2nd Lt. Desmond A. Le Peton, 1st Somerset L.I.

[BottsGreys]

Remembering 2nd Lt. Desmond Alexandre Le Peton, 1st Somerset Light Infantry, who died 90 years ago today--9 August, 1916, age 19. Graduate of Royal Military College (Sandhurst). Son of Alfred Edward and Rose Le Peton, of Earlfort House School, 3 and 4, Earlsfort Place, Dublin. Grave ref: IX. B. 2. LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, Belgium

Below: Le Peton as a member of D Company, Royal Military College, June, 1915

Chris

R.I.P.

[espiegle]

I have his and his brother's WW1 Memorial Scrolls. I have never had a photograph of him, so what a surprise to see your post.

His brother, Clive Alfred was killed at Ypres on 15th August 1917 whilst with 8th Royal Inniskillings.

If you ahve any other information on them, I would be most grateful to hear of it.

Regards

Andrew

[Stebie9173]

Some Gazette entries that are hopefully of interest.

LG 27-10-1914

The undermentioned to be temporary Second Lieutenants. Dated 10th October, 1914: —

INFANTRY.

Clive Alfred Le Peton.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/archiveVi...;selHonourType=

LG 11-6-1915

The dates of appointment to temporary Second Lieutenancies of the undermentioned are as now stated, and not as previously notified in earlier Gazettes:

INFANTRY.

SERVICE BATTALIONS.

Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers).

7th Battalion—

C. A. Le Peton, 23rd September, 1914.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/archiveVi...;selHonourType=

LG 19-2-1917

R. Innis. Fus.

Temp. Lt. C. A. Le Peton, from R. Ir. Fus., to be temp. Lt. 31 Oct. 1916, but with seniority from 2 Apr. 1915.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/archiveVi...;selHonourType=

Steve.

[BottsGreys]

Steve:

Thanks for the contributions from the Gazette. You are definitely the man when it comes to the LG .

Andrew:

I'm glad I was able to play a part in bringing Le Peton's image together with his Memorial Scroll. It's just the type of thing you hope for when posting a thread such as this. Very nice that you have the scrolls of both brothers. In response to this thread, Forum Pal BMoorhouse has sent me this excerp from Wyrall's history of the Somerset L.I. regarding the action in which Desmond Le Peton fell (thank you Brendon):

From Wyrall

"The 4th Division relieved the Guards Division on the 25th, 26th and 27th July, the 1st Somersets taking over the front line trenches from the Scotts Guards on the latter date. But the tour, which ended on the 31st, was unneventful and the battalion moved back into support on the Canal bank. At the close of the second tour, however, just as the battalion was being relieved by the 1st Rifle Brigade on the 8th August the enemy (about 10.30pm) made a violent gas attack, accompanied by heavy shelling. Dense clouds of the noxious fumes floated over the trenches and, although the Somerset men had only three casualties from shell fire, 12 officers and 161 other ranks became casualties from gas poisoning. Of these, six officers (2nd Lts R P Thompson, V F DeRitter, R C Roseveare, D E Sully, H J Griffiths and D A le Peton) and 27 other ranks died from the effects of gas. H Compnay, closest to the enemy lost most heavily - 5 officers and 72 other ranks. The gas, a mixture of chlorine, phosgene and prussic acid gas, was very insidious and clung to the ground and the men's clothes, so that if a man slept in his equipment he invariably developed gas poisoning and had to be evacuated to hospital. On the 11th the Battalion moved back from the canal bank to Elverdinghe..."

The canal bank refers, of course, to the Ypres area. Unfortunately this source does not disclose exactly where they were in the front line.

You may wish to shoot a PM to Brendon (BMoorhouse) as he has been researching the 1st Somersets for quite a while and may have additional info of interest to you.

If you want to shoot me a PM with your e-mail address, I will try to send you a better scan of Le Peton and also a scan of the whole Royal Military College company photo in which he appears.

Regards,

Chris

[curranl]

Hello Chris,

le Peyton is also commemorated in Ireland's Memorial Records. If you would like a copy of his entry, send me a PM with your email address.

His entry doesn't include any more information than you already have - it's a simple two liner.

Regards,

Liam.

[BottsGreys]

Liam:

Thanks for the interest. I appreciate the kind offer, PM sent.

Regards,

Chris

[espiegle]

Chris

Thank you for all this new information. My e mail address is andrew.nichol1@ntlworld.com, a scan of Le peton and his Sandhurst company would be great.

All the best

Andrew

PS Do you know of any photos of his brother?