Memorial Parish Church JOHN A. TALBOT RICE, M.C., C. de G. 

Memorial Hospital TALBOT-RICE J.A

Captain John Arthur Talbot Rice. 5th Royal Irish Lancers, Household Cavalry & Cavalry of the Line. 

Born 3 Jan 1892 

Gazetted from Sandhurst to the Lancers 1911 

Died 14 April 1918. [Aged 26]. 

Died of Wounds, German Field Hospital 

Grave VI.B.13. Grand-Seraucourt British Cemetery. 

 

Son of Mr & Mrs H.C. Talbot Rice, Oddington House, Moreton in Marsh. 

Letter to WGS 10 Nov 2016 from Nicholas Talbot-Rice

Life of Soldier

I am writing in reply to the letter from Mr David Walter in the November 3 Edition, headed “Who was he?” 

      John Arthur Talbot Rice was the middle son of Henry and Cecil Talbot Rice of Oddington House, Stow-on- the-Wold. He has a memorial plaque in both The Church of the Ascension and St. Nicholas’ churches in Oddington, alongside other Talbot Rice memorials. 

       John Arthur Talbot Rice (known as Arthur) was commissioned into the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers in 1911. A professional soldier before the First World War, he was part of the British Expeditionary Force (“the Old Contemptibles”) which deployed to France in 1914 at the very start of the war. He served in France almost continuously throughout the war and died just eight months before the armistice. 

       He was awarded the MC “for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty” in the defence of Guillemont Farm in June 1917. 

       Following a very heavy bombardment which buried or destroyed all the Lancers’ machine gun positions, the Germans launched a determined attack. Captain Rice, although wounded and heavily attacked from three sides, held on to the rear of his position, organised a counter attack and with the aid of reinforcements regained the whole of his position and consolidated it. 

        When reinforcements arrived he had only 23 men left from the original squadron. 

        He was awarded the Croix de Guerre (France) for a separate action which lead to his death. Leading his squadron in heavy fighting at the Bois des Essarts in March 1918, he was wounded and captured by the Germans and died three weeks later in a German field hospital. 

         He was the only officer in his regiment to receive both the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre and he is buried in the Grand Seraucourt military cemetery in France. NICOLAS TALBOT RICE Coln Rogers 

 

         From WGS website, comment on original enquiry: TERRY.145 8:04pm Sat 5 Nov 16 ‘TRAILING UNCLE ARTHUR’- FOLLOWS THE EXPLOITS OF PTE ARTHUR JOHN TANNER WHO SERVED IN THE 5TH IRISH LANCERS FROM 1912-1922 (THIS WAS ALSO CAPTAIN TALBOT RICE’S REGIMENT) AS TOLD BY PTE TANNER’S RELATIVE WHO ALSO TOURED THE BATTLEFIELDS . 

 

PAGE 57 MENTIONS:- 

Captain J. A. Talbot Rice, M.C., Croix de Guerre, Lancers (H.B) Arthur Talbot Rice, second son of Mr and Mrs, H. C. Talbot Rice, of Oddington House, Gloucestershire, joined his elder brother at Eton in January, 1904, and left for Sandhurst in August, 1909. Quiet, simple, absolutely straightforward, notably gentle and courteous in manner, he passed through a blameless career, and if he had no chance of becoming conspicuous at school, was no doubt imbibing qualities which brought him to the front afterwards. He was gazetted to the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers and became a very good rider, representing his regiment when it won the Irish Cup. He was in France from the beginning of the War throughout, except for occasional short leave. In 1915 he became brigade signalling officer to the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, but rejoined his regiment in 1916 as captain in command of a squadron. In June, 1917, he won the Military Cross for rallying his few remaining men, though wounded, and retaking a position which had been captured by the Germans. On March 26th last, he fought a rearguard action east of Noyon, covering with his squadron the retirement of a composite regiment, and, retiring himself last of all, was struck by a machine-gun bullet and left for dead. But he survived for some three weeks, and after cruel alternations of hope and fear, his friends learns that he died in a German field hospital, and was buried at Cugny on April 14. His last exploit has gained him the posthumous honour of the Croix de Guerre.

 

PAGE 42 SHOWS ONE OF HIS LETTERS TO HIS MOTHER:- 22.6.17 

My Dearest Mother Since I last wrote I have had the most strenuous times. All yesterday we were intermittently blown about by the Boche which is perhaps in the ordinary course of events. However, we had rather an extraordinary mid-summer-nights-dream, as the Boche elected to bring off a most vicious raid on our ‘Farm’! He began at 1 AM by about ½ an hour of a bombardment with every kind of frightfulness, the like of which I have never even imagined, much less experienced. Then when our trenches were reduced to a stated (sic) of being more or less ‘non est’ he attacked. Nearly all the men were blown up so we had very few left – However all is well that ends well & we eventually got back to our old positions. I will give you full details later, as I’m feeling rather vague at present!! We lost about 40 per cent. My only damage was a tiny splinter in my face which hardly shows!! We were relieved after the show & the General said most complimentary things. I will give you the full details later Best love Yr loving A 

 

ADDED BY TERRY. Gillemont Farm Our next stop, reached via Catalet, Ronssoy and Lempire, was Gillemont Farm, where, in late June 1917, the 5th and the Oxford Hussars held out against superior German forces. 

