Remembering Eustace Abadie, Lionel & Arthur Hawkes, Arthur Hardman

Every day on the British Army Ancestors Facebook page I take time to commemorate a British soldier. This post will look at three of the men I have remembered recently; from left to right: Eustace Abadie, Lionel & Arthur Hawkes, and Arthur Hardman

Eustace Abadie

In their editorial note to volume 1 of The Bond of Sacrifice, published in 1916, L A Clutterbuck and W T Dooner explained that the “… publication will be issued in volumes, each covering a period of, as nearly as possible, six months, and including the names of all Officers who lost their lives within that period from causes directly attributable to active service in the Great War.”

Even as they were writing that forward their hearts must have sunk as the war which was originally going to be ‘over by Christmas’ was still very much in progress. In fact, The Bond of Sacrifice, a lavish publication in leather binding, ran to one more issue and then ceased. I have had volume one on my bookshelves for many years, and in more recent times, digital versions have appeared online. It’s a very useful resource generally, but it makes for depressing reading.

Major Eustace Henry Agremont Abadie DSO is the first portrait to be featured in this book and his death, at the time of publication, was presumed rather than confirmed. In fact he was killed in action on the 30th October 1914 and, having no known grave, is commemorated on The Menin Gate memorial at Ypres. Officers Died in The Great War incorrectly gives his date of death as the 30th November 1915.

Major Abadie came from a military family and his biography in The Bond of Sacrifice covers close to three quarters of a page. His father served in the British Army for 46 years, and two brothers had already died in the service of their country (one in the Boer War, another in 1904) before Eustace Abadie gave up his life. I intend working my way through these volumes over the coming weeks.

Lionel and Arthur Hawkes

These men are brothers. 2219 Pte Lionel Douglas Hawkes of the Somerset Light Infantry is the man on the right, 31114 Pte Arthur Thomas Hawkes of the 8th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry is sitting next to him.

Lionel Hawkes would later transfer to the Royal Engineers and would end the war serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps. Arthur Hawkes would serve with the Somerset Light Infantry throughout the war and would be demobilised in November 1919.

Arthur Hardman

Arthur John Hardman served as 127403 Pte Hardman with the 19th Company, Royal Army Medical Corps. According to the text left on his record he was a laboratory assistant at the Prees Heath Hospital, Shropshire.