Merton Beckwith-Smith's education took in Warren Hill School at Eastbourne, Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.
14 Facts About Merton Beckwith-Smith
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Merton Beckwith-Smith served with the Guards throughout the First World War, eventually becoming a staff officer in the Guards Division.
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On 4 October 1914, while the 1st Guards Brigade was holding trenches opposite the German line at the River Aisne, Merton Beckwith-Smith was ordered by Brigadier-General Charles FitzClarence to carry out a nighttime raid against a German position known as 'Fish Hook Trench'.
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Merton Beckwith-Smith was still just a lieutenant at the time and the raid was considered to be a striking success.
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At 8 PM a platoon of the battalion, led by Merton Beckwith-Smith, crossing the hundred yards of No Man's Land, rushed the trench with the bayonet.
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Now a captain, Merton Beckwith-Smith was awarded the French Croix de Guerre in 1917.
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Merton Beckwith-Smith then attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1921 to 1922.
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Charles FitzClarence 8.
Merton Beckwith-Smith was promoted to temporary brigadier in February 1938 and spent fourteen months serving in India in command of the Lahore Brigade.
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When Lord Gort was ordered home and was replaced by Harold Alexander, Merton Beckwith-Smith succeeded him in command of the 1st Division.
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Merton Beckwith-Smith took part in the defence of the Dunkirk Perimeter, telling his officers,.
11.
In early 1942, after many weeks at sea, Merton Beckwith-Smith's division was landed at Singapore.
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Merton Beckwith-Smith was reported just prior to capture as being 'quite undisturbed by the calamity, continuing his duties even when the roof of his headquarters was burning over his head.
13.
On 11 November 1942 Merton Beckwith-Smith died at Karenko Camp of diphtheria as a prisoner of war.
14.
Merton Beckwith-Smith married Honor Dorothy Leigh on 14 March 1918 at St George's Church, Hanover Square in Westminster.