Arthur M. Asquith

Arthur Melland Asquith was born on 24^th April 1883 in Hampstead, the third of five children—Raymond (1878), Herbert (1881), Violet (1887), and Cyril (1890)—of Herbert H. Asquith and his first wife, Helen (née Melland). Herbert was a barrister and wrote for The Spectator and The Economist to supplement his income. In 1886 he was elected Member of Parliament for East Fife and, in 1892, was appointed to the Cabinet as Home Secretary. Arthur’s mother died in 1891 from typhoid fever, and Herbert married Margot Tennant in 1894. In 1905 he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer and, in 1908, became Prime Minister, a position he would hold at the outbreak of the war.

Arthur was educated at Winchester School and New College, Oxford. Becoming disillusioned with academic life, he left Oxford before graduating to pursue a career in the City. In 1905 he was appointed to a post in the Egyptian Civil Service, for which he was required to reside in the Sudan from September the following year. On leaving the Civil Service, he was employed by Franklin and Herrera, who had interests in South America, and he travelled extensively throughout the region.

At the outbreak of war, Arthur initially hoped to combine his employment at Franklin and Herrera with some form of part-time military service. He soon changed his mind, however, and sought to terminate his contract in order to enlist fully. On 23^rd September he was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in the RNVR. Arthur chose the Royal Naval Division largely because it appealed as something different from the run-of-the-mill regiments. During the fighting at Antwerp he commanded a platoon in the Anson Battalion, tasting action almost at once.

After returning to England following the retreat, Arthur decided that he wished to transfer to the Hood Battalion. Having dined with Winston Churchill’s private secretary, Eddie Marsh, he subsequently went out to the Gallipoli campaign commanding a Hood platoon. During the Second Battle of Krithia he was wounded when a bullet passed cleanly through his left knee. Fortunately it missed the bone and exited on the other side. It was a serious injury, though one that could easily have proved far worse. Arthur was evacuated to Alexandria for treatment and convalescence.

Arthur returned to the peninsula on 28^th June, and a week later was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander and placed in charge of a company. In August, with the Turkish lines only some forty yards from the British trenches, the sound of digging could clearly be heard. On the night of 26^th/27^th August, Arthur crawled out of the British trenches and up to the Turkish front line in order to peer in and establish what was taking place. Shortly afterwards he was Mentioned in Despatches. When the Officer Commanding the Nelson Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Burge, fell sick, Arthur was placed in command of the battalion until Burge had recovered.

After the evacuation of Gallipoli, Arthur learnt that he was to be appointed a Companion of the Légion d’Honneur and awarded the Croix de Guerre. In early May he was promoted to temporary Commander and became the Commanding Officer of the newly formed 2^nd Hood Battalion. In July, when 2^nd Hood was disbanded, he reverted to his substantive rank of Lieutenant-Commander.

Raymond Asquith

On 15^th September, Arthur’s brother Raymond was killed on the Somme. The Prime Minister was distraught, and the first suggestions were made that Arthur should train as a Staff Officer, but he declined. On 20^th October he was buried by the explosion of a minenwerfer and his eardrums were ruptured. Three days later he was ordered to report to V Corps Headquarters for a desk job, and was given no choice in the matter. On arriving at headquarters he was immediately invalided home.

On rejoining the Division in December, Major-General Shute requested Arthur’s departure to the Fifth Army for Staff training. Despite Arthur’s protests, Shute persisted and on 26^th December he was ordered to General Headquarters. Arthur applied himself to the training and, by all accounts, proved both capable and popular, initially working with the Royal Engineers and then seconded to the Royal Artillery. His heart, however, lay elsewhere, and he requested a return to the Royal Naval Division in late January. No response was received to this request.

Arthur sought permission to accompany the Hood Battalion during its attack on 3^rd February 1917, on the pretext of observing how effective the barrage was. When Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, the battalion’s commanding officer in the absence of Bernard Freyberg, was wounded, the men were surprised to find themselves once more being led by Arthur. He was hit in the arm by a bullet and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order:

Awarded the Distinguished Service Order, for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He obtained leave to go up to the front when he heard a fight was imminent. Later, although wounded, he returned to Brigade H.Q., and gave a clear account of the situation and of the fighting, which had been going on during the night. He has previously done fine work.

After recovering from his latest wound, Arthur rejoined the Division in the days leading up to the action at Gavrelle. Despite his protests, he was ordered to the staff of XVII Corps, where in practice he had no employment. However, Freyberg was promoted to command the 173^rd Brigade, and Arthur was promoted to temporary Commander of Hood. He was awarded a bar to his DSO for his actions on 23^rd April:

Awarded Bar to Distinguished Service Order for conspicuous gallantry and determination in the attack and clearance of a village, when he personally captured ten of the enemy and later organised its defence and by his contempt of danger under heavy fire, contributed greatly to the success of the operation and to the steadiness of all ranks with him.

