Vere S. T. Harmsworth

Vere Sidney Tudor Harmsworth was born on 25^th September 1895 at Eastbourne, Sussex, the second of three sons of Harold Sidney Harmsworth and Mary Lilian (née Share). His brothers were Harold Alfred Vyvyan St. George (1894) and Esmond Cecil (1898). Through his father, Vere belonged to one of the most influential publishing families in Britain. Harold Harmsworth, together with his brother Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, later 1st Viscount Northcliffe, founded Associated Newspapers Ltd in 1905, creating what would become the most powerful journalistic empire in British history through the development of popular mass-circulation newspapers.

Harold Harmsworth was created Baronet of Horsey in 1910 and raised to the peerage as Baron Rothermere in 1914, later becoming Viscount Rothermere in 1919. During the First World War he entered government service and was appointed Secretary of State for Air in 1917.

Vere was educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and subsequently at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He passed out of Dartmouth in August 1912 and joined HMS Cumberland, a training ship for naval cadets. On leaving Cumberland he was rated Midshipman in May 1913 and served in HMS Defence. His naval career was short-lived; prolonged exposure to gunfire caused a degree of deafness, leading to his discharge from the Royal Navy. At the outbreak of war he was studying at Cambridge.

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Vere volunteered for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was appointed to the Royal Naval Division, joining Hawke Battalion as a Sub-Lieutenant on 1^st October 1914. During the retreat from Antwerp he was among those who crossed into neutral Holland and was interned at Groningen. He succeeded in escaping captivity and returned to England before the end of the year. Promoted Lieutenant in February 1915, he subsequently served with Hawke Battalion during the Gallipoli campaign.

After the Division’s transfer to the Western Front, Vere took part in the opening day of the Battle of the Ancre. During the attack he was first wounded by a bullet through the throat, yet continued to lead his company forward. Having helped clear the first German trench line, he advanced with a small party towards the second, where he was again wounded, this time in the right shoulder. Refusing to leave the field, he collected the men around him and pressed on towards the third line. Just before reaching it, he was struck by a shell and killed instantly. His commanding officer later wrote:

The men of his battalion who survived the action are thrilled with pride in his name. He led his company in the attack on the first German trenches. He saw that these were cleared of the Germans, and advanced with a number of men on the second line. In or near this line he was again wounded, this time on the right shoulder. Almost immediately he got up and collected such men as were near him, and led the attack on the third line. Just before reaching it he was hit by a shell, and instantly killed. During the greater part of this time he was commanding the attacking line, and by his endurance and courage got the men forward at a critical juncture.

Vere is buried in Ancre British Cemetery.

Loss would strike the family again before the war’s end. His elder brother Harold, serving as a Captain in the Irish Guards, died of wounds received during the Battle of Cambrai in February 1918. The youngest brother, Esmond, was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Marine Artillery in 1917. He survived the war and served as aide-de-camp to the Prime Minister at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Following the deaths of both his elder brothers, Esmond inherited the title of Viscount Rothermere.