Umney, CF

2nd Lieutenant Cecil Francis Umney

Cecil was born on August 7^th 1896, the eldest son of Beatrice Umney and her husband, a medical doctor named William, who was not an OA himself, although two of his brothers – Cecil’s uncles – were.  Cecil joined the College in the spring of 1909, having previously been at The Hall School, in Sydenham, and was a pupil for the next five years. Shortly before leaving in the spring of 1914 he had matriculated at London University, where he was to study chemistry, with a view to ultimately entering his uncle’s business, a manufacturing chemist. Whilst at the university he spent time apprenticed to a Dr. H. Martindale, of New Cavendish Street.

In June 1915 Cecil left his studies to take up a commission in the 7^th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment and spent the next year in England undergoing training. In late August 1916 he went over to the front for the first time, attached to the 5^th Battalion of his regiment, and was sent to the Somme. Just over a month later he was leading his men in an assault, near Thiepval, when he was seriously wounded; it was to be the last time he was seen alive. Although initially reported as missing, his body was recovered early the following year and he was officially declared to have died on September 26^th 1916.