Biography:
Richard Neville Strutt was born 22 July 1886, the eldest son of the Hon. Richard Strutt (A 1863-1866) of Rayleigh House, Chelsea and of St Catherine's Court, Bath and of the Hon. Augusta Neville, daughter of 5th Baron Braybrooke. His brother, Geoffrey St John Strutt CBE followed him to Winchester in 1902.
Richard came to Winchester College from Hillside School, West Malvern in September 1899 and was in A House, Chernocke. He was a Commoner Prefect and reached Sixth Book in his last year. Richard played soccer for his house IV and also rowed and played fives for his house.
He left Winchester in the summer of 1904 and went up to Trinity College, Oxford later that year. He then worked for two years at Sonderbausen in Germany where he conducted the opera, and was himself an excellent horn player. He was afterwards appointed conductor to several musical societies in London and produced, amongst other works, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and the Fairy Queen.
When war broke out, Richard enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment and early in 1915 obtained a commission in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots. He was wounded and taken prisoner on 25 September 1915 during the attack on Bellewaarde, near Hooge in the Ypres sector - an action designed to distract the enemy from the intended major breakthrough at Loos, but which resulted in heavy British losses without achieving the intended aim. As the Germans began to bombard the Royal Scots Strutt was in No Man's Land and was hit by a shell. He was picked up by the Germans but died on 18 October in a German hospital at Wervicq.
Strutt is buried in Grave XI.B.12 of the Perth Cemetery (China Wall). There is also a memorial to him in St Catherine's Church in Batheaston near Bath, along with his original wooden battlefield cross (image and information suppled by Mr J Robson).
He had married Vera Gordon, daughter of Lieutenant A Gordon.