Lieutenant Colonel J.S. Woodruffe, D.S.O.
Royal Newfoundland Regiment

The new C.O., who soon gained the respect of all ranks, was with the Battalion for only six months. As might be expected, he was not the first British officer to find in the Regiment certain preferences, particularly in the matter of diet, which were unfamiliar to him.

 When invited to sample some capelin – the small, smelt-like fish which a true native of the island enjoys nibbling in an uncooked state after it has been salted, dried, and smoked – “our C.O. … tasted a bit and it nearly made him sick!”

 (G.W.L. Nicholson, Fighting Newfoundlander, 441)

On 1 January 1918, John Sheldon Woodruffe of the Royal Sussex Regiment assumed command of the Newfoundland Regiment, which had just been granted the Royal designation by the King. He was born in Hastings, Sussex, England on 2 February 1879. He had been commissioned in the Royal Sussex Regiment since 1899 and served in the Boer War.

On transfer to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, Woodruffe succeeded Lieutenant Colonel J.R. Meiklejohn who had temporarily taken over from Lieutenant Colonel Arthur L. Hadlow at the end of December 1917. He led the regiment through the German Spring Offensive and earned the Distinguished Service Order for gallantry at Bailleul in April 1918.

Less than two months later, Woodruffe learned he was to be replaced. He suspected political pressure from the Newfoundland Government, which was presumably eager to find a native Newfoundlander to command. Unaware of this change, the militia minister announced plans to visit the regiment at the end of June 1918, and expressed eagerness to meet the colonel. Woodruffe replied cooly, “I am very sorry to quit for one or two reasons, but … it is to please your politicians.” Having been given a promotion to command of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, Woodruffe added:

I don’t think I have done the old Reg’t badly & am sure they themselves were sorry I left but of course the gov’t had to be pleased but I should have no grievances if they got me a Brevet Lieut. Colonelcy as I lost temporary rank.

Until Woodruffe’s permanent replacement arrived, Major A.E. Bernard became the first Newfoundlander to take temporary command of the regiment.

Woodruffe died in Hastings, Sussex, on 28 August 1958.

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