John Dryden Mather

Lt-Col. Wildblood

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Lieutenant-Colonel E.H. Wildblood
1st Bn., Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)
Wildblood

The following are the considered opinions submitted by the Court …

That the situation at present obtaining in Palestine is exceedingly dangerous and demands firm and patient handling if a serious catastrophe is to be avoided.

(Maj-Gen. Palin, Brig. Wildblood, and Lt-Col. C.V. Edwards, Palin Commission, 1920)

Born on 2 May 1878 in Cheshire, England, Edward Harold Wildblood was a solider, sportsman, and big game hunter. He fought as a trooper in Roberts’ Horse during the Boer War and was commissioned with the Leinster Regiment in 1900. He served with the 1st Battalion in the heavy fighting at Ypres through to its deployment on the Salonika front. By early 1917, he had succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel J.D. Mather in command.

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Lt-Col. Stannus

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Lieutenant-Colonel T.R.A. Stannus†
7th Bn., Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)
Stannus

Although severely wounded, and thereby unluckily precluded from leading them to the attack his careful supervision and preliminary preparations undoubtedly ensured the success which his men attained. His adjutant was wounded at the same moment, but Lieut.-Colonel Stannus declined all aid until the other officer had been attended to. He had previously done splendid work when acting as O.C., on one occasion frustrating a raid with great loss to the enemy, entirely through personal foresight and grasp of the situation.

(Lt. Col. Stannus, D.S.O. citation, 18 Sept 1917)

Born on 29 September 1870 in Clonygowan, Ireland, Thomas Robert Alexander Stannus was a long serving soldier and Boer War veteran. He was taken prisoner and later wounded in action with the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa. Having served with the Leinster Regiment since 1889, he retired to the Special Officer Reserve in April 1914. On the outbreak of the Great War, he rejoined the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion at the rank of major.

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Lt-Col. Mather

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Lieutenant-Colonel J.D. Mather
1st Bn., Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)
Mather

I was just sitting down to breakfast (in the M de Prémesques farm) when the greatest burst of fire I have every heard broke out … C and D companies (Leinster Regt) had been driven out of their trenches by the enemy’s attack.

(J.D. Mather, diary, 20 October 1914 in 2nd Bn., Leinster Regiment War Diary)

Born in North Shields, Northumberland, England on 17 March 1872, John Dryden Mather had been commissioned with the Leinster Regiment in 1892 and served in the Boer War. Following sick leave for bronchitis in April 1915, Mather joined the 1st Leinsters on 26 June 1915. He took command after Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Conyers had been mortally wounded in action on 11 May. Following a relatively quiet summer after the heavy fighting of late 1914 and early 1915, the 1st Leinsters learned their division was to be redeployed from the Western Front. In November 1915, the 27th Division sailed from Marseilles “for an unknown destination.”

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