Memorial to 2nd Lieutenant Denis George Wyldbore Hewitt, VC, 2nd Battalion The Hampshire Regiment. He was the eldest son of the Honourable George Wyldbore Hewitt (1858–1942) and Elizabeth Mary Hewitt (née Rampini, 1871–1959) of Field House, Hursley, Winchester. Grandson of James Hewitt, 4th Viscount Lifford. He was educated at the Old Malthouse, Swanage and Winchester College, Winchester, Hampshire. Gentleman Cadet at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst 1915-1916. Commissioned into the Hampshire Regiment on 7 Apr 1916. He joined his battalion in France in Sept 1916, and took part in the later stages of the Battle of the Somme. He was attached to the 14th Battalion the Hampshire Regiment who, from 21 Jun 1917 were billeted at Houlle, near St Omer, thirty miles behind Ypres. They were moved closer to the front and on 16 July 1917, the bombardment which preceded the Third Battle of Ypres (better known as Passchendaele), began. On 29 Jul 1917 the Battalion made their last move and crossed the Yser-Ypres Canal, making their way to their final position, ready for the attack. They crossed a farm track on No Man's Land, Admiral's Road, to the first objective of Caliban Trench, on the old German front line and continued on towards Juliet Farm and beyond that to the village of St Julien. Having managed to clear the barbed wire entanglements in front of them, with the help of a tank from the Tank Corps, the 14th Hampshires advanced again. At this point Hewitt rallied his men and led an attack on the trenches protecting St Julien. An extract from the London Gazette of 14 Sep 1917 records that: 'While waiting for the barrage to lift he was hit by a piece of shell, which exploded the signal flares in his haversack and set fire to his equipment and clothes. Having extinguished the flames (by rolling in the mud) in spite of his wound and the severe pain he was suffering, he led forward the remains of the Company under very heavy machine gun fire, and captured and consolidated his objective'. The battalion cleared the trenches and set up machine guns to defend it. At this point Hewitt was killed, shot through the head by a sniper. He died instantly. He was awarded a posthumous V.C. for his gallantry that day. The citation read: 'For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when in command of a company in attack... This gallant officer set a magnificent example of coolness and contempt of danger to the whole battalion, and it was due to his splendid leading that the final objective of his battalion was gained.' He was buried 150 yards west of the St Julien-Poelcapelle road, but the grave was subsequently lost. The original battlefield cross from his grave is now in All Saints Church, Hursley, Hampshire (see: https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/295416/). He is also commemorated on Panel 35 of the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres (Ieper), Arrondissement Ieper, West Flanders, Belgium,
Cenotaph here
on a memorial plaque in All Saints Church, Main Road, Hursley, Hampshire (see: https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/295415/), on the WW1 memorial in Winchester College (see: https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/141721/) and on The Old Malthouse WW1 Memorial plaque in St George's Church, High Street,
Langton Matravers, Dorset, England (see: https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/134400/).