Lieutenant Donald Hankey

Hankey was a writer who contributed to The Spectator during the war under the nom de plume 'A Student in Arms'. His articles showed an increasing degree of disillusionment and some of the later articles were spiked by the editor.
He was born in Brighton on 27th Oct 1884, educated at Rugby, and joined the army as an Artillery officer after two years at Woolwich. He suffered from ill health in Mauritius and took extended leave from the army. Eventually he resigned his commission and was becoming more inclined towards a career in the Church. When war broke out in 1914 he at first joined up in the Rifle Brigade, reached the rank of corporal and then was commissioned into the Warwicks.
During the battle of the Somme the Warwicks were at Le Transloy and with deep foreboding he led his men over the top on 12th October 1917. The mud was so thick and the casualties so numerous that many of the dead were never found. Hankey was one of those who were counted as missing so he has no gravestone. His name is on the memorial at Thiepval.

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