Leysters Llewellyn Greener
Reply: Haven't done a wiki in years and prefer to stay casual and not add/edit any wikis so I'm not understanding "GA at Afc" means?
Citations are at bottom of article, has that standard been completely changed over the years? Please advise thank you. 7/27/2018
Leysters Llewellyn Greener | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 11, 1893 England |
| Died | December 5, 1917 (aged 24) Cambrai, France |
| Service/ | 6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment |
| Years of service | 1914–1917 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | 1/6th and 2/6th Bn. R.W.R. |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | |
Leysters Llewellyn Greener MC (April 11, 1893 – December 5, 1917) was the first recipient of the Military Cross for 4th Infantry Division. Also during World War I he acted as the Sniping Officer to the 6th Battalion R.W.R., using his own Ross .280 with a prismatic Zeiss telescopic sight. He had 54 kills listed in his Game Book.
Early life[edit]
The Greener family, in the guise of master gunmaker William Wellington Greener and his wife Emma, came to Barmouth and built Ty’r Graig. William’s company, W.W. Greener Company, was based in Birmingham and it was here that his second son Charles Edward Greener was born in 1867. When Charles reached adulthood he married Harriet Hutton Lort on the 3rd June 1890 and together they raised their own family in the Sutton Coldfield area of Warwickshire with Charles carrying on the family tradition of gunmaker.
Leysters Llewellyn Greener was the second son born 11th April 1893 having an older brother Charles and two younger sisters Chloris and Catherine. Details from the 1901 census show the family lived at The Cedars, Grange Lane, Erdington. The young Leysters attended Oakfield School a private preparatory school on Bilton Road, Rugby and from here he passed the examination for Rugby School where he soon joined the Officer's Training Corps (O.T.C.) as well as becoming the captain of the Rugby team and of the shooting eight and a member of the gymnastics team. Hardly surprising considering his family background he would become a very skilled marksman shooting for his school in competitions at Bisley where they would win the Ashburton Shield.
Military career[edit]
His military career advanced when he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 1/6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment (a Territorial Force Regiment) in March of 1913. On the outbreak of war in August 1914 2nd Lt. Greener was mobilised and spent several months with his Battalion getting kitted out and training for active service before being posted overseas to France and Belgium on 22nd March 1915.
In the Ypres Salient on June 14 1915 around Ploegsteert "alias plugstreet", Walloon, Belgium in the "plugstreet trenches". The Germans blew a mine near the British front line trenches. The next night 2nd Lt Greener took a party to the lip of the crater and kept Germans at bay whilst a trench was dug from the British front lines to the crater. And it was for these actions that Greener would later be awarded the MC, the first for the Division, and Sgt. Albert Jobe (1202) was awarded the DCM for the same action.
However in September 1915 2nd Lt. Greener was wounded during grenade practice when a fuse he was examining with a fellow officer exploded and injured his right eye which he subsequently lost the sight from. He returned to England for hospital treatment and was only passed fit for general service again in September 1916.
During his stay in England Lieutenant Greener was presented with a gallantry award, the Military Cross, by King George V at Buckingham Palace. This was gazetted on 3rd June 1916 and was awarded for: “particularly efficient work under exacting conditions. His company was located on a part of the front fighting line where the Allies front turned at an acute angle and the enemies’ front line approached them at a curve which caved into the Allies front. Each side was trying to spring a mine on the other, and, as luck would have it, the enemies mine was sprung first. It created a huge crater and Lieutenant Greener, with a sergeant and two or three men, was sent over the parapet and across no man’s land to try and hold the crater until his company could dig a communication trench and send out further supplies of men and munitions. He succeeded in his task not by a brilliant dare-devil dash, but by cool carefully calculated measures – measures that at once marked him out as a capable officer. He held onto the far side of the crater, which was within about 60 yards of the enemy, in the face of hot machine gun and rifle fire. It was a very gallant action, and as efficiently organised as it was brave.”
