Hamo Watts Sassoon (1887 - 1915)

Born 4 Aug 1887 in Brenchley, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Died 1 Nov 1915 at age 28 in At Sea

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Biography

Hamo Sassoon was born in Brenchley, Kent, England.

Hamo Watts Sassoon was born in 1887 in Weirleigh, Paddock Wood, Brenchley, Tonbridge, Kent, England to parents Alfred Ezra Sassoon and Theresa Georgiana Thornycroft.^[1][2][3]

He attended Marlborough and Clare College, Cambridge and became an engineer, working in Argentina.^[4] He returned to England in 1914 and enlisted with the Royal Engineers on 16 Jun 1915. He died of a bullet wound received at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on October 28, 1915. He died on 1 Nov 1915 on HM Hospital Ship Kildonan Castle. He was buried in Gallipoli, Canakkale, Turkey.^[5]

His will was probated on 19 Jul 1919 in Kent, England; beneficiary Georgiana Theresa Sassoon, his mother.^[6]

"Capt. Donaldson wrote: "I have been waiting until I could gather some information about Hamo...I saw the C.R.E. of the Division Hamo was in and he said, 'Will you please tell Sassoon's people that he was a most gallant officer, and was liked and respected by everyone who knew him, and I am quite sure that Major Bailey, his Commanding Officer, will be very sorry indeed when he hears of his death. I, personally, did not see much of him; but though he was new to soldiering he was shaping extremely well.' He went on to tell me all he knew. Apparently, Hamo was sent out with his unit to put up some barbed wire in front of a trench after an advance, and was hit in the leg by a sniper. He fell, and crawled back to the parapet of the trench, from which he fell into the trench itself. They put on his first dressing, and he was shifted back, first to the Field Ambulance, and then to a Casualty Clearing Station, where he found the C.R.E., who got this information out of him. The C.R.E. asked him how it was that he had to crawl back, and Hamo said that he did not make any noise when he was hit, and did not want to expose others to the fire of the snipers. The C.R.E. thought that the crawl back may have aggravated the conditions, and I am inclined to agree with him, considering his leg was shattered. I think it was simply a glorious piece of self-sacrifice to go back himself rather than expose his men to sniping. The C.R.E. also said that Hamo seemed to make light of his wound, and was quite cheery, so that the C.R.E. was rather taken aback when the Field Ambulance Officer told him that it was very serious, and that Hamo would almost certainly have to lose his leg. He was an enthusiastic skater and mountain climber, being also a keen yachtsman."^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2XRM-6T4 : 1 October 2014), Hamo Watts Sassoon, 1887; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
2. ↑ England and Wales Civil Registration Birth Index 1837-1915 Hamo Watts Sassoon, christening 1887 Dec Quarter, Tonbridge, Kent, England; Vol 2a, p 701; FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
3. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVP3-V2M : 22 February 2021), Hamo U Sassoon in household of Theresa G Sassoon, Brenchley, Kent, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Kent county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
4. ↑ "United Kingdom, Outgoing Passenger Lists, 1890-1960", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6857-QP9B : 27 October 2021), Mr H Sassoon, 1912.
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136308237/hamo-watts-sassoon: accessed 08 December 2022), memorial page for 2LT Hamo Watts Sassoon (4 Aug 1887–1 Nov 1915), Find A Grave: Memorial #136308237, citing St. Luke's Churchyard, Matfield, Tunbridge Wells Borough, Kent, England.
6. ↑ "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPLC-YTQN : 17 September 2018), Hamo Sassoon, 19 Jul 1919; death 1 Nov 1915; citing Probate, Kent, England, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm.
7. ↑ De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour, 1914-1919 Hamo Watts Sassoon, Second Lieutenant, Royal Engineers, birth 4 Aug 1888, death 1 Nov 1915, HM Hospital Ship Kildonan Castle; parents Alfred Ezra Sassoon and Theresa Georgina Thorneycroft; page 269, database online, Provo, Utah, Ancestry.com, 2014.

See also:

• Wikipedia Biography for Theresa Thornycroft