Thank you to Jane Anthony for this research
Richard Henry Powell was born in 1884 in London the son of Henry Pryor Powell and educated at Eton, Haileybury and Trinity College Cambridge. Before becoming a journalist, and later editor, in the sporting department of the Times; he spent some time in theatrical management. He was also the author of two plays “The White Dove” and “The Wymartens” which included Marie Tempest a well known leading lady at the time, in the cast.
Shortly after the outbreak of war he joined the Inns of Court O.T.C. and obtained a commission in the Royal Sussex in November, 1914. He led his men in the attack at the Rue du Bois, Richebourt l’Avoue, and was reported wounded and missing. Through rumour supported the hope that he might have been taken prisoner, after four years without further news, he was presumed dead.
He married in 1910, Barbara Frances, elder daughter of the late G.J. Courthope, and had a son and a daughter. His son Major John Henry Courthope Powell was killed in Normandy 1944. Richard Henry Powell does not appear on the war memorial at Okewoodhill but there is a plaque to him inside the church.
One lasting tribute to Powell was a poem by his friend Lawrence Binyon, who is most widely know for this famous poem “For the Fallen”:
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
A Poem titled “In memory of Richard Henry Powell” reads thus:
“2nd Lieut., Cinque Ports Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
strong, loyal-souled, full hearted, blithely brave only remembering love knows all he gave: beautiful be the stars above his grave.”
| Born | London | |
| Son of | Henry Pryor and Helena Powell of Hale House, Okewood Hill | |
| Regiment | “C” Company. 5th Battalion, Cinque Ports | |
| Date of Death | 9th May 1915 | |
| Place of Death | France | |
| Cause of Death | Killed in Action | |
| Age | 31 | |
| Memorial | Le Touret Memorial, France |
