Captain Denzil Onslow Cochrane Newton MVO the first PPCLI officer killed-in-action, fell victim to friendly fire. Shot by the sentry, Corporal Stanley Fred Aylwyn Martin, during battle. Captain Denzil Newton died within hours, just shortly after the first two PPCLI casualties of the Great War. Cpl Stanley Martin later rose in the ranks and promoted Major on the battlefield, shortly before he was killed in action on 15 September 1916.
Denzil Onslow Cochrane Newton born on 27 October 1880. The son of George Onslow Newton and Lady Alice Laura Sophia Cochrane.
Previous Service
Newton served as a Lieutenant with the 3rd Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment (London Gazette No. 26986, pp 4195, dated 13 July 1898).
Also served as Captain with The Duke of Cambridge’s own (Middlesex Regiment) in the South African War, London Gazette No 27141, pp 8185, dated 5 Dec 1899.
Served as Staff Officer for the Governor General of Canada, the Duke of Connaught before joining the PPCLI.
Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO)
Established by Queen Victoria in 1896, appointments and promotions in the Royal Victorian Order recognize extraordinary, important or personal services to the Sovereign, members of the Royal Family or the Sovereign’s representatives.
This Order is within the personal gift of His Majesty The King and is administered by the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood at St. James’s Palace in London, England. In Canada, the three lower levels of the Order (Commander, Lieutenant, and Member) are part of the Canadian Honours System.
Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class (Japan)
Newton likely awarded the Order of the Rising Sun as a person who contributed to the stability and development of the international community.
The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (4th class).
Enlistment of Captain Denzil Onslow Cochrane Newton MVO
Joined the P.P.C.L.I. in September 1914
On 8 January 1915, No.4 Company shelled heavily in the early morning. Captain Newton and five men injured, two men killed, Corporal Fry and Lance Corporal Bellinger, the first and second battlefield casualties of the PPCLI in the Great War.
Sadly, Captain Newton not only the third PPCLI casualty of the Great War, but also the first friendly-fire casualty. Warnings had been given that Germans attempting to get into and behind the line. Captain Newton, losing his way in the darkness, walked through the lines between two outposts and found himself in No Man’s Land.
Turning back, he was challenged by his own men, but apparently failed to hear. The sentry on duty, getting no reply to his challenge, fired, only to recognize his officer’s voice as he fell. The sentry at once climbed over the parapet and dragged Captain Newton in to safety, but found that his own shot had been fatal.
Trenches
He was the First Patricia Officer killed in the Great War. He wandered through the disconnected trench line during the dark night 8/9 Jan 1915. When he attempted to return, he failed to hear his sentry’s challenges and was subsequently shot.( the sentry was Lance-Corporal Stanley Fred Aylwyn Martin 203).[ source: With the Patricia’s In Flanders 1914-1918 Then & Now, Pg 24&42]
Captain Newton died soon after Fry and Bellinger, perhaps before midnight (also recorded as KIA 9 January 1915). According to the PPCLI war diary, Fry and Bellinger buried in the trenches by the 3rd Battalion, K.R.R..
Newton died at No 3 Cdn Fld Amb, Vierstraat, Belgium, 9 January 1915.
According to Private Thomas Abram, Newton and Fry buried together on 9 January 1915 (Newton died day after Fry). Note a Memorial Cross planned for Newton at Voormezeele also cancelled.
Note date of death 7 January 1915 on original cross.
At least eight are PPCLI casualties, yet only Newton, LCpl William John Huston 795, and Sgt Robert J Mansfield 8 remain at Dickebusch Old Military Cemetery today. Both Huston and Mansfield died later in January 1915.
As a front line cemetery, Dickebusch Old Military Cemetery subject to shellfire. Empty spaces in the plots indicative of graves either lost to shellfire, or perhaps French soldiers, later exhumed at repatriated, likely to Notre Dame de Lorette.
Major Stanley Fred Aylwyn Martin
As a Sergeant, Martin suffered a GSW to his pelvis and thigh in January 1915. Promoted Lieutenant on 8 January 1915, and Captain in December of 1915. In the Field, promoted Major on 6 September 1916. Major Stanley Fred Aylwyn Martin killed in action 15 September 1916.
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