CAPTAIN WILFRID THOMAS CHANING-PEARCE
ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS
1ST OCTOBER 1917 AGE 32
BURIED: DERRY HOUSE CEMETERY NO. 2, WIJTSCHATE, BELGIUM
Captain Wilfrid Chaning-Pearce was shot at close range by a German soldier as he was trying to reach some wounded men who could not be brought in from No Man's Land. It was broad daylight but he was afraid to leave them until after dark when it would have been considerably safer.
Chaning-Pearce, a newly qualified doctor, joined up on the outbreak of war. He went to France in May 1915 where he initially worked in base hospitals. In 1916 he was attached to The King's Liverpool Regiment and moved to the front line. He served throughout the Somme campaign and the battles of Arras and Messines Ridge.
After his death correspondents were effusive in their praise of him: his contempt of danger, his cheerful endurance, the fact that he could always instil confidence in those around him. He was awarded a Military Cross for his actions on 31 July 1916 when he moved his Regimental Aid Post forward into captured ground, not considering the danger but only how he could better serve the wounded. He remained on duty of 36 continuous hours. The citation for the award reads:
"For conspicuous gallantry, and devotion to duty, in attending the wounded men belonging to nine different battalions, under heavy and continuous shellfire. His Aid Post, was the only one in the vicinity, in such a forward position, and he worked continuously and without rest until all the wounded had been attended to, displaying splendid devotion to duty."
Educated at Rugby, Emmanuel College Cambridge and Guy's Hospital, Chaning-Pearce qualified as a doctor in 1911 and was working at Guy's as an anaesthetist when the war broke out. His sister, Eleanor, chose his inscription. It would appear that she underestimated the number of people who owed their lives to him.