Biography:
John James Craggs was born 1 Aug 1887, the son of Sir John George Craggs, M.V.O, and Helen Lewins, daughter of Andrew Miller.
He came to Winchester College as Exhibitioner from Mr. Thring's school at Brighton in September 1901. He was in G House, Sergeant's, and became a Commoner Prefect, played in Commoner XV and rowed in School IV.
John left Winchester in the summer of 1905 and was articled as an accountant to Sir William Plender, and later entered his father's firm (Craggs, Turketine & Co.), in which he ultimately became a partner. He was a prominent member of the London Rowing Club, which he represented at Henley from 1909 to 1911, and again in 1913 and 1914.
Craggs joined 6th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, a New Army battalion, but was transferred to the Regular Army 1st Battalion early in 1917. He was killed at the head of his platoon on 17 February 17th 1917 at Miraumont on the Ancre. His commanding officer wrote to his parents: 'Your son had only been a very short time with us, but we all liked him very much, and he would have made a very good officer. Before we attacked, we had to lie in the open for sometime under heavy shell-fire, and your son did very good work in going about encouraging the men. He was killed at the very commencement of the attack'.
John Craggs is commemorated on the war memorial in St Jude's Church, South Kensington.