Lieut. Colin Edward Cumming was killed on this day in 1915
Edward was born in Stafford in March 1880. His parents were Robert (a bank manager) and Margaret (née Duff). He was one of six children.
He was educated at Royal High School, Edinburgh and Edinburgh University. He was an active member of the OTC and commissioned in the RFA Reserve 16 Sept 1909.
Before the war, he took an engineering cadetship in the Transvaal gold-mining industry.
Colin went on to take the Indian Civil Service Examination and worked for a year in India, until the outbreak of the Great War. He was put in charge of recruits until February of 1915, when he went to the front, where his character and personality quickly earned him the respect and admiration of his men and fellow officers.
With the outbreak of war Colin returned to Britain and on 22 September he was gazetted and soon selected as Adjutant. Appointed to the 103rd Battery accompanying the Battery to the Front in Jan 1915.
On the evening of the 24th of February his battery had taken shelter in the dug-outs by their guns, having been shelled for some time before that. Their major was wounded by a shell; Lieutenant Cumming tried to get him out of the debris when another shell hit the dug-out, rendering them both unconscious. They were taken to the hospital at Poperinghe, where Lieutenant Cumming died, never regaining consciousness. The major recovered and wrote this to Lieutenant Cumming’s parents:
“Not only a most trusted and capable subaltern, but also a personal friend for whom I had formed a most deep and intimate affection. Your son rendered his country most admirable service, and was an invaluable help to me. He died gallantly doing his duty.”
He is buried in the Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery.
Lieut. Colin Edward Cumming 103rd Battery, R.F.A. 31st Brigade (28th Division)
25 February 1915
Source: De Ruvingny’s; Staffordshire Advertiser, 20 March 1915.