b. 1886, Lynsted
d. 9th November 1915. Aged 29

Sergeant, Service Number 1357
1/1st Royal East Kent Yeomanry,
(The Duke of Connaught's Own (Mounted Rifles))
Redoubt Cemetery, Pink Farm, Gallipoli, Turkey
Killed in Action

* Appendix 1
Time Recording GRO 265

In order to assimilate the methods of recording time in the Royal Navy, the French and the British Forces respectively and to secure uniformity in referring to hours of issue and dispatch of orders, instruction and messages, the method of recording time in vogue in the Royal Navy will be adopted throughout the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. All time to be indicated will be written in a group of four figures. The times between 12 midnight and noon will be written as heretofore but without the addition of "AM" and the "0" must appear at the commencement of any group indicating a time earlier than 10am. Figure "0" must also be inserted immediately in front of the last figure when less than 10 minutes are indicated. Thus

8-15 am will be written 0815
9-7 am will be written 0907

** Appendix 2
Alarm Gong Regimental Order

An empty shell case will be hung within easy reach of the Sentry at Regimental Headquarters which will be sounded in the event of a Poison Gas Attack. On hearing the gong struck all ranks will don their Gas Helmets.

LYNSTED YEOMAN KILLED.
___________
TROOPER MALCOLM DALTON
___________

The death is reported from Gallipoli of Trooper Malcolm Dalton, East Kent Yeomanry, who, it appears, was killed on November 10th by shrapnel.
Trooper Dalton, who was 28 years of age, was the youngest son of Mr. And Mrs. P. Dalton, of The Burrs, Cellar Hill, Lynsted.
Prior to joining the Yeomanry for the War the deceased assisted his father in the fruit business.
The utmost sympathy is felt for Mr. and Mrs. Dalton in their loss, by their many friends in Lynsted and Teynham. This is the second bereavement they have just lately sustained, the death of their son-in-law, Mr. R. H. Wright, occurring barely three weeks ago.

Firstly, from his parents:

DEATHS: DALTON. November 9th on Gallipoli Peninsula, Malcolm Philip, the younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Dalton, Cellar Hill, Lynsted, aged 29 years. In loving memory of our dear boy.

And more fully:

DEATH OF A LYNSTED YEOMAN. SERGT DALTON KILLED AT GALLIPOLI. A STRIKING TRIBUTE FROM HIS COMMANDING OFFICER.

A sad blow has befallen Mr. and Mrs. Philip Dalton and family, of The Burrs, Cellar Hill, Lynsted, in the death of their younger son, Sergeant Malcolm Philip Dalton, R.E.K.M.R., the news of which has been received this week. The family had just sustained a bereavement in the death of Mr. Richard Wright, a son-in-law, but on Monday morning came the sad news that their son Malcolm had lost his life in Gallipoli – the result of an accident, it is true; but, nevertheless, the young man laid down his life for his country as truly as though he had fallen in action.
The news of his death was continued in the following letter which Mr. Dalton received from Major Leach-Lewis on Monday morning:-
"Gallipoli, 11/11/15.
My dear Sir,- It is impossible for me to express my feelings with regard to the death of your son, of which no doubt you have already received the official intimation. The affair has cast a gloom over the whole regiment, particularly the 3rd Squadron.
May I offer my most sincere sympathy. In doing so I am only expressing the feelings of everyone here.
Though the circumstances are distressing, I am sure you would like to know how the lad died. At the time he was Acting Quarter-Master-Sergeant, and on Monday afternoon last (8th) he had gone up to the trenches, where the regiment were in. He was in the best possible spirits, and was amusing some of his comrades, when one of them, Sergeant Southall, remembered that he had to go away on duty. Your son then sat down in his dug-out, saying 'alright, I'll keep your place warm till you come back.'
A few moments after, one of our own shells burst short, and a piece of it struck the poor fellow in the head. At the same time Sergeant McLeod was hit in the shoulder, and Private Thomas in the thigh. I don't think he suffered, his wound being too severe, though he was sufficiently conscious once to ask for water.
It was at 4pm that he was hit, and he died the following morning, at 8 o'clock (9th), in the Gully Beach Hospital.
We buried him at 3.15 the same afternoon in the Gully Beach Cemetery, the service being taken by the regimental Chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Robertson. The spot where he lies is on a high point, overlooking the Asiatic. We are getting a wooden cross made by the Royal Engineers to mark the grave. That such a good fellow should be killed by our own shell is terrible; but you have the satisfaction of knowing that he died doing his duty as much as any of the poor fellows who have given their lives for their country out here.
Not only was he an excellent N.C.O., but by his cheerfulness in all circumstances he set an example to all. He proved himself a really good fellow and a gallant comrade. Personally I miss him greatly.- With my deepest sympathy, believe me, yours sincerely, A. LEACH LEWIS, Major." (see Note 1 below)
Sergeant Malcolm Philip Dalton, who was 29 years of age, belonged to the Sittingbourne and Sheppey Troop, Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles, for four years. He assisted his father in his business as a farmer and fruit grower, and was in every respect a fine young fellow. He was a young man of powerful physique, and was a good shot. Sergeant Dalton (he was then a trooper) was a member of the Troop team that won so many shooting trophies a few years ago. The champion shooting team, with the trophies they had won, and Captain Sir Robert Filmer, Bart., in the centre, were photographed, and Sir Robert Filmer presented a framed copy to each member of the team.
The East Kent Yeomanry left Liverpool for the Dardanelles on September 26th.
Mr. Dalton has not yet had any official intimation of his son's death. But the letter from Major Leach Lewis puts the sad affair beyond all doubt.
Malcolm Dalton was of a cheery, sunny disposition. His laugh was infectious; he was invariably smiling. He was a great favourite with Greenstreet people – in fact, he was a favourite with everybody.
The deceased young man used to be a member of the Greenstreet Hockey Club and the news of Malcolm Dalton's death has come as a great personal loss. Malcolm Dalton was one of the bright spirits of the club, as he was of his native village, and of his regiment, and the loss of so popular a young man is deeply deplored. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton and family have the heartfelt sympathy of everybody in their very sad bereavement.
A memorial service will be held at Lynsted Parish Church at three p.m. tomorrow (Sunday).

