Dick Doughty-Wylie was the archetypal Victorian – he joined the Army in 1889 and almost immediately saw action at Chitral and later at Crete, Sudan, the Boer War, Somaliland and took part in quelling the Boxer rebellion in China. In later years, he took on a diplomatic role in life, with his wife, Lily, and it was while he was British consul in Turkey that he was able to halt the massacre of the Armenians at Adana whilst Lily set up a temporary hospital for the wounded.
Gertrude Bell met the Doughty-Wylie’s during her Middle East travels and gradually fell deeply in love with Dick. As a married man, Doughty-Wylie felt that he could not leave his wife and with the advent of the First World War the question was left unanswered.
In 1914, Doughty-Wylie rejoined his regiment, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, but was chosen, because of his knowledge of the Turks, by General Sir Ian Hamilton, who led the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that went out to Gallipoli, to join his Headquarters’ Staff on the SS River Clyde as his Intelligence Officer. It was Doughty Wylie’s actions, along with others, that saved the day at 'V; Beach, Helles.
The talk is presented by Anne Pedley, who has been researching Lt Col Doughty-Wylie through diaries, letters and memoirs, many that have only recently come to light. She is a retired lecturer and a Trustee of the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum Trust and an enthusiastic amateur historian of the Great War.
This talk is organised by the Gallipoli Association which the Western Front Association is proud to announce on their behalf.
To register and receive the link email Ian Binnie, Gallipoli Association Education Co-ordinator at: education@gallipoli-association.org
Image: Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum