Commemorated:

1. Grave:Baghdad (North Gate) War CemeteryV. E. 1.
2. Book:The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918Pg.125
3. Memorial:The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour33A GQS
    

Awards & Titles:

Distinguished Service Order
 

Family :

Son of Robert Henry Hewitt, of Dodford, Northants. Professional Soldier

Education & Career :

Hewitt went to Charterhouse, and is remembered on the Chapel Memorial.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

Unit / Ship / Est.: 14th (King's) Hussars 

14th (King's) Hussars August 1914 : in Mhow in India, part of the Meerut Cavalry Brigade. September 1914 : came under command of 14th Cavalry Brigade in Meerut Divisional Area. November 1915 : left Brigade and landed in Mesopotamia, came under orders of 6th Indian Cavalry Brigade. May 1918 : left Brigade and moved to Persia.

Action : Mesopotamia 

At the outbreak of war the British, together with Indian troops, resolved to protect oil supply in the region by occupying the area around Basra at Abadan. This evolved into a series of campaigns towards Baghdad against the Turkish forces as Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) was part of the Ottoman Empire. Meetings in late 1914 and into 1915 led the Viceroy and Indian government at Simla to reconsider the limited involvement of troops and they decided to order further advances with a view to securing the Shatt-al-Hai, a canal connecting the Tigris and Euphrates river and potentially capturing Baghdad. The British government disagreed and wished to conserve forces for the Western front. The Viceroy was given permission to act as it wished, but told in no uncertain terms that no reinforcements should be expected.

The initial success experienced by the British and Indian forces quickly disintegrated in the face of Ottoman opposition. The Siege of Kut-Al-Amara began on 7th December with the besieging of an 8,000 strong British-Indian garrison in the town of Kut, 100 miles south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. These campaigns produced few tactical benefits, indeed the catastrophic defeat at Kut in 1916 was a major setback. Badhdad was eventually taken in March 1917.

The conditions in Mesopotamia were dreadful. The climate, sickness and disease produced large losses in addition to battle casualties. About as many men died of disease as were killed in action. The Mesopotamia front was part of a strategy hoping for success at lower cost than the Western Front but no decisive victory was achieved.

Captain, Bangalore (1908).

Masonic :

TypeLodge Name and No.Province/District :
Mother : United Service No. 2735 E.C.India
Joined : Malwa No. 1994 E.C. India
Joined : Southern Brotherhood No. 3311 E.C. Madras

Initiated
Passed
Raised
16th March 1908
13th April 1908
21st April 1908
 

Initiated into United Service Lodge No. 2735, Bangalore in 1908, but resigned 26th December 1911. Joined Southern Brotherhood Lodge No 3311 also in Bangalore on 28th September 1908, but resigned 30th October 1911. He was probably posted at the end of 1911 to Mhow as shortly afterwards he then joined Malwa Lodge No. 1994 on 20th January 1912. At least 14 others joined at the same time having left Bangalore and United Service Lodge behind.


Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

Additional Source:

Last Updated: 2020-04-14 11:09:05