By John D Ellis
Peter Robert De Silva (DeSilva) was born in Pandura, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), c.1892. A clerk by occupation (in the office of the Governor General), un-married and 5 feet 4¾” tall, he enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment in London on the 6th of December 1915. It was noted that he was a “Buddhist”. His surname, place of birth and religion strongly suggest that he was Euro-Asian. On enlistment he gave his residential address as 36 Barnard Street, Russell Square, London. His next of kin was his mother, Emalina, in Pandura.
He undertook basic training with the 24th (Reserve) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment between the 7th of December 1915 and 28th of May 1916, and then joined the 16th (Public Schools) Battalion of the regiment in France.
On the 1st of July 1916, the battalion, including No.PS/3198 Private Peter De Silva, went “over the top” on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was declared “Missing in Action” the same day and confirmed as “Killed in Action” in April 1917. He was grieved by his mother, five brothers (one of whom was a doctor), and two sisters, all of whom, not un-naturally, retained hope that he was still alive: A letter in his records, dating from March 1918, reveals that a comrade of Peter’s had suggested that he had been taken as a Prisoner of War, and that as a result his distraught family continued to press for information regarding his fate.
In 1916, Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), wrote “My Boy Jack”, a poem referencing the death in action at the Battle of Jutland (1916), of Jack Cornwell, the youngest ever winner of the Victoria Cross. (“Jack” or “Jack Tar” being a generic reference to a Royal Navy rating). Whilst the poem was nautical in nature, it also conveyed Kipling’s own sense of loss: His son, Lieutenant John “Jack” Kipling (1897-1915), an officer in the Irish Guards, had been declared “Missing in Action” at the Battle of Loos in 1915.
"Have you news of my boy Jack?” Not this tide. "When d'you think that he'll come back?" Not with this wind blowing, and this tide. "Has any one else had word of him?" Not this tide. For what is sunk will hardly swim, Not with this wind blowing, and this tide. "Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?" None this tide, Nor any tide, Except he did not shame his kind— Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide. Then hold your head up all the more, This tide, And every tide; Because he was the son you bore, And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!
The remains of “Jack” Kipling were not recovered and identified in his father’s lifetime. However, those of Peter De Silva were recovered and subsequently interred in Grave No A51, at the Hawthorn Ridge Military Cemetery, Somme, France.
The heavily defended Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt was the objective of the 16th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment on the 1st of July 1916. The battalion suffered catastrophic casualties from German machine-guns and artillery-fire as soon as they “went over the top”. However, elements of the battalion did reach the objective, but in the face of ferocious resistance were killed, wounded or taken prisoner (no doubt the origin of the belief that Peter De Silva had been captured), and ultimately driven back to their own lines.
Peter De Silva reached his objective and lies amongst his comrades on Hawthorn Ridge
Kipling has a legacy of imperialism, racism (at best racialised) and “sabre-rattling” which does not sit well with modern readers, but he did know soldiers, and he did know loss. The lines of Kipling’s “My Boy Jack” would have resonated with the De Silva family:
"Has any one else had word of him?" "Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?"
On the cessation of hostilities Peter De Silva’s medals, the British War Medal 1914-1920 and the Victory Medal, were sent to his next of kin.
Sources:
First World War Records – Burnt Documents TNA WO 363.
For the Middlesex Regiment see: www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/the-duke-of-cambridges-own-middlesex
Lives Of the First World War 1914-1918 see findmypast.co.uk
Soldiers Died in the Great War database © Naval and Military Press Ltd 2010.
www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/613216/PETER%20ROBERT%20DE%20SILVA/