| Algernon Cuthell was the only son of Thomas George Cuthell and Edith Eileen Cuthell.
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| Lieutenant Colonel Thomas George Cuthell lived at Goldhill Lodge, Farnham, Surrey. He was with the 13th Hussars and South Staffordshire Regiment. Edith Eileen Foster was daughter of John Nathaniel Foster J.P., D.L., of Sandy Place, Bedfordshire.
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| Algernon Hubert Cuthell was born in Biggleswade, Sandy, Bedford, England on 24th June 1879.
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| Algernon was educated at Isle of White College and Oxford Military College.
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| Algernon Hubert Cuthell then attended Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he passed with honours.
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| South Africa
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| He was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant to the West Yorkshire Regiment on 11th February 1899 when he was posted to South Africa.
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| He served in in the South African War 1899-1902 with the 2nd Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment and took part in the Relief of Ladysmith and other actions at Colenso, Spion Kop, Vaal Kranz.
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| He also took part in the Tugela Heights operations between 14th–27th February 1900.
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| Algernon Cuthell was promoted to Lieutenant on 26th March 1900.
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| Lieutenant Algernon Cuthell saw action at Pieter’s Hill. He was invalided home, but rejoined in 1902 for operations in the Transvaal, and was accidently wounded in 1902 (Queen’s Medal with three clasps and King’s Medal with two clasps).
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| He was awarded the Queen’s Medal with three clasps and King’s Medal with two clasps during his service in South Africa.
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| Pre-War
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| Algernon Cuthell was promoted to Captain on 1st March 1905
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| Captain Algernon Cuthell served with the West Yorkshire Regiment when they were stationed in Belfast where he was a prominent member of the North of Ireland Cricket Club, and was regarded as a keen sportsman with a genial temperament.
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| It was while based in Ulster that Major Cuthell married Miss Rhona Adair. In Cookstown, County Tyrone on 17th October 1906 to Rhona Kathleen, youngest daughter of Hugh Adair, J.P., of Glenavon, Cookstown.
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| Rhona held the Ladies Golf Championship in 1900 and 1903. Rhona, based out of Killymoon Golf Club, was the first of the great Irish lady golfers and won the Irish Ladies' Championship four years in succession. She gained the British Ladies' Championship twice, in 1900 and 1903, and she was the first British lady player of any consequence to make a tour in the United States.
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| They had two children. Rhona Sybil was born in June 1911 and George Andrew was born on 6th January 1915.
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| World War One
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| At the outbreak of World War 1, Major Cuthell was in charge of the Regimental Depot in York when his regiment returned from Malta where they had been based. He helped assist in the training of the ‘new’ volunteer army before leaving with the 9th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment when they were posted to Gallipoli.
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| Captain Algernon Cuthell was promoted to Temporary Major of 9th Battalion on 29th October 1914.
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 28th November 1914:
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| Captain Algernon H Cuthell, of the Prince of Wales Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), who has just been gazetted as temporary major, has been doing duty as Company Commander with the new army in training in Lincolnshire. Major Cuthell is son-in-law of Mr Hugh Adair, J.P., Glenavon, Cookstown, being married to Miss Rhona Adair, who held the Ladies Golfing Championship in 1900 and 1903. He is the son of Lieutenant Colonel Cuthell, late of the 13th Hussars, and entered the army in 1899, and served in South Africa. He is a well-known and popular figure in athletic circles in Belfast and Yorkshire, especially as a golfer and cricketer.
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| From the Belfast Newsletter dated 30th November 1914: Former members of N.I.C.C.
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| Captain M H Wood and Captain A H Cuthell, of the West Yorkshire Regiment, have been promoted to field rank in the new army. Both will be remembered as members of the North of Ireland Cricket Club, with Captain G L Crossan and Captain A W Lupton, during the time their regiment was stationed in Belfast some years ago. Major Wood is a Hampshire county cricketer, and major Cuthell, who is also a very useful player, married Miss Rhona Adair, the well-known Irish lady champion golfer.
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| 1915
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 9th January 1915: Births
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| CUTHELL – 6th January, at Mount Vale, York, the wife of Captain (temporary Major) A H Cuthell, P.W.O., West Yorkshire Regiment – a son.
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| Major Algernon Cuthell was with the 9th Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment at the Suvla Bay in August 1915.
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| Following the failure of the August offensives, the Battalion had remained in a position of static trench warfare. Casualties had slowly mounted due to sickness and frostbite as opposed to the actions of the enemy. There had also been major changes in personnel. Lieutenant-Colonel Minogue had reported sick on the 16th August, the command of the Battalion temporarily being assumed by Major Algernon Hubert Cuthell.
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| Major Algernon Hubert Cuthell was killed in action at Gallipoli on 22nd August 1915 while directing his men in the attack against the Turkish trenches on the lower slopes of Green Hill.
