Godfrey Meynell

Godfrey Meynell was the eldest son of Godfrey Meynell of Meynell Langley in Derbyshire, where the family had owned land for more than 400 years. He was commissioned in the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry on 31 August 1890.

When the war broke out he was serving with the 2nd Battalion at Secunderbabad in India in the rank of major. His longest period of service on the Western Front was as CO of the 6th (Service) Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, leading it in the Somme fighting of 1916 at Delville Wood and Flers-Courcelette. He spent much of 1917 in staff appointments, including a period as CO II Corps Infantry School.

In April 1918 he gained the coveted appointment of CO 1st Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, but held it for only a few weeks before being invalided home ill, the second bout of ill health he suffered during the war.

When he returned to action he was given command of 171st Brigade, 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division TF in October 1918, taking part in the occupation of Lille. He was three times mentioned in despatches during the war and awarded the CMG. ‘I sustained several “set backs” during the first two years of the war, but had the satisfaction of commanding a Brigade in the Field before the end came,’ he later recalled, ‘and nobody who came through - after nearly 3 years front line work - with a whole skin and a clear conscience can complain of his luck.’

Godfrey Meynell retired from the army in 1926 to take up the management of his estate. His son Captain Godfrey Meynell, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, was killed in action on the North West Frontier of India in 1935 and posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.