Today marks the anniversary of the death of Major-General Frederick Drummond Vincent Wing CB. With the common portrayal of WW1 Generals being out of touch with the experiences of their men, Wing's death, as one of three Generals to die in September/October 1915, hopefully provides a contrast.
A career soldier, he had taken over command of the newly formed 12 [Eastern] Division in March 1915. In his relatively short tenure he had taken the Kitchener division to war, frequently visiting the frontline and been slightly wounded in September 1915.
In early October the division was engaged in the Battle of Loos in Northern France. German shelling was described in the divisonal history as "incessant", the division's artillery units being particulary effected. It was whilst on his way to one of these units that Major General Wing and his ADC Lt Tower DSO [Essex Yeomanry] were killed by shellfire.
They were buried on the 4th October and now lie in Noeux-les-Mines communal cemetery near Bethune. In Bulford garrison on Salisbury Plain there is a Wing barracks in honour of this man.
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