Note 1: Prior to the war, Allan Leach Lewis had played cricket for Kent and in 1904 played centre-half for Tottenham Hotspur FC. He survived the war.

Although initially buried at Gully Beech Cemetery, after the Armistice, Malcolm's remains were moved to Pink Farm Cemetery, Helles, Turkey. The local name of the cemetery is Sotiri Farm but took its Anglicised name from the red soil in that area.

Malcolm is remembered at the head of his parent's gravestone in Lynsted Churchyard extension:

In loving memory of
Sergeant Malcolm Philip Dalton
1st Royal East Kent Yeomanry
Of Cellar Hill, Lynsted
Who was killed in active service
In Gallipoli by a bursting shell.
Interred in Gully Beach Cemetery
Nov. 9th 1915, aged 29
He did his duty

Life with the Mediterranean Forces.

The following extracts from a letter from Private E. Jeffrey, of "B" Company, 2nd-5th Buffs (attached to the Queen's Own, 2nd-4th Royal West Kent Regiment), son of Mr. and Mrs. W.S. Jeffrey, of Meadowside, Kennington, tell graphically of life with the British Expeditionary Force.

Acknowledging a letter from home, he says:
"In your letter you mention the sending out of chocolate, etc. I only wish I had written home for some foodstuff of any sort long ago. The food we get out here is not like they have in France, where things are more settled. We have had scarcely any bread since we landed, and none at all for the first fifteen days. Coupled with this nearly all of us had stomach trouble, dysentery, etc., owing to sleeping on damp ground and getting wet to the skin with white mists (cold nights and hot days). Most of us are as weak as rats. Besides this we have dug a large part of our own trenches, and have to work day and night at them. We signallers are attached to our Company Signalling Station in the fire trench, and we have so many hours of duty on the telephone (day and night). Besides this, we have look-out duty to do. Often we have only had two hours' sleep for the night, and we rarely get more than four hours. Nevertheless, I'm in good health and contented, and have never shirked any work that has come along so far. Send any foodstuff you like, anything nourishing. Chocolate would be a Godsend. A book, magazine, or paper would be very acceptable. You could never find a crust of stale bread or bad bread lying about our here.

We landed here on August 10th; sent into the trenches August 13th; sent down to base August 31st; returned to trenches September 4th. You will see by the foregoing that we had three days at the base after we landed, then eighteen days in the trenches, four more days at the base, and now we are in the firing line again. There seems to be very little going on along this part of our front, and we are only troubled with a few snipers and occasional shell fire.

Out of the Battalion, 1,000 strong, we have had about 13 killed and anything from about 50 to 100 wounded. The signallers have had a larger proportion of casualties than the rest of the Battalion if you take the percentages of each. A considerable number of signallers have been hit by snipers while laying out wire. Besides the actual casualties, a large number of men have gone sick, the climate having knocked them up.