Brigadier-General Arthur Asquith DSO**, 1918

Courtesy of the
National Portrait Gallery

At Passchendaele, a Victoria Cross recommendation was put forward by the Division for Arthur:

Near Poelcappelle during the operations of October 26^th/27^th, 1917, Commander Asquith displayed the greatest bravery, initiative and splendid leadership, and by his reconnaissance of the front line, made under heavy fire, contributed much valuable information which made the successful continuance of the operations possible.

During the morning of the 26^th, when no news was forthcoming of the position of the attacking troops, Commander Asquith went forward through heavy fire, round the front line, and heedless of personal danger, found out our positions, got into touch with the troops on our right and returned after some hours with most valuable information.

On the night of the same day he went forward alone in bright moonlight and explored the ground in the vicinity of Varlet Farm, where the situation was not clear. He was observed by the enemy but in spite of heavy rifle and machine-gun fire directed at him, and the fact that the going was necessarily slow owing to the awful state of the ground, he approached Varlet Farm, then reported to be in the hands of the enemy.

Entering a concrete building alone he found it occupied by a small British garrison who were exhausted and almost without ammunition, and most of them wounded. After investigating the ground thoroughly, he returned and led up three platoons of a company of his battalion and relieved the garrison. He superintended the disposal of the troops, putting one platoon in the building as garrison and placing the other two platoons on each flank.

A very important position was therefore kept entirely in our hands owing to the magnificent bravery, leadership and utter disregard of his own safety. This example of bravery and cool courage displayed throughout the operations by Commander Asquith encouraged his men to greater efforts and kept up their morale. His valuable reconnaissance, the manner in which he led his men and his determination to hold the ground gained, contributed largely to the success of the operations.

It had been Arthur’s suggestions as to how to adapt the tactics of the Division to suit the conditions at Passchendaele that helped ensure subsequent operations were conducted with comparatively few casualties. He was awarded a second bar to his DSO for his actions during the battle.

In the middle of December, Arthur was promoted to temporary Brigadier-General and placed in command of the 189^th Brigade. Only four days later, on 20^th December, he was wounded for the fourth time, writing to his father forty-eight hours later:

I had climbed out of a trench thinking there was enough of a mist to conceal me while I cast an eye over the lie of the land. A Boche sniper, who had also, I suppose, taken advantage of the mist to advance his position, had three shots at me, one penetrating and, I fear, smashing the left ankle joint: one kicking up in the snow: and one grazing my right leg.

Unfortunately the leg turned septic and, in mid January, it was decided that it would never heal properly and was amputated below the knee. Even with part of his leg missing, Arthur still hoped to rejoin the Division once it had healed and he had been fitted with a prosthetic but, on 21^st March, he was declared ‘fit for Home Service Only’. On 30^th April he married Betty Constance Manners. She had been a friend for many years but had delayed marrying Arthur as she did not wish to become a war widow. Just prior to his marriage, he took up a position in the Ministry of Munitions and, after the Armistice, in the Ministry of Labour, working on demobilisation, a position he would hold until March 1920.

The wedding of Brigadier-General Arthur Asquith, 1918

The wedding of Brigadier-General Arthur Asquith, 1918

The wedding of Betty and Arthur

Courtesy of the LT Museum

Arthur retained the rank of Brigadier-General after the war. He and Betty would see the arrival of four daughters: Mary April (1919), Jean Constance (1921), Susan Penelope (1922), and Christine (1926).As well as business interests in South America and the Sudan, he sat on a number of boards of financial institutions, including the Westminster Bank. Between 1926 and 1933 he was a director of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London. He also chaired the committee to establish the memorial at Horse Guards Parade and went on to chair the trust to maintain both this memorial and the one at Beaucourt.

Arthur died from Hodgkin’s disease on 25^th August 1939 and was buried in the churchyard at Clovelly, Devon.

Many had assumed that Arthur did not know he had been put forward for a Victoria Cross at Passchendaele. This myth was dispelled when Arthur died, Lord Bernard Freyberg VC writing the obituary for The Times, which included:

At the finish of these operations Asquith recommended Surgeon McCracken for a well-earned Victoria Cross. He was asked however to alter his recommendation to a bar to McCracken’s DSO.

It then became apparent that Asquith himself had been recommended for the VC and that if both names were sent forward from the same battalion neither would get it. Asquith’s reply was characteristic of him: ‘McCracken’s name must go forward’. They both got bars to their DSOs.

Writing an article in 1961 about Rupert Brooke’s burial, Freyberg later wrote:

Arthur Asquith, third son of Mr Asquith (later Lord Oxford and Asquith) survived the war, but never fully recovered from the severe wounds and died on the eve of the Second World War. He was the bravest man I ever knew, and his war record was second to none.