Regiment: H M Indian Army
Service No:
Date and place of birth: 20 March 1888, Rochester, Kent
Date and place of death: 19 August 1916 (aged 38) at Mosul, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)
Captain Hubert John Daniell never lived in Midhurst although his parents settled there after the war.
Family background
Hubert John Daniell was born in Rochester, Kent, the first child of John Frederick and Constance Daniell (nee Rosher). In 1891 the family was living at Knight’s Hill, Lambeth, London. John F Daniell (31) was a captain in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. With him were his wife Constance (31) and Hubert (3), also a cook and housemaid.
In 1901 the family were living in St John’s Park, Greenwich and John F Daniell (41) was a major working at the Royal Military Academy. With him were his wife Constance (41), his sons Hubert J (13) and Basil C (7), and a cook and housemaid. Also living with them was his sister-in-law Ida Rosher (37).
By 1911 John F (51) and Constance (51) Daniell were living in the Royal Marine Barracks and Melville Hospital Barracks, Chatham with a cook and housemaid. No record was found for Hubert J Daniell in the 1911 census.
Military career
Hubert John Daniell was awarded the King’s Medal at the Royal Military College Sandhurst in 1906. The King’s/Queen’s Medal is awarded to the officer cadet who gains the highest scores in military, practical and academic studies at Sandhurst. The gold medal bears a portrait of King Edward VII wearing the uniform of a General Officer. The recipient’s name is engraved around the rim.
Hubert John Daniell received his first commission in the Indian Army on 19 January 1907. He was promoted to lieutenant on 19 April 1909 in the 20th Infantry. He travelled to England via Lagos, arriving in Liverpool on 22 August 1914 on the Tarquah. He served in 20th Duke of Cambridge Own Infantry (Brownlow’s Panjabis).
The 20th Duke of Cambridge’s Own Infantry, having previously been known as the 8th Regiment of Punjab Infantry, was designated ‘Brownlow’s Punjabis’ after its Colonel (later Field Marshall) Charles Henry Brownlow in 1904. During WWI the regiment saw active service in Mesopotamia and Palestine.
On 16 October 1914 the regiment sailed for the Persian Gulf as part of the 16th Indian Infantry Brigade. The long siege of Kut-al-Amara was the culmination of bad intelligence, a lack of respect for the enemy, indecision and questionable leadership by senior members of the military resulting in an ignominious time for the allies. Several attempts to reach the beleaguered troops failed. Amongst those taken prisoner by the Turks, were 8,000 Anglo-Indian troops, many of whom, were already injured. They faced disease and hunger and suffered severe brutality, dying in huge numbers.
Death and commemoration
Hubert was taken prisoner of war after the Siege of Kut, and died at Mosul. He was buried in Baghdad (North gate) War Cemetary Part 1 in Iraq. He is commemorated on the Midhurst War Memorial and on the Panels in Midhurst Parish Church.
The probate record shows Hubert John Daniell’s residence as St Matthew’s Vicarage, Redhill, Surrey. He left £892 6s 5d to his father, now a Major General in her Majesty’s Army CMG.
Subsequent family history
At the census taken in June 1921, John Frederick and Christine Daniell were recorded as living at “The Chalet”, Midhurst with two servants.
John Frederic Daniell died on 15 September 1943 at the White House Fernhurst, near Haslemere. According to his obituary in the Times he became a KCMG in 1919, one year before he retired.
Hubert’s brother Basil Camden Daniell died aged 77 in 1971 in Gosport, Hampshire.