PROMOTION AND D.S.O. FOR BARONET'S SON.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 270, 24 April 1915, Page 6

PROMOTION AND D.S.O. FOR BARONET'S SON.

LIEUTENANT WINS BACK HLS RANK ON THE FIELD. Wlien tlie many romances of the pres out war come to bo written, there wil hn ii chapter set npart for the gallant Etonian and North Walian, whom an unkind fate , compelled to relinquish a military career after distinguished service in South Africa, and who has now, on the battlefields of France, fought his way from the bottom rung to a soe.ju'l lieutenancy, and won the D.S.O. into the bargain. Mora than two months ago the London Gazette published the Irild fact that the King had conferred the D.S.O. upon Second Lieutenant Osmond Williams, tioyal Scots Greys:— "for general gallant service near Messines in ascertaining under fire the progress of night operations, and especially on the night of October .'ll for leading tho. 12th Lancers to position for counterattack in which ho tool: part, accounting for 11 of the enemy himself." It has been left to the headmaster of Eton, on facts supplied by an old Ha"rovian, to tell in the Eton College Chronicle, something of the sacrifice of Lieutenant Williams for his country. He was at Eton when tho Boer war broke out, but, already a splendid horseman, he obtained a commission in the 10th .Hussars, and did excellent service in Mouth Africa. Back from the war, lie commanded the Scouts of his brigade at the Curragh, and served on the staff of the brigadier. Ambitious to further specialise, in cavalry operations, ho spent some months attached to the German Red Hussars at Potsdam, before, joining the British Cavalry College, from which ho was passed out first by that great scout master "8.V." himself. Then came a catastrophe—a fearful smash, concussion of tho brain, and a dangerous illness. Before ho had fully, recovered he went into training for the military boxing competition, and a blow on the old wound brought on a relapse, which kept him in bed a full year. A wonderful constitution pulled him through, and eventually he became completely cured. Then came the war wi:.h Germany. The ex-lieutenant might have obtained a commission in the Yeomanry of his country, but, wild to get to ihe front, lie botook himself to a friend and former squadron leader in the old >.ogiment, who was now brigadier. Thi;e ho enlisted in the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys), rejoining in August as a private in the Army in which, but for hi;; rmasu, he might have been then a mai • of Hussars. The Dragoons were in hi 3 friend's brigade in France, and the general, knowing his man, made him his orderly, so that lie carried his brigadii-r's flag all through the retreat from Mo:is. The rest of the story the Gazette tells He was made corporal and then secoic lieutenant for service in the field, and finally given the D.S.O. Lieutenant Os mond Trahaern Williams, to give hiir his full name, three years ago marnec Lady Gladys Finch-Hatton, daughter of the Earl of Winehilsea. His father, f>ii Osmond Williams, Lord Lieutenant ci Merionethshire, has had the reputatioi of being the best-dressed man in the House of Commons. For 10 years Bii Osmond represented Merioneth, and hii father, Mr David Williams, before hiir I became the first Liberal M.P. for thi , county. Only a few weeks ago Sir Op mond Williams told a North Wa'iei ' meeting: I pity Englishmen who 'i< at homo abed whilst men are defendiat their country abroad," and before tha: Lieutenant Williams himself said: "Ln. Wales get at them, and we will ■cjo'i I redress culture's balance on the wren} I side." Great satisfaction was caure; 1 | throughout Wales by the announcom<-w of the honor conferred on Lieutenam ' Williams, who is a personal friend' o ' I the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ivlit i telegraphed to him: "CongratulationsI weli done Wales!"