When we are at the base we get bathing in the sea every day, but unfortunately during the last four days we were down there I was so knocked up for the first three days, that I couldn't appreciate a bathe and only went in to get one or two layers of dirt off. I think what knocked me up was the march down to the base (a heavy march over sand with equipment) on an empty stomach. I am all right again now. We were given out greatcoats water proof sheets and our change of clothing while we were at the base, so we are better off now than we were before, and can sleep warmer at night. The flies are a shocking pest out here, and we have the greatest difficulty in not eating them together with our food. They have an absolute disregard for life or death, and consequently you have to pick them off you food with your fingers, a thing you would never have to do in England. It is a great treat to have letters in the trenches and I am most grateful for them.

I'm glad I've come out here as it is giving me the education of my life, just as I always told you it would. It will teach me to appreciate my home for one thing, although I don't know how long I shall be content to settle down to a hum-drum life, as I believe it will be difficult to, after so much knocking about and rough living.

In a postscript the writer adds: "I guess I shall be like Scott, the South Pole explorer, and have chocolate and buns under my pillow at night when I come home again, in fact, I shouldn't be surprised if I didn't manage to get down two or three beef steak puddings during the hours of slumber. They would make a good substitute for four hours' trenching at midnight anyhow."

Extract from: THIRD SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE. Of FRIDAY, the 7th of APRIL, 1916

War Office, London, S.W ., 10th April, 1916.
The following despatch has been received by the Secretary of State for War from General Sir C. C. Monro, K.C.B. :—
Headquarters, 1st Army, France,
6th March, 1916.

MY LORD,-
I have the honour to submit herewith a brief account of the operations in the Eastern Mediterranean from the 28th October, 1915, on which date I assumed command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, until the 9th January, 1916, when in compliance with your directions, I handed over charge at Cairo to Lieut.-General Sir Archibald Murray, K.C.B., C.V.O., D.S.O.

On the 20th October in London, I received your Lordship's instructions to proceed as soon as possible to the near East and take over the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.

My duty on arrival was in broad outline:-

(a) To report on the military situation on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
(b) To express an opinion whether on purely military grounds the Peninsula should be evacuated, or another attempt made to carry it.
(c) The number of troops that would be required,

1. to carry the Peninsula,
2. to keep the Straits open, and
3. to take Constantinople.

Two days after my arrival at Imbros, where the headquarters of the M.E.F. was established, I proceeded to the Peninsula to investigate the military situation. The impressions I gathered are summarised very shortly as follows:-

The positions occupied by our troops presented a military situation unique in history. The mere fringe of the coast line had been secured. The beaches and piers upon which they depended for all requirements in personnel and material were exposed to registered and observed Artillery fire. Our entrenchments were dominated almost throughout by the Turks. The possible Artillery positions were insufficient and defective. The Force, in short, held a line possessing every possible military defect. The position was without depth, the communications were insecure and dependent on the weather. No means existed for the concealment and deployment of fresh troops destined for the offensive - whilst the Turks enjoyed full powers of observation, abundant Artillery positions, and they had been given the time to supplement the natural advantages which the position presented by all the devices at the disposal of the Field Engineer.

Another material factor came prominently before me. The troops on the Peninsula had suffered much from various causes.
(a) It was not in the first place possible to withdraw them from the shell-swept area as is done when necessary in France, for every corner on the Peninsula is exposed to hostile fire.
(b) They were much enervated from the diseases which are endemic in that part of Europe in the summer. In consequence of the losses which they had suffered in earlier battles, there was a very grave dearth of officers competent to take command of men.
(c) In order to maintain the numbers needed to hold the front, the Territorial Divisions had been augmented by the attachment of Yeomanry and Mounted Brigades. Makeshifts of this nature very obviously did not tend to create efficiency.

Other arguments, irrefutable in their conclusions, convinced me that a complete evacuation was the only wise course to pursue.

It was obvious that the Turks could hold us in front with a small force and prosecute their designs on Baghdad or Egypt, or both.

An advance from the positions we held could not be regarded as a reasonable military operation to expect.

Even had we been able to make an advance in the Peninsula, our position would not have been ameliorated to any marked degree, and an advance on Constantinople was quite out of the question.

Since we could not hope to achieve any purpose by remaining on the Peninsula, the appalling cost to the nation involved in consequence of embarking on an Overseas Expedition with no base available for the rapid transit of stores, supplies and personnel, made it urgent that we should divert the troops locked up on the Peninsula to a more useful theatre. Since therefore I could see no military advantage in our continued occupation of positions on the Peninsula, I telegraphed to your Lordship that in my opinion the evacuation of the Peninsula should be taken in hand.