This is the second of a new series of articles about men and women connected to my family who served in – and survived – the First and Second World Wars.
Herbert Stanley Fewings (1896-1961)
Herbert was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery in the final advance against German forces in the autumn of 1918.
An assistant bombardier in the 17th Divisional Ammunition Column of the Royal Field Artillery, he was honoured after ‘volunteering frequently for duty at the gun line’.
He was said to be ‘cheerful and efficient under the most trying conditions and invariably succeeded in keeping touch with the gun and wagon lines when all were constantly moving’.
The DCM was the second highest award for gallantry in action for NCOs and lower ranks after the Victoria Cross.
Herbert received the award in London on December 15, 1919. The award was announced in The London Gazette on May 30, 1919.
Herbert was a barman when he enlisted as a gunner in the RFA on January 14, 1915.
He went to France with the 17th Divisional Ammunition Column on July 14, 1915.
The division – which joined the 29th Heavy Artillery Brigade in October that year – fought in the Battles of Albert and Delville Wood in 1916, the Battles of Scarpe and Passchendaele in 1917, and the Battles of St Quentin, Bapaume, Amiens, Havrincourt, Epehy and Cambrai in 1918.
Herbert married Florence Louisa Daniel (1895-1983) on January 12, 1918 at Tooting Graveney, Wandsworth, London. In 1939, he was a bus driver in London and lived in Dagenham. He died in 1961 in Ilford, Essex, aged 65.
Family connection
Herbert was the son of Herbert Fewings (1866-1919) and Florence Rhoda Squibb (1973-1949). Herbert (1866-1919) was the son of William Fewings (1805-1889) and Emma Roberts (1829-1906). Emma was the daughter of William Roberts (1791-1875) and Frances Hodge (1796- 1873). William was the son of John Roberts (1766-1834) and Elizabeth James (1767-1861). John was the son of William Roberts (1738-), my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.
Pictures below
The Distinguished Conduct Medal. Public domain image. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Distinguished_Conduct_Medal_-_George_V_v1.jpg
The citation outlining how Herbert achieved the award.
