God Bless this Daughter of the Regiment

A Phone call

David Allardice adds to a fascinating, and sad, discovery in a country churchyard in Cambridgeshire.

‘David, he was one of yours, wasn’t he?’

‘What are you talking about, Bob?’

‘The 55th was one of yours, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, but what of it?’

Cambridgeshire

Bob is a former RAF officer. We served together in Hong Kong and remain close friends. On leaving the Service he bought a house in Graveley, Cambridgeshire. He saw a headstone in the village church. The headstone commemorates the death of Major Charles Warren's second daughter, Mary.

India

This poor mite was born in the India on the 18th of May 1835. In late 1837 she travelled with her parents to Bombay, then onto Suez. Crossed the ‘Desert’ on a camel. They passed through Egypt, Malta and France before finally arriving back in England. She died, aged 3 years 3 months after a short illness and was buried in Graveley. Just doesn’t seem fair. Why Graveley? Charles Warren’s brother was the Rector.

China

As for Major Warren, following the battles of Chusan and Ningpo in China, the 55th was in need of replacements. By the end of 1841, they arrived under the command of Major Warren. The following year, Major Warren led a charge to help take Nanking, killing two enemy soldiers himself.

The siege effectively brought this war to an end. Warren was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on the 23rd December 1842.

The taking of Nanking effectively brought this war to an end. Warren was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on the 23rd December 1842. Mrs Mary Anne Warren was reported by the Atlas newspaper to have been in Paris in 1846 – they had been married there in 1830. We move on to 1854, the 55th were, now commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Warren.

Crimea

On the 31st March 1855 Colonel Warren was severely wounded at Sevastopol.

He was subsequently promoted to local Brigadier-General on 1st August that year, and then to temporary Major General on the 9th August 1856. He died in Monkstown, Dublin in October 1866.

David Allardice