Sutton Coldfield News 10th June 1916
Promoted to Temporary Captain 5th September 1916 he joined the 2/6th Battalion R.W.R. and later on was advanced to Captain on 30th June 1917. The 2/6th Bn. saw action during March 1917 when the Germans retreated from areas of the Somme after the great battles during 1916 and the British moved forward to occupy the old German trenches. The problems that this created were that the enemy knew exactly the position and condition of these newly occupied trenches and therefore could accurately target their artillery fire to maximum effect; they had also constructed superior trenches which they now occupied.
After fighting on this front the 2/6th Bn. R.W.R. which was in the 61st Division, was transferred to the Belgium sector around Ypres where they were involved in the hellish fighting conditions of the Third Battle of Ypres also better known as Passchendaele.
Another transfer saw the 61st Division sent back to France for the Battle of Cambrai which on 20th November 1917 had seen the first ever use of massed tanks in an attack that made huge gains and success but all of these were soon lost in the intense and effective counter-attack delivered by the Germans on the 30th November 1917. The 2/6th Bn. were posted to the area around La Vacquerie to reinforce units under attack and were involved in very hard fighting for several days.
Captain Leysters Llewellyn Greener M.C. was killed in action 5th December 1917 and is commemorated on panel 3 of the Cambrai Memorial to the missing, his body was never recovered; he was 24 years old.
“History of the 2/6th Bn R.W.R. 1914 – 1919 Lt Col J.J. Shannessy” Published 1929, Pages 65-7...
Near La Vacquerie (Hindenburg Line, Cambrai battlefield).
Dec 3rd 1917 Germans take the village.
Dec 4th Quiet.
Dec 5th Battalion, especially C Coy, was engaged in heavy fighting all day. Bn occupying part of the old German trench system (i.e. captured 20.11.17 first day of Cambrai). Early in the morning bombing duels took place...enemy nearly gained our line only to be driven back again. 'Finally he did succeed in actually reaching the junction of Emden Trench and our front line, and it was here, while gallantly leading his men in the most desperate struggle of the day, that Captain L.L Greener MC was killed.
“The Times” 14th December 1917
His colonel writes 'He was killed by a shell on the 5th inst. after setting an example of extraordinary gallantry for day after day....I should have done my utmost to get him the DSO if he had lived'. The chaplain says - 'I saw your son last Monday morning at Battalion HQ; he was most cheerful as he grappled with a very difficult situation; indeed the work which he had to do in the line before his death was enormously important. Everyone is speaking of his gallantry;
His Ross was recovered and returned to his family with other effects.
Commemorated[edit]
Captain Greener M.C. is commemorated on several War Memorials:
· Cambrai War Memorial, Louverval
· Brass War Memorial Tablet St Matthews Church, Warwick Street, Rugby
· Sutton Coldfield War Memorial
· Barmouth War Memorial
References[edit]
- Marshall, Andrew (July 21, 2018). "Captain Leysters Llewellyn Greener M.C." greatwarforum.org.
- "Photographs Captain Leysters Llewellyn Greener - HU 115398". iwm.org.uk. Imperial War Museums. July 21, 2018.
- "Medals of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment". northeastmedals.co.uk. North East Medals. July 21, 2018.
- John Ashby (July 21, 2018). Seek Glory, Now Keep Glory: The Story of the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1914-1918. Helion, Limited, 2000. ISBN 1874622450. Search this book on
- John Ashby (July 21, 2018). Seek Glory, Now Keep Glory: The Story of the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1914-1918 (2 ed.). Helion, Limited, 2000. ISBN 9781874622451. Search this book on
External links[edit]
- The History of the 2/6th Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 1914-1919 - With Introductory Note by Lieut.-Col. J.J. Shannessy. Cornish Brothers Ltd. July 21, 2018. Search this book on
- The History of the 2/6th Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 1914-1919. Cornish Brothers Ltd. July 21, 2018. Search this book on
- Exerpt from R.W.R Regimental Diary Dec 5th, 1917. July 21, 2018. Search this book on
Images[edit]
This article "Leysters Llewellyn Greener" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Leysters Llewellyn Greener. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
