Posted on 05/12/2015 5:29:15 PM PDT by robowombat
Ernest Beachcroft Beckwith Towse, Sir ‹
Ernest Beachcroft Beckwith Towse, Sir Birthdate: April 23, 1864 Birthplace: London, United Kingdom Death: Died June 21, 1948 in West Berkshire, England, United Kingdom Immediate Family: Husband of Gertrude Towse Brother of Beatrice J B Towse
Gertrude Towse wife
Beatrice J B Towse sister About Ernest Beachcroft Beckwith Towse, Sir http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/36544
Towse, Sir (Ernest) Beachcroft Beckwith (1864–1948), army officer and campaigner for the welfare of blind people, was born at Regent's Park, London, on 23 April 1864, the elder of the two sons of Robert Beckwith Towse, solicitor, and his Irish wife, Julia Ann Corcoran. The high-spirited and adventurous Towse was educated at Stubbington House, Gosport, and Wellington College, Berkshire, and in 1883 he joined the 3rd Seaforth Highlanders (the Highland rifle militia); he was promoted lieutenant in December 1885. In 1886 he transferred to the Gordon Highlanders; he served with the Chitral relief force (1895), was at the storming of the Malakand Pass, was promoted captain in 1896, and served in the north-west frontier and Tirah campaigns (1897–8). Towse had married on 25 October 1892 Gertrude, younger daughter of John Christie, a stockbroker; they had no children.
In October 1899 he went with the 1st battalion of his regiment to South Africa and was present at the advance on Kimberley and the battle of Magersfontein (11 December 1899) when the Highland brigade suffered heavy casualties. On 30 April 1900 on Mounba, when rallying his force of twelve men to attack some 150 Boers, he received the wound which blinded him. For his gallantry then and for his attempt at Magersfontein to carry his mortally wounded colonel to safety, he was awarded the Victoria Cross (gazetted 6 July 1900). He was mentioned in dispatches.
His military career over, Towse turned all his vigorous powers to the service of the blind. He joined the council of the National Institute for the Blind (then the British and Foreign Blind Association) in 1901 and became vice-chairman later that year; he was also a member of the committee of the Incorporated Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind. Towse travelled the country to help the work of the institute and foster public interest in the welfare of blind people.
When war broke out in 1914 he was soon an honorary staff captain (without pay and allowances) for base hospitals in France and Belgium. He brought comfort to many wounded, writing letters home from his braille notes; he was probably one of the first welfare officers, and was mentioned in dispatches.Before going to the war Towse suggested to the National Institute for the Blind that they should set up a subcommittee to look after blinded former servicemen. This, under the inspiration of Sir Arthur Pearson, developed into St Dunstan's, but Towse realized that there was still no help available for former servicemen who went blind through causes other than the war, or for the blind dependants of servicemen.
In 1923, therefore, he inaugurated a Special Fund for Blind Ex-Servicemen which continued as the Sir Beachcroft Towse Ex-Service Fund. His concern for all who returned from the war led him to help in launching in 1917 the Comrades of the Great War, and as chairman he travelled during two years over 12,000 miles in the British Isles. Th99is organization merged with others to form the British Legion, of which he became a national vice-president in 1927, remaining in office until his death.
Captain Towse's striking figure with its soldierly bearing and immaculate attire, including a tartan waistcoat, was often seen at great functions. In 1900 he was made a sergeant-at-arms in ordinary to the queen, and from 1903 to 1939 he was a member of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms. In 1920 he was appointed CBE and in 1927 KCVO for services to the blind and to former servicemen. In 1916 he became a knight of grace of the order of St John of Jerusalem.
The Second World War brought Towse into yet another field of service when he made his home at Long Meadow, Goring-on-Thames, available for civilians blinded through air raids. It thus became the first Queen Elizabeth Home of Recovery and he remained there in charge of this important work of rehabilitation.
In 1944, on account of continuous ill health and advancing years, he resigned from the chairmanship of the National Institute for the Blind he had assumed in 1923. His resignation was received ‘with a sense of personal loss and poignancy of regret almost too deep for words’, and he was elected president, an office which had been vacant since the death of Pearson in 1921.Towse was also a member of the livery of the Fishmongers' Company and of the court of the Clothworkers' Company, health alone preventing him from taking up the mastership of the latter, to which he was elected in 1941. He was also vice-president of Worcester College for the Blind, the Greater London Fund for the Blind, and the Hepburn Starey Blind Aid Society, and chairman of the British Wireless for the Blind Fund.
In early life his chief interests, apart from his service career, had been polo, hunting, and big game shooting. After he was blinded he became a fine fisherman and a skilful carpenter and joiner.Towse's wife, Gertrude, had died in 1935, and in his later years he was cared for by a niece. He died at his home, Long Meadow, Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, on 21 June 1948.
Sources
private information (1959) · personal knowledge (1959) · WWW · Burke, Peerage(1929) · S. Dark, The life of Sir Arthur Pearson [1922] · The register of the Victoria Cross, 3rd edn (1997) · CGPLA Eng. & Wales (1948) · J. Dunn, The Parramatta cemeteries: St. John's(Parramatta, NSW, 1991), 87
Towse' action was noted and a citation sent up the chain of command. Meanwhile, the Gordon Highlanders moved on towards Bloemfontein where, under Roberts' command, they awaited further events. These were not long in coming. The Boer General, Olivier, came up towards Bloemfontein and invested the city's waterworks. He had to be dislodged and this led to the battles of Sannas's Pass and Houtnek. A detachment of the Gordon Highlanders was present at this latter battle, among them Ernest Towse.
Towse and his company were ordered forward to clear a Boer force off a koppie known as Mt Tabo and, while leading the assault, Towse was shot in the face and permanently blinded. His bravery in this action, the assault on Mount Tabo, did not go un-noticed and this, plus his deed at Magersfontein, led to the awarding of the Victoria Cross.
As a result of a family connection, our speaker Terry met and got to know Ernest's grandson, Peter Towse, and visited the battlefields of Magersfontein and Houtnek in his company. Together they retraced the scene of the advance at Magersfontein and the assault on Mount Tabo at Houtnek, near Thaba N'Chu.
When the blinded Captain appeared before the Queen to receive his VC, he was led towards the throne on the arm of his wife. However, he stopped short three paces before the throne and, gently disengaging his arm, he declared that he was "not going to be led before his queen" and stepped forward bravely on his own. Seeing this, Queen Victoria bowed her head and wept silently into her handkerchief. The moment was captured for posterity by the court artist and was widely published as "The Day Queen Victoria Wept".
http://samilitaryhistory.org/11/11junnl.html
Very moving story. Thank you.
Excellent
Were she alive today, she would be weeping for the whole British nation.
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