 

THERE IS ANOTHER BOOK ON THE HISTORY OF THE 5TH IRISH LANCERS NAMED ‘THE HARP AND CROWN’ BY CIARAN BYRNE IN WHICH IT TELLS WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CAPTAIN AFTER HIS CAPTURE. PAGES 150 T0 154  [END of Web comment]

 

Addenda: Talbot-Rice, J. A. [Further research by Linda Viner based on “Find My Past” newspaper archive, 3 Nov 2016]

 

Gloucestershire Echo, 10 April 1918

Casualties to Local Officers.

Capt. J.A.T. Rice, M.C. Capt. John Arthur Talbot Rice, of the Lancers, killed in action on March 26, was the second son of Mr H.C. Talbot Rice, of Oddington House, Moreton-in-Marsh, formerly a captain of the 4th Gloucestershire Regt., and was a grandson of the late Rev. the Hon. Henry Rice, for 40 years rector of Great Rissington. He went to France in the first stage of the war with the old ‘Contemptibles,’ and was once wounded. He was awarded the Military Cross last year for bravery in the field, successfully holding a position whilst in command of his squadron, having only 23 unwounded men left. He was 26 years of age. 

 

Gloucestershire Echo, 13 April 1918

Casualties to Local Officers.

Capt. J.A.T. Rice. His many friends will be glad to learn that Capt. J.A. Talbot Rice of the Lancers, of Oddington House, Moreton-in-Marsh, who was reported early in the week to have been killed, has been found by the Red Cross Society to be a wounded prisoner in Germany.

 

Cheltenham Chronicle, 13 April 1918

Death Notices. Rice – Killed in action, March 26, Capt. J.A.T. Rice, M.C., second son of Mr H.C. Talbot Rice, Oddington House, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, aged 26 years. Gloucestershire Echo, 10 May 1918 Capt. J.A.T. Rice, M.C. Capt. J.A.T. Rice, M.C., Lancers, reported killed on March 26th in France, then reported wounded ad prisoner, died from wounds on April 14th in a hospital in France. He was the second son of Mr and Mrs H.C. Talbot Rice, of Oddington House, Moreton-in-Marsh. Kind friends are requested not to write again. 

 

Gloucester Journal, 18 May 1918

Prisoners of War.

The death is announced, on April 14th, in hospital in German hands, from wounds, of Captain G.G.T. Rice, M.C., Lancers, second son of Mr and Mrs H.C. Talbot Rice, Oddington House, Gloucestershire. 

 

Gloucestershire Echo, 25 Oct 1918

 Local War Notes.

Memorial at Oddington. The Chancellor of the Diocese has granted to the Rev. A.C. Cattley, rector of Oddington, a faculty to place in the Parish Church a tablet of oak to the memory of Capt. John Arthur Talbot Rice, M.C., 1914 Star, Croix de Guerre, who served in the 5th Lancers in France from 1914 till 1918, when he was wounded, on March 25th, and died in a German field hospital on April 20th, and was buried at Cugny, France. The cost of the memorial will be defrayed by Mr and Mrs Talbot Rice, his parents.

 

Cheltenham Chronicle, 26 October 1918

Memorial at Oddington [see above in Glos Echo 25 Oct 1918]

 

Gloucester Journal, 26 Oct 1918

A faculty has been granted in the Gloucester Consistory Court to the Rev. Arthur Cattley, M.A., rector of Oddington, for the placing in the old parish church of an oak memorial tablet, bearing the inscription: 

 

‘In loving memory of Captain John Arthur Talbot Rice, M.C., 1914 Star, Croix de Guerre, 5th Lancers, dearly-loved second son of H.C.T. and C.M. Rice, of Oddington. He was born January 3rd 1892, educated at Eton, and joined the 5th Lancers in October 1911. He served in France from August 1914 to 1918, when he was wounded and taken prisoner at Bois des Essarts, on March 25th. He died of wounds in a German field hospital, April 14th, and was buried at Cugny, France. I thank God for every remembrance of you.’ 

The cost of the memorial will be borne by Mr and Mrs Talbot Rice. 

 

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar, Wills etc. Rice, John Arthur Talbot of Oddington House, Oddington, Gloucestershire M.C. a captain in the 5th Royal Irish Lancers died 14 April 1918 in France Administration Gloucester 2 November to Henry Charles Talbot Rice esquire. Effects £1583 5s 7d

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