Noel Jardine Exell

Noel Jardine Exell was born in Stoke Fleming, near Dartmouth, and was a grandson of George Parker Bidder, who had become nationally famous in his youth, and in later life lived in Dartmouth. Although Noel was not commemorated on public memorials in Dartmouth, he is on our database because his death was announced in the Dartmouth Chronicle and the newspaper carried a full obituary.

Family

Noel Jardine Exell was born on 6^th December 1890 in the Rectory at Stoke Fleming, where his father was Rector. He was the second child and only son of Joseph Samuel Exell and his wife Florence Bidder. Noel was baptised by his father at St Peter's Stoke Fleming on 15^th February 1891.

His father, Joseph Samuel Exell, was the son of a Wesleyan Minister, Joseph Exell, but made his career in the Anglican church, being made deacon in 1881 and ordained priest in 1882. From 1881-1884 he was curate at Weston-super-Mare and from 1884-1890, Vicar of Townstall with St Saviour, Dartmouth. He became Rector of Stoke Fleming in 1890, and remained there until his death. He was also a prolific author of religious works and (according to his obituary in the proceedings of the Devonshire Association) "a preacher of much eloquence and possessed of great talent".

His first wife, Elizabeth Anne Sabine (née Blake) by whom he had a daughter, Sharlie Elizabeth, in 1876, died prematurely aged 44, and was buried at St Clements Townstal, Dartmouth on February 24^th 1885. Just over a year later, on 6^th March 1886, Joseph married again, at St Peter's Stoke Fleming. His second wife, Florence Bidder, was the youngest daughter of George Parker Bidder.

George Parker Bidder, born in Moretonhampstead, had been famous in his youth as "the Calculating Boy". His father, William Bidder, a stonemason, had taken George around the country, when a boy, to exhibit him and his prodigious powers of calculation, and his fame had spread far. For example, on Monday 3^rd April 1815, the Morning Post reported from Windsor that:

On Saturday 7^th October 1815, the Carlisle Journal reported him at Margate:

In 1819 his travels took him to Edinburgh, and he attracted the attention of a group of benefactors, led by Sir Henry Jardine, who provided him first with a year with a private tutor and then with a university education at Edinburgh. Sir Henry Jardine remained his mentor in his professional career, finding him a post in the Ordnance Survey. From there he moved into civil engineering, and developed a close professional association with Robert Stephenson, the son of the railway engineer George Stephenson. Together they worked on railways in the UK and abroad. George Parker Bidder was also closely involved with the development of the London Docks and with many other major engineering ventures.

Robert Stephenson and George Parker Bidder were both yachting enthusiasts and in 1858 they attended Dartmouth's Regatta. Shortly after, George Parker Bidder bought a house in Dartmouth, on Paradise Point, Warfleet, which he renamed Ravensbury. He was elected a town councillor, was a founder member of the Dartmouth Yacht Club, and was closely involved in various schemes to improve the town. In close association with Samuel Lake, another leading Dartmouth businessman, he commissioned the first steam powered fishing trawlers.

In 1877 George Parker Bidder bought Stoke House in Stoke Fleming but sadly died the following year at Ravensbury, Dartmouth, before he was able to move to his new house. It became the home of his widow, Georgina, who remained at Stoke House until she died, in 1884, and of his unmarried daughters, the last of whom died there in 1937. Both George and Georgina (and other members of the Bidder family) were buried in the churchyard of Stoke Fleming. George is also commemorated by a stained glass window inside the church.

 

Noel Jardine Excell was therefore surrounded, as he grew up in Stoke Fleming, by members of the Bidder family, both alive and dead. He was educated first at a preparatory school in Bournemouth (where he was recorded in the 1901 Census) and then at Charterhouse, where he was a member of Bodeites House. He left Charterhouse in 1907.

His mother died in 1908 at the comparitively early age of 54 and was buried in Stoke Fleming churchyard, and his father died suddenly only two years later, at the age of 61, and was buried beside her. His stepsister, Sharlie, had married in 1901, Albert Dallas Enriquez, a widower, and a Lt Colonel in the Indian Army, and lived abroad.

