him. I can never tell you what he was to me, not only as a Staff Officer but as a friend. He was priceless, invaluable and never wearying in his work for the Brigade.” And Col. J. R. Drummond Hay, commanding Coldstream Guards: “By his death the Army, as well as the regt., has lost heavily.” He was keen on musketry and sport and a good shot. He _m._ at the Guards’ Chapel, Wellington Barracks, S.W., 29 Oct. 1912, Dorothy Mary, yst. dau. of Col. Horace Ricardo, of Bramley Park, Surrey, C.V.O.; _s.p._ His three brothers are now (1916) on active service: Col. Lord Ardee, C.B., in command of the 1st Battn. Irish Guards, has been wounded; Capt. the Hon. Arthur Brabazon, on special service in Egypt; and Major the Hon. Claud Brabazon, of the Irish Guards, now in the Royal Flying Corps.
[Illustration: =Hon. E. W. M. M. Brabazon.=]
=BRABROOK, ARTHUR HENRY=, Sergt., 1/3rd Battn. (Royal Fusiliers) City of London Regt. (T.F.), 2nd _s._ of Frederick Joseph Brabrook, of Bury St. Edmunds, Fish Merchant, by his wife, Emma; _b._ Bury St. Edmunds, 18 Jan. 1879; educ. St. John’s Church School. He joined the 18th Middlesex V.R.C. (Paddington Rifles) in 1904, which became the 10th Battn. of the London Territorials. He became Colour-Sergt. of D Coy. in 1912, in which year the battn. was disbanded and transferred to Hackney. This was too far away, so with his Capt. (now Major Prance) and other men he formed a Paddington Coy., attached to the 3rd Battn. of the London Regt., and received the rank of L.-Sergt. He went through the School of Instruction at Chelsea and received a certificate and was promoted Sergt. When the battn. was mobilised in Aug. 1914 they were sent to guard railway stations for a month, and he was stationed at Arlesford with his section. On 4 Sept. 1914, he sailed for Malta, and after Christmas went to France, and served through the Battles of Neuve Chapelle and La Bassée, where he had a narrow escape, a shell bursting, knocking him down and burying him under some bricks. He died 10 May, 1915, of wounds received at Festubert, and was buried in Bethune Cemetery. Capt. C. E. Rochford wrote: “He was killed through a shell bursting while advancing in an attack on a German trench. He has been with me ever since we left England, so I knew him well. He was a splendid man and a splendid soldier.” He _m._ at. North Kensington, 5 Sept. 1908, Clara Louisa (322, Ladbroke Grove, W.), 2nd dau. of Robert Wollington, of Ladbroke Grove, W., Builder, and had two children: Ralph Robert Arthur, _b._ 15 March. 1914; and Beatrice Caroline, _b._ 23 Sept. 1909.
[Illustration: =Arthur Henry Brabrook.=]
=BRACEY, HUMPHREY ALFRED=, L.-Corpl., No. 1768, 21st Battn. (1st Surrey Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.); _b._ Stoke Newington, 6 Sept. 1891; elder _s._ of Alfred Bracey, of Ashcroft, 30 Seymour Gardens, Ilford, by his wife, Bertha, dau. of William James Hagger, _b._ ....; educ. Grocer’s Company School, Hackney Downs, and County High School, Ilford, and was in the employ of Parrs’ Bank when war broke out. He enlisted in the 1st Surrey Rifles, 8 Aug. 1914, went to the front 15 March, 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, 25–26 May, 1915; _unm._ His commanding officer, Capt. A. Hutchinson, wrote that he was exceptionally popular with all ranks and that he, personally, regretted the “loss of a very promising and fearless N.C.O.” And “Parrs’ Bank Magazine,” in recording his death, said: “At the outbreak of war he was one of the first to offer his services to his country. In the departments in which he was formerly employed, he was ever ready to assist his colleagues, and was a most generous and jovial companion. His absence will be especially noticed on balance nights, settling days, &c., when the heavy work was much lightened by his ready wit and humour. He was also well known in the rifle section of the Sports Club, where he was one of the best shots.”
[Illustration: =Humphrey Alfred Bracey.=]
=BRACHER, GEORGE=, Private, No. 9139, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of Matthias Bracher of Gerrards Farm, Favant, near Salisbury; _b._ co. Wilts; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action at Rentel, 12 Nov. 1914; _unm._
=BRACKEN, JOHN=, Private, No. G. 773, 8th (Service) Battn. Royal West Surrey Regt.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action, 26 Sept. 1915; _m._