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Black , Cyril Herbert Charles Pakenham (C H C P)

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Photo of Black Photo of Black Photo of Black Photo of Black
Identity
Person No.
1861
Service No.
G/1568
Last Name
Black 17
First Name
Cyril Herbert Charles Pakenham
Initials
C H C P
Date of Birth
23 November 1893 354
Age at Death
22
Death Record
Date of Death
18 August 1916 116
Cause code
KIA 14,781
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,655
Killed in action, at Guillemont
Military Service
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Regiment
Middlesex Regiment 25
Unit
13th Bn. 39
Defence Force
UK 4,066
British forces
Location
Country
France 5,136
Locality
Somme 2,465
Cemetery
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL 959
Grave Reference
Pier and Face 12 D and 13 B. 3
Coordinates
50.05081, 2.68569 OSM
Memorial
Pier and Face 12 D and 13 B Benson And Black Photograph: South African War Graves Project.
Names on Pier and Face 12 D and 13 B
Memorial
Thiepval Memorial
Location
On the Somme battlefield at Thiepval, overlooking the Ancre valley
Address
8 Rue de l'Ancre, 80300 Thiepval, France
Coordinates
50.05081, 2.68569 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Pier and Face 12 D and 13 B
On the panel
Benson And Black
Notes

Born London 23 November 1893. Son of Charles William Black, barrister of the Middle Temple (d. c.1915), and Jessie Margaret Scout or Black (d. before 1904). Educated at Bedford School (Bedford Grammar School) and the City and Guilds Engineering College, South Kensington. Inns of Court O.T.C. (Private G/1568) before commissioning into the Middlesex Regiment. First entered France 23 March 1916. Killed in action 18 August 1916 in the 13th Middlesex attack on Guillemont (73rd Brigade, 24th Division); named in the battalion war diary among the officers killed that afternoon. No known grave. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 12 D and 13 B), Bedford School Memorial Hall, and Bedford St Paul's. Last address 1 Cyril Mansions, Prince of Wales Road, Battersea Park. Estate administered 14 November 1916 to Catherine Anne Minto, widow. South African Roll of Honour 1914-1918.

Research notes

No London Gazette gallantry notice found. MIC (WO 372/2, TNA D1349258): OTC Pte G/1568; 2/Lt Middlesex R.; France 23-3-16; died 18-8-16; BWM and Victory. War diary 18 Aug 1916 names 2/Lt Black among officers killed at Guillemont. Family notice gives DOB 23 Nov 1893 and parents as above.
Thiepval Memorial, Pier and Face 12 D and 13 B: named on photograph "Benson And Black". Photograph: South African War Graves Project.

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
by ROH research on 18 August 2026 · via source
Cyril Herbert Charles Pakenham Black was born in London on 23 November 1893, the son of Charles William Black, a barrister of the Middle Temple, and Jessie Margaret Scout or Black. A contemporary family notice records that his mother had died before 1904 and his father about 1915. He was educated at Bedford School (then often called Bedford Grammar School) and at the City and Guilds Engineering College, South Kensington.

He served as Private G/1568 in the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps and was commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment. His Medal Index Card shows that he first entered France on 23 March 1916. He was not on the 13th (Service) Battalion officer roll of January 1916, so he joined the battalion later, as a replacement.

On 18 August 1916 the 13th Middlesex, 73rd Brigade, 24th Division, attacked German trenches at Guillemont from Arrow Head Copse. Zero hour was 2.45 p.m. The battalion war diary states that the attack was held up just outside the German line by machine-gun fire from a strongpoint on the right, after which the men were heavily shelled while lying in the open. Among the officers killed that afternoon the diary names 2/Lieutenants Adam, Burch and Black. Other-rank casualties for the operation were given as about 340.

Second Lieutenant Black has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 12 D and 13 B), on the Bedford School Memorial Hall panels, and on the Bedford St Paul's war memorial. Probate was granted in London on 14 November 1916 to Catherine Anne Minto, widow, of 1 Cyril Mansions, Prince of Wales Road, Battersea Park — the same address used on the medal card for correspondence. Effects were £106 12s. 7d.

No London Gazette gallantry notice has been found. He was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.