Ronald Joseph Rogers

Memorial: Bitton - St Mary's Church

Regiment: Rifle Brigade

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Queens South Africa Medal, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Captain

Parents: Joseph and Jane (nee Lovebond) Rogers

Marital status: Married

Home address: Home Address: 126 Inverness Terrace, Bayswater, London Family lived: River Mead, Keynsham.

Pre-war occupation: Manager of a rubber plantation in the Malay States

Date of birth: 18/12/1883

Date of death: 28/06/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: No known grave – Commemorated Helles Memorial, Turkey

Age: 31

Further information:

Ronald was born on 18/12/1883, Baptised in Winscombe, Somerset on 21/02/1884.

Ronald’s father was a brewer in 1891 and the family lived in Banwell near Axbridge. By 1901, his father had become a Mortgage and Insurance broker and the family lived at 22 Durdham Park, Bristol. Ronald was then 17 and a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers having just been commissioned. He then went on to serve in the Boer war until 1902. He left the army in 1908. Ronald served with the 14th Battalion Rifle Brigade attached 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

On the 1911 Census, Ronald’s parents lived at River Mead, Keynsham. This was on the Bitton side of the River Avon and part of the Bitton Parish. Ronald married Hilda May McNair on 7 November 1911.

There is an entry in De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour WW1 that provide biographical details and a photo of Ronald. It states he was killed in action at Saghir Dere Ravine (Gallipoli) on 28/6/15 during the advance on Krithia. The entry also states that he played Rugby for Somerset and the British team against Australia and New Zealand in 1904.

Ronald is commemorated on the Bitton, St Mary’s Church memorial and the Keynsham and Saltford Memorial at Keynsham Memorial Park.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Findmypast (Soldiers Died during the Great War, 1901 & 1911 Census etc), Volunteer Researcher John Davis.