LIEUTENANT RONALD LUCAS QUIXANO HENRIQUES
THE QUEEN'S ROYAL WEST SURREY REGIMENT
14TH SEPTEMBER 1914 AGE 30
BURIED: VENDRESSE BRITISH CEMETERY, VENDRESSE-BEAULNE, FRANCE
Lieutenant Henriques was killed during the Battle of the Aisne. Having led his men to within thirty yards of the German positions, he was shot straight through the centre of his forehead just after he had uttered the word 'Advance'. A regular soldier, Ronald Henriques transferred from the 2nd Battalion to the 1st in order to be able get to the front immediately.
Ronald Henriques is thought to have been the first Jewish officer to be killed in the war. His inscription comes from 1 Maccabees. To Protestants, Maccabees is part of the Apocrypha, meaning that it is a non-canonical text considered to have no doctrinal worth but to be of interest perhaps for lessons in life and manners. It is valued in much the same way in Judaism where it is not a religious text either. The particular line that Ronald's parents chose concludes, "and let us not stain our honour".