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| From the Belfast Newsletter dated 1st September 1915: Major Algernon H Cuthell
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| News was received in Cookstown yesterday of the death of Major Algernon Hubert Cuthell, 9th (Service) Battalion Prince of Wales Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), who was killed in action at the Dardanelles on 22nd August. Major Cuthell was a son of Lieutenant Colonel Cuthell, late of the 13th Hussars, and had sixteen years’ service in the army, obtaining his first commission on 11th February 1899. He served with the West Yorkshire Regiment in Newry and Belfast some years ago, and while stationed here was a prominent member of the North of Ireland Cricket Club, with his brother officers, Major M D Wood, Captain G L Crossman, D.S.O., and Captain A W Lupton. He married Miss Rhona Adair, youngest daughter of Mr Hugh Adair, J.P., Cookstown, who held the ladies golf championship in 1900 and 1903. Major Cuthell served in the South African war of 1899-1902, and took part in the relief of Ladysmith, including the actions at Colenso, Spion Kop, Vaal Kranz, on the Tugela Heights, and at Pieter’s Hill. He was awarded the Queen’s medal with three clasps and the King’s medal with two clasps. He retired with the rank of captain, but rejoined on the outbreak of war, and after doing duty with the new army in Lincolnshire was gazetted to the 9th Battalion of the West Yorks, with the temporary rank of major, the second in command of the battalion being his older brother officer, Major M D Wood. Major Cuthell is survived by his wife and two children. Tall and was splendid physique, he was a keen soldier and enthusiastic athlete, while his genial temperament won for him hosts of friends in military and social circles.
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| From the Tyrone Courier dated 9th September 1915
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| Information has been received in Cookstown that Major A H Cuthell, of the Prince of Wales Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), was killed in action on 22jd August at the Dardanelles.
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 11th September 1915:
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| CUTHELL – Killed in action at the Dardanelles on 22nd August, Major Algernon Hubert Cuthell, 9th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, only son of Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs Cuthell, Goldhill Lodge, Farnham, and husband of Rhona Cuthell (nee Adair), aged 36 years.
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 25th September 1915:
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| ‘Irish Life’ for this week contains the fifth album of Irish heroes, who have lost their lives in the war. Amongst these are portraits of Private Morrow V.C. and Major Cuthell.
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| 1916
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| From the Belfast Newsletter dated 29th January 1916:
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| Major A H Cuthell, 9th (Service) Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (killed), son of Lieutenant T G Cuthell, late of the 13th Hussars, and son-in-law of Mr Hugh Adair, J.P., Cookstown. He was a brother-in-law of the late Major C R Spedding, D.S.O., Royal Irish Rifles. Mrs Cuthell was formerly Miss Rhona Adair, the well-known Irish golfer.
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| From De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour:
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| Cuthell, Algernon Hubert: Major 9th (Service) Battalion. the Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), only son of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas George Cuthell, of Goldhill Lodge, Farnham, Surrey, late of the 13th Hussars and south Staffordshire Regiment. By his wife, Edith Eileen, daughter of John Nathaniel Foster, of Sandy Place, Bedfordshire, J.P., D.L. Born Sandy, Bedford, 24th June 1879. He was educated at Isle of White College, Oxford Military College and then Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he passed with honours. He was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant West Yorkshire Regiment on 11th February 1899, promoted Lieutenant on 26th March 1900, Captain on 1st March 1905 and Temporary Major of 9th Battalion on 29th October 1914. He served in in the South African War 1899-1902, including operations in Natal in 1899, and the Relief of Ladysmith, and actions at Colenso, Spion Kop and Vaal Kranz. He also took part in the Tugela Heights operations between 14th–27th February 1900 and saw action at Pieter’s Hill. He was invalided home, but rejoined in 1902 for operations in the Transvaal, and was accidently wounded in 1902 (Queen’s Medal with three clasps and King’s Medal with two clasps). He was with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at the Dardanelles, He was in command of the 9th Battalion at the Suvla Bay action on 21st August 1915, and was killed that day while directing his men in the attack against the Turkish trenches on the lower slopes of Green Hill. He was mentioned in despatches in the London Gazette dated 28th January 1916 by Sir Ian Hamilton, for gallant and distinguished service in the field. He was married at Cookstown, County Tyrone on 17th October 1906 to Rhona Kathleen, daughter of Hugh Adair, of Glenavon, Cookstown, J.P., and had two children. Rhona Sybil was born in June 1911 and George Andrew was born on 6th January 1915.
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| Major Algernon Hubert Cuthell was mentioned in despatches in the London Gazette dated 28th January 1916 by Sir Ian Hamilton, for gallant and distinguished service in the field.
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| Rhona’s father, Hugh Adair, passed away at his home in Glenavon, Cookstown, in March 1916, aged 68.
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| Commemorations
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| Major Cuthell has no known grave and is commemorated on panels 47 - 51 at Helles Memorial, Turkey.
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| This inscription photo was taken by the Friends of the Somme Mid Ulster Branch on a visit to Gallipoli in September 2014.
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| Major Cuthell is also commemorated on Frensham Village War Memorial in England.
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| Rhona Cuthell died in 1961 and is buried in Ballywillan New Cemetery near Portrush. Major Algernon Hubert Cuthell is commemorated on the headstone.
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| The CWGC record Major Algernon Hubert Cuthell as the son of Lt. Col. T G Cuthell (late 13th Hussars and 38th S. Staffordshire Regt.) and Edith E. Cuthell of 4 Sloane Gate Mansions, London. He is also recorded as the husband of Rhona K Cuthell. He is also recorded as having served in the South African War with 2nd Battalion.
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| Many thanks to Nigel Henderson of History Hub Ulster, who has supplied photos of the grave in Portrush and the De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour information.
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