Flynn, HJD

Captain Horace Justin Dillon Flynn

Horace was born in Bengal, India, on August 9th 1890, the only son of John Flynn, a goods supervisor with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, and his wife, Emily. During the eighteen months or so he spent at Dulwich he was a boarder in Elm Lawn. After leaving he at first went to the Malay States, where he worked as a rubber planter; the climate however caused him some health concerns, and necessitated a return to England for several months to recover. Having recovered he went out to Burma, and once again began work in the rubber planting business, something he was still doing in the summer of 1914.
Horace joined the Indian Army Reserve of Officers in August 1914 after the declaration of war, and was at first posted to Rawalpindi, before being assigned to the 2/4th Gurkha Rifles, with whom he went to France in 1915. Shortly after, however, a severe bout of trench fever, exacerbated by the after effects of a previous case of malaria, necessitated a return to England to convalesce. Having undergone several operations, it took ten months before he was passed fit to return to service, and once more went to India. Having gained a first class certificate in bombing upon his return, he was promoted to Captain, and given a role as the adjutant of the 101st Grenadiers, Indian Army, before being transferred once more, this time to a role as Brigade Bombing Instructor for the 39th Indian Division in Palestine. On October 23rd 1917, whilst giving instruction at Ismailia, he was killed in an accidental explosion.