Spencer Julian Wilfred Railston, from Hamilton, Scotland, was born on 18 Jan 1889, the son of Colonel H E Railston and educated at Radley College. In 1914 he was in England on leave from his regiment, the 18th King George’s Own Lancers who were stationed at Meerut, India. He joined the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards. He had joined the 18th Lancers in 1908 and was a lieutenant when the war started. He went out with the BEF and was killed soon after arriving in France, on 30 October 1914. He was shot down during an attempt to rescue a wounded peasant woman who was stranded between the British and German lines at Messines near Ypres.
He was a keen sportsman excelling at polo and boxing. The photo shows him in the scarlet dress kurta and lungi of the 18th KGO Lancers.
