​Fallen Comrades

Words: Llew Walker

For those visiting the club for the first time, the Corinthian Roll of Honour in the clubhouse is a sobering reminder of the sacrifice made by so many over 100 years ago. The mantle lists 22 of our players who fell in ‘the war to end all wars.’ Most were also Casuals players; some had represented England or played for professional clubs.

The number of Casuals who had fallen was never calculated or commemorated. It was not until 2009 that a rough estimate of ten fallen Casuals was suggested. But in recent years, research has revealed another dozen Corinthians and more than 100 Casuals, many of whom appeared for both clubs. Currently, 124 players have been identified and it is highly likely that this number will increase in the future as research reveals more. Corinthians and Casuals lost more players in the Great War than any other association football club, so it is right and proper that we remember and honour those who played for the club in years past and who gave their lives in the service of their country.

They were members of a generation who understood that taking up arms to fight for King and Country was not just their duty but a matter of personal honour and moral obligation. There were no ulterior motives, no hidden agendas. They all truly believed that volunteering in their country’s hour of need was the right thing to do. They hoped they would act honourably, nobly and bravely in the face of danger, but they were all tormented by the fear that they would be found wanting. However, they faced their fate with a determination and acceptance that modern generations would find hard to comprehend.

Most were junior officers, ‘subalterns’, responsible for the soldiers in their charge. They led by example, were the first over the top and the last to retire. Consequently, life expectancy for a junior officer on the battlefield was only six weeks.

Some of those who fell were household names at the time, but most were reasonably unknown outside footballing circles. They were all unpaid amateurs who loved the game, but football came second to their occupations or studies. Yet when the call came, they immediately volunteered, leaving their jobs, families and studies and putting their lives on hold.
​
Even though many had long since retired from the game, as young men, they had played for the club. Some made dozens of appearances, others only a handful and some played only once. John Hyland Fosdick never played for the club at all, even though his name appears on the mantle in the clubhouse. He had been invited to tour South America with Corinthians and was halfway across the Atlantic when war was declared. Without having played a game, the whole team immediately returned to England to sign up. Fosdick died in July 1915 when he was struck in the head by shrapnel while defending the Hooge Crater. He was 20 years old and still a student at Cambridge.
​

At the other end of the scale, Thomas Sowerby Rowlandson played 150 games for Corinthian and 20 for Casuals. He made his debut as a 15-year-old schoolboy at Charterhouse, drafted into the team for the injured Casuals goalkeeper. He kept a clean sheet that day. His football career included appearances for professional teams like Sunderland and Newcastle, and he was also selected to represent England. Tom fell, leading his company in an attack on a German trench. He had tied a red handkerchief to a walking stick and held it over his head, so his men could see him and follow. Reaching the trench first, he was hit by a bomb or grenade, and although he was carried from the battlefield, he later died from his wounds. He was 36 years old.

Aged between 20 and 57, they came from all corners of the British Isles. They fell in Flanders, France, and around the world, in places with haunting, infamous names such as Gallipoli, Ypres, Loos, the Somme and Passchendaele. Many suffered from shell shock or were wounded and hospitalised, always choosing to return to the regiment, the men and their fate.

Most were killed in action or died from wounds. Some died from faulty munitions, accidents or illnesses and three, damaged by the war, took their own lives. Others were listed as missing in action, and 27 have no known graves, their bodies lost to various battlefields. Several were killed by friendly fire, and five sets of brothers who played for the club fell. Around half were married, and over fifty sons and daughters lost their father. A handful were unmarried only sons, their deaths ending their family’s bloodline.
​
It’s been 110 years since these men answered the call to arms. Their names appear on countless monuments and honour rolls at home and abroad. In Fallen, for the first time, they appear together as our club mates, their sacrifices commemorated and their stories told. We share a bond with them. They are our fallen comrades, and they shall never be forgotten. ​

---

Fallen, Volume One, by Llew Walker, is now available on Amazon.co.uk and contains the biographies of 69 players lost from 1914 to 1916. Fallen: Volume Two will contain the biographies of 55 club players who fell from 1917 to 1918 and after.

---