Three: Captain E. F. Prior, Rifle Brigade, a fine Delville Wood casualty

1914-15 Star (Capt., Rif. Brig.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt.) extremely fine (3) £400-450

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Fine Collection of of Great War Medals to the Rifle Brigade.

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Edward Foss Prior was a pacifist who “loathed war and all that it entailed,” hated all things military and was the first to admit that he begrudged his duty as an officer in the O.T.C at Eton, where he was a master. But his great sense of duty and moral right overcame these feelings in 1914. It would have been easy for him to have kept out of the army, but he was an early volunteer. “Foss” Prior was born in 1888 at Cambridge, where his father was Tutor of Pembroke College. In 1901 he went to Eton, with a scholarship, and began a lifelong association with the school. He was a member of ‘Pop,’ played in the select XI in the Eton football game, won the highest scholarship in divinity and was Captain of the School in his last year. In 1907 he went up to University College, Oxford, becoming president of the Junior Common Room and gained a First in Moderations in 1909 and a Second in Literae Humaniores in 1911. He then spent some months at Wells Theological College. In May 1912, when he was 23, he was offered a mastership at Eton, an opportunity that he accepted with relish. His obituary in The Eton College Chronicle said “He was pre-eminently the type of Old Etonian best suited to carry on the traditions of the school, and there are not many men of his calibre who would not have aspired to a more brilliant future than is offered by a Mastership at Eton.” The only activity that he disliked was his position as an officer in the O.T.C., which he “frankly admitted was a bore.” He had never joined the corps as a boy at Eton, or at Oxford, but now he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Eton Contingent O.T.C., and advanced to Lieutenant in January 1914. On the outbreak of war Prior went to train the Cambridge O.T.C. at Royston and then accepted a commission in the 8th (Service) Battalon, Rifle Brigade, in October 1914, an elite New Army battalion officered principally by Eton and Oxbridge men. Prior was promoted Captain in December 1914 and commanded “C” Company. He accompanied the battalion to France in May 1915 and was wounded by rifle fire when the Germans unleashed Liquid Fire at Hooge on 31 July 1915. In this attack, “C” Company under his command was holding the front line on the right of the Hooge Crater, and bore the brunt of the liquid fire attack. The battalion’s casualties on that day were 19 officers (out of 24) and 479 other ranks. Among the awards conferred on them was the V.C. to Sydney Woodroffe, the first V.C. to the New Army. Prior spent six months convalescing in England then rejoined the battalion, 26 February 1916, commanding “B” Company. After six months around Arras the battalion moved to the Somme where, on 18 August, Prior’s company was sent to reinforce a 7th R.B. attack, bombing his way up Wood Lane, a trench at Longueval, securing 35 yards of the trench and establishing a block to secure the left flank. The next major operation was the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15 September 1916. 8th Rifle Brigade was the leading battalion in the attack from Delville Wood to capture Switch Trench, the German third line 1000 yards away up a gentle gradient. Prior commanded one of the leading companies and went over the top at 6.20 a.m. at the head of his company. For about 150 yards they followed close behind the barrage, with few casualties, but during the next 200 yards German machine-guns opened fire and began to inflict heavy casualties. They took their first objective, Pint Trench, at the point of the bayonet and pressed on to Switch Trench which was also captured with bayonet and bombs. During the advance Captain Prior fell wounded, and while his wounds were being dressed he was hit again, this time fatally. After the battalion was withdrawn Major A.C. Sheepshanks, a friend and fellow Eton Master, stayed behind with a few volunteers until they found his body, which they buried close to Delville Wood. His C.O. wrote: “Foss was one of the very few original officers left, and has been one of the mainstays of the Battalion from the first… with his strong personality he was a born leader of men. Of course we all know he did not like the soldier’s trade, but he made so many strong friends in this Battalion that he was happier here than perhaps those at home could think possible. He was brave as a lion in action and was leading the first company ‘over the top’ when he fell…” He is buried in Bernafay Wood Cemetery.

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