Second Lieutenant Oscar Moritz

Second Lieutenant Oscar Frank Moritz, 99th Coy., Machine Gun Corps ( Infantry ). He was killed in action in France, aged 32, on the 27th July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He had been born in London and was the son of Elisa and the late Herman Moritz of Tottenham, London. His father had been born in Prussia but became naturalised in 1873. He had been educated at Sherborne School, Dorset and had been called to the Bar in 1909. He was the tenant at Elibank Farm, Caddonfoot when he enlisted in the Royal Army medical Corps in September 1914. In April 1915 he was commissioned into the Border Regiment transferring to the M.G.C. in January 1916 going to France in April. He fell during the fighting for the notorious Delville Wood and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. The M.G.C used the Vickers Mk. 11 water cooled gun in both offensive and defensive roles. The photos show Delville Wood after its capture.