William Lummis

William Murrell Lummis MC (4 June 1886 – 2 November 1985) was a British military historian most noted for the research he conducted on the Victoria Cross, the Charge of the Light Brigade, and Rorke's Drift.

Military career

Born in Coddenham, Suffolk, Lummis was the oldest of seven children born to George Murrell Lummis (1860–1912) and Louisa Sparrow (1854–1933). After leaving school at the age of 14, Lummis worked as a clerk in a Magistrates' Clerk's Office in his hometown of Coddenham before enlisting, aged 18, in the 11th Hussars as a trooper in 1904. By 1911 he was a Lance Sergeant and became responsible, amongst other duties, for the editing of the 11th Hussars' regimental journal.

By the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, he was Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant, the youngest in the British Army. He served on the Western Front throughout the War, taking part in the Retreat from Mons and seeing action in Flanders. and transferred to his county regiment, the Suffolk Regiment, serving with the regiment's second battalion for the remainder of the war.

After the war ended, he remained in the army, serving in India, Britain and Ireland. He was appointed Adjutant and Quarter-Master in the Army School of Education in India, returning to England in 1925, He was promoted to captain on 21 January 1928, and on 9 December 1930 he reached the retirement age for service, remaining in the reserve of officers for a further five years. On leaving the Army he researched the other four Light Brigade regiments which had also taken part in the Charge of the Light Brigade. and in 1950 became a lieutenant, also in the Suffolk ACF, and continued to serve until his retirement in 1954.

Historian, writer, researcher

Although his main interest was military history, he also wrote two books on English parishes. He was also active in the Suffolk Institute of Archeology and the Suffolk Preservation Society. and chaplain to the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, whose membership is made up exclusively of recipients of those awards.

Victoria Cross archive

Lummis' interest in Victoria Cross recipients started when he was a schoolboy in the 1890s. He built up an archive of the service records and final resting places of Victoria Cross holders, summarising the results in a pamphlet. However, Lummis perceived short-comings in his work and encouraged David Harvey to continue and develop it, making his archives available to him. The result was Harvey's seminal book Monuments to Courage.

Charge of the Light Brigade archive

Lummis' first regiment, the 11th Hussars rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. Whilst editing the regimental journal, Lummis met and interviewed many surviving members of the Charge. Hearing about the 1875 reunion when over 2000 men claimed to have taken part, he set about preparing a roll of those who charged, soon fleshing the list out with biographies. Over his lifetime, this built into a major archive, acknowledged as a major source by Lawrence W. Crider for his book, In Search of the Light Brigade. Lummis was also the co-author, with Kenneth G. Wynn, of Honour the Light Brigade, which was published when he was 83 years old.

Legacy

His collection of artefacts (including many photographs) and his archives from his Victoria Cross and Light Brigade research were deposited with the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum. When the Royal Mail produced a series of stamps in 2006 commemorating the Victoria Cross, they featured photographs and artifacts from the Lummis archive at the National Army Museum. His tape-recorded memoirs, covering the period 1904–1919, are in the Imperial War Museum sound archives. His notes and papers on the histories of Norfolk parishes (1931–1967) went to the Norfolk Record Office. His Crimean War archives were shared with Dave Harvey, Ken Horton, Glenn Fisher, Andrew Sewell, Roy Mills, and Edward James Boys.

Selected works Honour the Light Brigade (with Kenneth G. Wynn), J. B. Hayward and Son, 1973, Padre George Smith of Rorke's Drift , Wensum Books (Norwich) Ltd, 1978, First Lieutenant Edward St John Daniel. The Tragic Story of the Only Officer to Forfeit the VC; Journal of the Orders and Medals Research Society, December 1969, pp 100–102.

The Churches of Bungay (with Ethel Mann), British Publishing Company, 1950 Kesgrave. A short guide to church and parish, W. E. Calver, 1937

Notes and references