The British think-tank RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute, is publishing a Roll of Honour in memory of its members who died during the First World War.
With over 500 members’ names, RUSI say that the Roll of Honour represents “the cream of Britain’s military intelligentsia, severely depleted during this period”.
Many of the RUSI members who died were young: Second Lieutenants, Lieutenants, and Captains. But RUSI’s roll call also includes officers at Lieutenant Colonel level and above.
Professor Michael Clarke, Director-General of the RUSI said: “This is a unique list of individuals who fell during the First World War. They were not brothers or cousins from one family; they did not come mainly from one profession or one part of the country. They did not constitute a pals battalion. They were a diverse group of men united only by a desire to think more carefully about their military profession.”
Four members of RUSI were lost on the very first day of the BEF’s first encounter with German forces, on 23 August 1914 at the Battle of Mons. This was followed by high losses among RUSI members later in 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres.
RUSI’s Roll of Honour also reveals that seven of its members died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, on 1 July 1916.
RUSI is publishing the Roll Call of Honour in the August/September issue of its Journal and online.
Some of the information recorded in the archives is incomplete – and the names of those members whose fate could not be verified are included at the end of the roll call.
Download the Roll Call of Honour here
RUSI is an independent think-tank for defence and security. It was founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington. RUSI’s coverage of the First World War can be found here
Posted by: CN Editor