1st December 1915: On this day Rundle Coumbe died

Although, as the above citation in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records shows, he was a soldier in the Canadian Army, Rundle Coumbe was Cornish. He was born in 1893 at Underhill Farm in Tutwell, a hamlet in the east of Stoke Climsland Parish, and was one of the four sons of James and Elizabeth Coumbe. He was working on the family farm when he emigrated to Canada in 1913, a move which, at the time, was not uncommon as opportunities for farmers in Canada were actively promoted in the UK. He travelled 2nd Class on the White Star Dominion Line's passenger ship, the SS Arabic, departing Liverpool on 29th March, landing in Portland, Maine on 9th April and finally disembarking at Halifax. He was travelling with his cousin, Rendell Coumbe, both men having their mother's maiden name as their Christian name, a common practice at the time in this part of the world. 

Badge of the 19th Alberta Dragoons

From Halifax, he travelled to take up his occupation of farming in Edmonton, Alberta. It was there that he enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on February 8th 1915 and his Attestation Papers show that he had already spent 16 months in a militia unit (the 19th Alberta Dragoons). He was assigned subsequently to the 3rd Canadian Mounted Rifles.

Cap badge of the 3rd Mounted Rifles

At some point the regiment moved to England to take up quarters in Shorncliffe Army Camp. Shorncliffe, just outside of Folkestone at Cheriton, was used as a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front during World War I and, from April 1915, a Canadian Training Division was formed there. The Regimental War Diary details their training on a day-by-day basis and also records the many visits they had from royal personages and high ranking military officials. From the middle of September onwards, preparations for moving to the Front are evident, culminating in this entry for September 22nd 1915:

 

9.30 Muster parade in morning. 25 Officers - 551 other ranks (except advance parties) were all present.
Orders received to move.
5.20 p.m. Left Camp 447 all ranks.
6.10 p.m.  Regiment arrived FOLKESTONE HARBOUR WHARF.
6.30 p.m.  Regiment all shipped.
6.40 p.m.  Boat left Folkestone.
9.00 p.m.  Regiment arrived BOULOGNE.
9.45 p.m.  Left wharf and marched to #3 LARGE REST CAMP.
10.30 p.m.  Arrived at #3 LARGE REST CAMP.

Within a few days the CMR had moved to the front line at Dickebusch near Ypres and over the next couple of months were fully engaged in active service in the trenches. Full details can be read in the Regimental War Diary and the entry for Wednesday December 1st 1915 is given below:

The most salient passage is:

2 p.m. - Heavy artillery duel. In the early stages the heavy artillery was paying attention to Brigade and Divisional Hdqrs. About 2.20 p.m. Regimental Hdqrs., communication trenches, support and front line trenches came under shrapnel and H.E. shell fire which continued until sunset.

Nine named soldiers, including Rundle Coumbe, died as a result of this bombardment.

Rundle's body was originally interred in the Rosenberg Château Military Cemetery but was subsequently exhumed and reinterred with many others (very controversially, and much reported at the times, because the owner of the chateau objected to having a cemetery on his land) in 1930 to the Berks Cemetery Extension, just south of Ypres.

Copies of the burial records for Rundle Coumbe

His final resting place is at Reference II.D.34 and his headstone is inscribed with a quote, chosen by his mother at the time of his reinterrment, from the hymn Rock of Ages:

Thou Rock of Ages,

I am hiding in thee

As well as being commemorated on the war memorials in Stoke Climsland, Rundle Coumbe received recognition and a full citation on the Canadian Great War Project website. Footnote: Rundle Coumbe's medals were auctioned on 2nd March 2005 in London and were sold for £210. No details of this transaction are available as the records of the auctioneers do not go back that far.