Captain Heneage Greville FINCH – Lord GUERNSEY

Captain Heneage Greville Finch{gallery}Capt H G Finch{/gallery}1st Battalion, Irish Guards. Served as Lord Guernsey.
Killed in action in the Battle of Aisne, Soupir, France and Flanders on 14th September 1914, aged 31

• Buried: Soupir Communal Cemetery, Aisne, France. Grave A.4
  
• Awarded: Queen’s South Africa Medal, Coronation Medal, [also due 1914 Star, British War and Victory Medals]
  
• Son of Lord Guernsey 8th Earl of Aylesford and Marcella Araminta Finch [nee Ross]
  
• Husband of Gladys Cecil Finch [nee Fellowes]. Married at St George’s, Hanover Square, June 1907
• Father of Cpt Heneage Michael Charles Finch, 9th Earl of Aylesford, Royal Artillery. Killed in Action in France May 28th 1940.
• Mentioned in dispatches.
  
• NNWFHS Memorials: Great Packington
  

Links to Relevant Information

• CWGC Page for Capt Finch
• NNWFHS Great Packington War Memorial Page
• Soupir Communal Cemetery
• Irish Guards

1911 Census and Family History Information

• Born Jul 1883 at Chelsea, London
  
• Attended Eton College [1904] Eton College Roll of Honour (Page 111)
  
• Lived at 3 Belgrave Square, London [1914]

Circumstances of Death as described by Rudyard Kipling
Pages 390-91 of The Aristocracy and the Great War by Gliddon includes the following quote from Kipling, ‘The Irish Guards in the Great War’:
‘(he) reported himself to the C.O; who posted him to No.2 Company, then engaged in clearing out snipers, in place of Captain Guthrie who had been wounded. He went forward to assist Captain Lord Arthur Hay in command, and both were immediately shot dead.’

Short Biography
Captain Heneage Greville Finch – Lord Guernsey – was the eldest son of the 8th Earl of Aylesford. He was born in June 1883. After serving for a time in the Irish Guards, he retired and was attached as Captain to the Warwickshire Yeomanry; however, he re-joined his regiment on the outbreak of hostilities. In 1905 he acted as ADC to the Governor of Gibraltar, and in June, 1907, he married the Hon. Gladys Cecil Fellowes, 2nd daughter of Lord De Ramsey. As can be seen above, his son Cpt Heneage Michael Charles Finch became the 9th Earl of Aylesford and he too was killed in action during World War II,