Evidently Noel decided to join the Army. In 1909 he was commissioned into the 3^rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, from which, in 1912, he passed the examination to join the Army as a Second Lieutenant, joining 18^th (Queen Mary's Own) Hussars on 22^nd May 1912. He competed in the Navy and Army Boxing Championships in November of that year, sustaining a dislocated jaw when he was knocked out in the early rounds of the officers' middle-weight competition.

Also towards the end of 1912 he married Ellen Ruby Warwick. She was born in Veryan, Cornwall, the younger daughter of Samuel Warwick, an agricultural foodstuffs merchant, and his wife Sarah, from Truro. Noel's marriage seems to have prompted him to take a new direction as shortly afterwards, on 15^th February 1913, he resigned his commission. Three months later, on 12^th May 1913, he embarked at Southampton upon the steamship "Kleist", travelling to Algiers - and, according to his obituary in the Dartmouth Chronicle, he was still there at the outbreak of war.

Service

When war was declared, Noel returned to England to rejoin the Army, and was gazetted temporary lieutenant on 11^th September 1914. During his first few months, he was engaged in raising and training Kitchener's New Armies. He served first in 10^th Battalion The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), the so-called "Stockbrokers Battalion" - recruited over a few days in August 1914, and by the time he joined them in September, already in training in Colchester.

In January 1915 he was appointed temporary captain in 15^th (Reserve) Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps, and, according to the obituary in the Dartmouth Chronicle, in March "made an appeal through the medium of our columns to local lads to enlist in his Company". However, on 15^th April 1915 he was transferred to the 9^th Battalion, with which he went to France when the Battalion was mobilised in May, in command of "A" Company. The 9^th Battalion was under command of Lt Colonel Charles Slingsby Chaplin, who had commanded the 3^rd Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps until 1912 and came out of retirement to form and lead the 9^th (Service) Battalion. They were destined for Ypres.

By 31st May the Battalion was billeted at Canada Huts, Dickebusch, four miles southwest of Ypres. Their first job was to march three miles to a point on the Yser canal one and a half miles due south of Ypres to dig 600 yards of reserve trenches overnight. This they did for several nights, while behind them, Ypres was a mass of flames from German shelling.

On 5^th June, the Battalion was attached to 13^th Infantry Brigade, 5^th Division, for their training in trench warfare. Over the next few days at St Eloi, they suffered their first casualties.

By 11^th June, they were back in Canada Huts. The Battalion War Diary noted: "Very heavy gun fire during night and early morning. Vlamertinghe church spire disappeared during night". Noel Exell, together with Captain Andrew Tanqueray of "B" Company, was sent out on a reconnaissance mission through Ypres in the afternoon - there were rumours of a move.

On 14^th June they were in huts outside Vlamertinghe, west of Ypres (which continued to be heavily shelled) so they spent their time digging shelters, for protection. On the evening of 15^th June they marched to the Lille Gate at Ypres. A British attack was underway at Bellewaarde and the 42^nd Infantry Brigade, of which the Battalion was a part, was ordered to move up in support. Their route was along the Ypres-Roulers railway line but progress was slow and they were under fire for much of the time. They got as far as the assembly trenches but were then sent back to Vlamertinghe. Lt Bourke, of A Company, was killed by very heavy shrapnel fire as they came up into the assembly trenches; five other ranks were also killed. The War Diary reported that one officer and 58 other ranks were wounded, one of whom subsequently died. The following day the Battalion was complimented by the CO on their behaviour "under trying and novel conditions".

After "a quiet day in huts" the Battalion on the evening of 19^th June once again moved out of Vlamertinghe towards and through Ypres, to take up a position on the front line either side of the Ypres-Roulers railway, east of Ypres, until 25^th June, when they went into billets at Poperinghe. On 8^th July they were moved forward again, to the "GHQ" line (the line of defence closest to the city). Here they were subjected to shelling and bombardment with gas but fortunately casualties were slight. They moved forward into the front line on 12^th July. The trenches had been damaged by "whizzbangs" (a light shell fired from a smaller calibre field gun) so they set about repairing them. More whizzbangs caused several casualties on 16^th July; they also had to contend with the effects of very heavy rain on several occasions. The Battalion Diary noted that "from 13^th-18^th every man in trenches worked strenuously improving and repairing trenches and sapping".

