Lieutenant Colonel Edward Trotter, D.S.O.

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Henry Trotter, D.S.O. 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards  Att. 18th ( Service ) Battalion The Kings ( Liverpool Regiment ). He was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme on 8th July 1916 aged 44. He had been born in London and was the son of Major General Sir Henry Trotter and the Hon. Lucy Trotter and is buried in Peronne Road Cemetery, Maricourt, Somme, France. He had previously served in the Sudan under Lord Kitchener and had won his D.S.O. during the Boer War whilst attached to the City of London Imperial Yeomanry. In August 1914 he became C.O. of the 18th Battalion The Kings Liverpools, one of the “Liverpool Pals” Battalions. He was very keen on P.E. and his men became known as “Trotters Greyhounds”. On 8th July the Battalion was moving back into the front line  and Trotter went ahead in preparation for the move. He was in the new Brigade H.Q. when the enemy noticed the troop movements and shelled the area. One of these shells killed him as well as the C.O. of the 18th ( Service ) Battalion, Manchester Regiment. He was much loved by his men and a fellow officer said of him ” and so died one of the noblest soldiers that ever stepped. His name will never be forgotten in Liverpool and his memory will always be held in deepest respect and affection”.   The Liverpool ” Pals” Battalions, 17th,18th,19th and 20th (Service) Battalions of the Kings (Liverpool) Regiment were the first of all the Pals Battalions to be raised and they were the last to be stood down. The 17th were actually sent to fight in Russia in the 11 month campaign against the Bolsheviks. The photos show troops during the Battle.