ABIDE WITH ME
HE FELL A CONQUEROR
LEADING THE ASSAULT
SUNDAY 16TH MAY 1915

LIEUTENANT COLONEL HARRY RODERICK BOTTOMLEY

THE QUEEN'S ROYAL WEST SURREY REGIMENT

18TH MAY 1915 AGE 44

BURIED: BETHUNE TOWN CEMETERY, VLAMERTINGHE, FRANCE


Lieutenant Colonel Harry Bottomley, commanding the 2nd Battalion The Queen's West Surrey Regiment, died on 18 May of wounds he'd received two days earlier leading an assault on the German salient at Festubert. His inscription begins with the opening words of Henry Lyte's hymn, a prayer asking for God's supporting presence through all life's trails and especially when facing death. The first and last verses read:

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.