Remembering a Veteran: John F. Elkington of the Royal Warwickshires and 1er Régiment étranger d'infanterie

Contributed by James Patton

The Royal Warwickshire Regiment dated from 1674. Originally formed for service in the Netherlands, the regiment was nicknamed the "Dutch Guards" by King William III. They gained Royal status in 1832. The badge bears the image of a "Hart, Ducally Gorged and Chained," a symbol of the House of Lancaster. The record of their service reads like the history of the British Army for nearly 300 years. They raised 30 battalions in the Great War, including three "Birmingham Pals." The regiment was amalgamated in 1968, and their heritage is now with the Fusiliers. 

Lt. Col. John F. Elkington

The 1st Battalion of the regiment arrived in France in August 1914 under the command of Lt. Col. John F. Elkington. It was an experienced Regular battalion, and Lt. Bernard Montgomery was the adjutant.  They went into action at Le Cateau, taking heavy casualties. At the rear of the fallback, the remnant of this battalion, along with that of the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers, plus an assortment of unruly stragglers, found themselves in the Grande Place of St. Quentin. Rail transport had been promised there, but none was available. Having covered over 20 miles, the soldiers refused to walk any more. Further complicating the situation was the availability of alcohol. 

Elkington and the CO of the "Dubs," Lt. Col. Arthur Mainwaring (a noted cricket player of the 1890s), asked Mayor Arthur Gibert for help in organizing food, medical supplies, and transportation. But M. Gibert had heard the stories coming from Belgium and was terrified that the city would be destroyed by the Germans with great loss of life. He urged the British commanders to join him in surrendering. Having heard vague reports that German troops were encircling the city, and with their men in no condition either to fight or move on, the exhausted officers signed on to Gibert's surrender document. Elkington then left on a recce to find additional soldiers. Mainwaring incredibly ordered the men to stack their arms. 

However, before any Germans could be found to surrender to, a troop of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards came along. Their CO, Major GTM Bridges, recalled later: "The men in the square were so jaded it was pathetic to see them. If one only had a band, I thought! Why not? There was a toy shop handy, which provided my trumpeter and myself with a tin whistle and a drum, and we marched round the fountain, where the men were lying like the dead, playing the British Grenadiers and Tipperary and beating the drum like mad. They sat up and began to laugh and cheer." The Dragoons were eventually able to coax about 440 soldiers out of the city on a 24 hour slog to Noyon, another 20 miles, where trains were available. 

On 30 October Elkington and Mainwaring were "cashiered"—dismissed in disgrace. Mainwaring withdrew to private life in England, where he wrote a fussy memoir before his death in 1930; while Elkington, according to a friend, said "there is still the Foreign Legion," and he "set out to make good a name that he felt needed cleansing." 

And so the 1st Royal Warwicks soldiered on. Lt. Montgomery didn't spend the war in a POW camp, but was wounded on 13 October, and by Christmas the battalion was ineffective. 

On 28 September 1915, the 1er RM/2eme RE attacked at Navarin Farm. Among the men of Co. B-3 was Soldat 2nd Cl. Elkington, who had already distinguished himself at Hill 119. As leaders fell, he took charge, attacking until the guns finally caught up with him. He lay in the bottom of a trench for 13 hours until stretcher bearers arrived. He spent nearly a year in hospitals and endured eight surgical procedures. His citation for the action reads: 

The Medaille Militaire and the Croix de Guerre avec Palme are conferred upon No. 29274 Legionaire John Ford Elkington of the First Foreign Regiment. Although being Fifty years old, he has given proof during the campaign of remarkable courage and ardour, setting everyone the best possible example. He was gravely wounded on 28 September 1915 rushing forward to assault enemy trenches. He has lost the use of his right leg.

The Regimental Badges Worn by Elkington:
Warwickshires and French Foreign Legion

On 7 September 1916 at the request of Lt. Gen. Hunter-Weston, Elkington was restored to his regiment, rank, seniorities, and awards. In October he was received by the King, who pinned on him a brand-new DSO. Deemed unfit for service, Elkington retired to his family's house in Berkshire and became active in local affairs. It was reported that he never wore any of his medals. He died in 1944, and two years later a stained-glass window honoring him (and his younger son, lost in the Western Desert) was dedicated by none other than Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, who said on the occasion "he made good more than he lost."