|
|
|
WW1
PYBUS, RAYMOND KEITH 
THE DEATH OF MAJOR PYBUS Captain Forrest now in France, writing to a friend in Hobart sends the following details of the death of Major Raymond Pybus, who was killed in action on April 15 "Happenings of the past few days have been such that I have been prompted to drop you these few lines to convey the sad news of poor old Ray Pybus's death. No doubt you will have received the news long ere this reaches you but in loving memory of one of the finest and bravest men I have yet had the honour of being associated with I cannot refrain from writing and telling you of the very gallant manner in which he passed to the great unknown. Ray had only been promoted major a few days before he was killed and was one of the best battery commanders in our division. He possessed the confidence of everyone, from the G.O.C. down and was worshipped by his men. He was killed on the morning of the 15th April at about 9. 30 o'clock during one of the hottest engagements that we have yet encountered. At daylight the enemy attacked our front in force and managed to drive in our outpost. They swarmed into the valley in which most of our guns were located and for a while it seemed as if we were going to lose most of them. The infantry could not for the time resist their advance. We only had a few batteries which couldbring fire to bear on the rapidly advancing enemy and Ray's battery was one of them. At the moment when things looked as if all our guns were going to be scrapped, Ray gallantly pulled his guns out into the open and fired at point blank range. His action assisted greatly in checking the advance of the enemy and holding them until reinforcements could be brought up but his battery paid the penalty. Lieutenant Clarke, another gallant officer and 12 men were killed, and 10 wounded. Ray and Lieutenant Clarke were out in the open firing their guns and wore both killed by the same shell. In addition to the above casualties, three of Ray's guns were completely destroyed by enemy shell fire. This will give you some idea of what the fight was like. Ray was hit by a small splinter of shell which punctured his breast and touched his heart. He only lived a few minutes after being hit, and his last words were, 'Tell my wife that I died at my guns.' And he died fighting them till the enemy were driven back. The fight lasted six hours, but in the end we were successful in beating off the attack inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, and capturing over 300 prisoners. Dead Germans are lying in hundreds all along our front, especially along the line of the old battery which Ray commanded. Ray and Lieutenant Clarke were buried together in the Bapaume Cemetery on the 16th of April with full military honours. The General and myself fortunately were able to go along. I have arranged for a suitable cross to be placed on the grave and have given instructions to the grave committee to have the grave looked after. Needless to say, I feel poor old Ray's death very keenly, for I have been associated with him during his military career. I gave him his first military lesson and have been with him ever since he arrived from Australia over two and a half years ago." Major Pybus was the youngest son of the hate W. B. and Mrs Pybus, of Kettering, The Mercury 29th June 1917
|
Please note that there might be information from other websites or brochures "reprinted" here- under the laws of "fair use". In every instance -we hope- we have provided a direct link to the owners web site. We do not claim rights or ownership to any of their information. We do thank them sincerely for their efforts. We have in every instance made a good faith effort to contact and request 'reprint' permission. Nonetheless, we do want to be certain that nothing gets lost due to web site disappearance and the like, so it appears duplicated here. Tasmanian War Casualties, Honouring the past, building understanding. Copyright © 2016 Tasmanian War Casualties |
