213595 Capt Percy Robert Herbert British Army Welsh Guards (d.13th Oct 1916) Captain Percy Robert Herbert, Viscount Clive died on 13th of October 1916 at the age of 23, from wounds received in action during the Battle of the Somme. He died in the King Edward VII Hospital, Grosvenor Gardens, London and was buried in Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, Wales
Additional Information: | Clive was shot in the thigh whilst attempting to assault Les Boeufs from the small village of Ginchy on 16 September 1916. The action was part of the wider Battle of the Somme, an allied offensive that had begun on 1 July 1916 originally aimed at breaking the trench warfare stalemate that had dogged the conflict during the previous 18 months.
Below is an extract taken from the war diary of The Welsh Guards describing the Les Boeufs attack on 16 September: The 3rd Brigade H.Q., however, confirmed the previous orders for attack, and soon after midday the attack started, with the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards on the right and the Welsh Guards on the left — they advanced from behind the position occupied by the 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards. No. 3 Company was in reserve, and the attack was carried out by the Prince of Wales's Company on the right and No. 2 on the left, each on a two platoon front- age ; No. 4 was in support. But the engagement was a repetition of the day before. Casualties were heavy - Clive was hit - and Ashton. The advance had to be made in sectional rushes, and the assaulting troops got into standing crops, where they lost direction, and, mistaking Gueudecourt for Les Boeufs, swung round to the left. When this mistake was discovered they were in close touch with the enemy on the line of the Flers — Les Boeufs Road, and decided to dig in. The 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards then came up and got connection on the right and the 3rd Coldstream Guards on the left. The line was then some 200 yards short of the second objective.
Alive but injured, Clive was transported to King Edward VII in London where he underwent 3 operations to remove the German bullet from his thigh. It's unclear exactly why he suffered a major arterial haemorrhage of the leg - some reports indicate this was several days after the final operation but this seems unlikely. In any case, Clive died in hospital on 13 October 1916 and his body was transferred to Welshpool, first via gun carriage through London's West end then via train to Welshpool and finally to Christ Church in Welshpool where he was immediately buried. A great many dignitaries attended his funeral and newspaper reports of the time indicate his death was of national significance. Percy Robert, Viscount Clive was buried aged 23 and initially interred alone. However, in April 1929, following her untimely death in a car accident, his mother Violet (Countess of Powis) joined him in the family plot followed by his father George (4th Earl of Powis) who died in November 1952.
Further tragedy dogged the family when Clive's younger brother Mervyn died aged 38 in March 1943 flying as a Squadron Leader for the RAF. This the result of aggressive manoeuvres in the dark avoiding an incoming friendly bomber over Essex. Mervyn is buried in the same church yard, just a few feet from the family plot. Thus, George sadly lived through the untimely death of his two sons and wife. Philip Andrews
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