William Rupert Compton Ffolkes
Person details
| Forename(s) | William Rupert Compton |
|---|---|
| Surname | Ffolkes |
| Rank | 2nd Lieutenant |
| Regiment | The King's Royal Rifle Corps |
| Age | 19 |
| Death | Killed in action |
| Place of Death | France |
| Date of Death | 30/12/1917 |
| Year of Entry | 1912 |
| House Letter | D |
| School Notes | |
| Comments |
Photograph lists "Rifle Brigade", album text gives KRRC and reg concurs. CWGC gives KRRC, 5bn att. 1bn. Date matches Action of Welch Ridge, but KRRC was apparently not there. Obituary in Radleian of 30/3/1918 Close friend of GB Coote |
| Commonwealth War Graves Commission Link | https://www.cwgc.org/find-record... |
| Unit | |
| Prefect | Prefect |
| Military Decorations | |
| Album Number | 2 |
| Battle | |
| Previous Regiment | - |
| Additional Notes |
Added to Imperial War Museum 'Faces of World War One' project and Radley College War Memorial Flickr website on 7 March 2013 http://www.flickr.com/photos/radley_college_war_memorial/ 30.3.1918 The Radleian. Chapel address. In memoriam. WILLIAM RUPERT COMPTON FFOLKES. " And one hath seen the vision face to face, And now his chair desires him here in vain, However they may crown him other when." There is no one who knew him to whom the news of Rupert ffolkes' death did not come as a very great grief. Some of us hardly knew he had left Sandhurst, and the appearance of his name in the Casualty Lists seemed almost incredible. It is always difficult in these times to realise that one who has been talking and laughing with us a few weeks, perhaps a few days before, has been killed, but with him it is harder than with almost any one else. It seems but as yesterday that he was batting for the School, or taking his part in Chapel Procession, and we always looked upon him as being so very young. He had that wonderful gift of retaining all the simplicity of his first term at Radley, even when he had risen to be a Prefect and a member of the Eleven. It was all the more remarkable when we consider how popular he was. No one ever had a harsh word to say against "Tibbles," as he was affectionately christened by his friends; and yet it never turned his head,- rather he shrunk from the public eye: to some he seemed even too shy: we almost wished for a touch of "side." But perhaps he knew better. He had his own ideals, - very simple and very pure they were, - and them he followed with the quiet answering devotion of a Sir Galahad. Religion was a very real thing. I do not think the controversy anent the rights of "High" or "Low" Church tenets ever worried him. There was something greater than that in Chapel to his mind. It was the highest thing in daily life. Self was a thing that never had a place in his religion, and perhaps that was the reason why one was always sure of sympathy from him in times of trouble. He could always feel and show that he felt for the worries and anxieties of others. And then we come back to the realisation that he is gone. "To many who are mourning to-day there is no surer proof of immortality than the death of those whom the world can least afford to spare. We cannot believe that the living soul of yesterday is mere dust to-day. And both to us who loved him here and to the men in his Platoon who learnt even in a few weeks to love him in France, there is left the memory of such a life of quiet simplicity as can never be forgotten, and the conviction of far greater work being done in the" Great Unknown." Requiescat in pace. |
| Burial or Cemetery | HERMIES HILL BRITISH CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France. Grave ref I. F. 43 |
| Place of Birth | Hillington, Norfolk |
| Post School | Sandhurst |
| Shields in Hall |