On 19^th July they were relieved and marched to "rather uncomfortable" bivouacs in "Basseboom" (Busseboom near Poperinghe), where they were in reserve at one hour's notice and provided "working parties" for various tasks - for example, on 23^rd July a working party of 200 men went to Ypres by bus to work on gun emplacements. Although they were well behind the lines they were freqently subject to heavy shelling (the Poperinghe area was well within range of the heavier German guns) and there were several casualties.

Death

On 21^st July, while the 9^th Battalion was at Busseboom, 175 Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers exploded a large mine under two new redoubts built in the German lines at Hooge. In a huge explosion, one redoubt was destroyed and the other badly damaged, and the area destroyed was successfully captured by British troops. However, since then, the occupying troops from the 41^st Brigade, including the 9^th's sister Battalion, the 8^th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps, had been holding an exposed position very close to the German lines, and had been under very fierce attack in an uninterrupted bombardment. Their relief was due to take place on the night of 29^th/30^th July, by the 7^th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps and the 8th Battalion Rifle Brigade.

They had hardly done so, however, when they were subjected to intense attack. In addition to shell and mortar fire the Germans used liquid fire flamethrowers, described by 2^nd Lt G V Carey of 8^th Bn Rifle Brigade as "three or four distinct jets of flame, like a line of powerful fire hoses spraying fire instead of water". He further commented that: "Those who had faced the flame attack were never seen again".

The surprise and shock were complete and casualties were extremely heavy. The remnants of the British line fell back. Despite protest from the Brigade Commander, Brigadier Oliver Nugent, who wanted a complete Division to be brought up and a long artillery bombardment arranged beforehand, Divisional Command ordered 41^st Brigade to counter attack at 2.45pm that afternoon, after only 45 minutes prior bombardment. But in view of the need for reinforcement, the 9^th Battalion was called forward to assist, together with a Battalion from the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.

At 12.30 pm the 9th Battalion moved forward and were in position ready to attack by 1.30pm. "B" and "D" Companies were in a communication trench north of the Menin Road and "C" and "A" Companies were in support south of the Road. The War Diary comments that "considerable losses were suffered while moving into these positions". Colonel Chaplin was with "B" Company.

The Regimental History describes what happened:

What remained of the Battalion was withdrawn that evening. According to the Battalion War Diary, Noel Exell died of his wounds the following day, on 31^st July.

The Battalion that day lost five officers killed and five others wounded; two were reported missing in the Diary, subsequently recorded killed. The figures reported in the War Diary for other ranks were 49 killed, 236 wounded and 37 missing.

Hooge Crater was retaken by the British in early August 1915, but changed hands several times subsequently, being finally regained on 29^th September 1918.

Commemoration

A short notice appeared in the Dartmouth Chronicle of 6^th August 1915:

A longer obituary appeared the following week, including the following tributes from his Battalion:

However, by the end of the war the site of Noel Exell's grave had evidently been lost.

Noel Jardine Exell is commemorated on the Menin Gate at Ypres, one of the many who had fallen in the defence of Ypres who, by the end of the war, had no known grave.

 

He is also commemorated in the Charterhouse School Memorial Chapel.

He is commemorated on the Stoke Fleming War Memorial, which stands in the churchyard of St Peter's Stoke Fleming, where his father was Rector and where his father, mother, grandfather and grandmother (and other relatives) are buried.

Sources

George Parker Bidder, Grace's Guide to British Industrial History

Moretonhampstead History Society article on George Parker Bidder, 1806-1878

Dartmouth and its Neighbours: A History of the Port and its People, Ray Freeman, publ Richard Webb, 2007

A Brief History of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, 1755-1915, by Lt Gen Sir Edward Hutton, KCB, KCMG, publ 1917

Recollections of 2^nd Lt G V Carey, 8^th Bn Rifle Brigade, quoted in 1915, The Death of Innocence, by Lyn MacDonald, publ Penguin 1997

Charterhouse School Roll of Honour

Information Held on Database