Cecil Rawling Brigadier - General Cecil Godfrey Rawling , CMG , CIE , DSO , FRGS ( 16 February 1870 - 28 October 1917 ) was a British soldier , explorer and author whose expeditions to Tibet and Dutch New Guinea brought acclaim from the Royal Geographic Society and awards from the Dutch and Indian governments . He published two books detailing his experiences and served in the British Army on the North - West Frontier of India and in France during the First World War . It was during this latter service that he was killed in action aged 47 during the Battle of Passchendaele . A man of adventure in the Victorian mould , he was said to possess ' true courage , modesty and kindness of heart ' whether in the snows of Tibet , the jungles of New Guinea or the muddy trenches of Flanders . His death was widely lamented in the scientific and geographic fields and was covered in The Times , where a friend described ' his patient courage , his resourcefulness and constant cheerfulness ' and described how he possessed the ' eternal boyishness of the Elizabethans ' in his exploration . Early life . Born in February 1870 to Samuel Bartlett and Ada Bithe Rawling ( née Withers ) , Cecil Rawling was raised in Somerset and attended Clifton College . After leaving school , Rawling served in the local militia as an officer , subsequently accepting a commission into the Somerset Light Infantry in 1891 . His unit was dispatched to India in 1897 and served on the North - West Frontier during the Tirah Campaign , although Rawling did not see action . During this period , Rawling took numerous hunting trips up into the Himalaya mountains . In 1902 , he unofficially entered Tibet with a friend , Lieutenant A . J . G . Hargreaves , and together they began an exploration of the region which would last another four years . Explorations . In 1903 he reentered Tibet to begin a professional survey although without official sanction , and in the following year Captain Rawling was attached to the British expedition to Tibet , charged with exploring and surveying the mountainous terrain . During the diplomatic expedition and the campaign which followed it , Rawling surveyed over of Tibet in addition to his military duties . His team even explored the foothills of Everest and included parts of the mountain in his survey , establishing it as the highest mountain in the Himalayas . It is said that had his seniors on the expedition not forbidden it , he would have become the first white man to attempt to climb the mountain from the north face . He was also the first person to successfully identify the source of the river Brahmaputra after a lengthy and hazardous journey across the war zone . Upon his return to England , Rawling received numerous accolades , including a CIE from the Indian government and in 1909 was awarded the Murchison Bequest of the Royal Geographic Society in London , of which he was a fellow . He wrote a book about his experiences in Tibet named " The Great Plateau " which was published in 1905 . In 1909 he was attached to an expedition to Dutch New Guinea , now Papua in Indonesia . During the sea voyage , the expedition ' s leader was incapacitated and Rawling was called on to replace him . In New Guinea he explored many of the island ' s untouched jungles and had many encounters with native tribes including the first Western encounter with the Tapiro pygmies . In much of the terrain his expedition covered , they were the first Europeans ever to reach these regions . The maps and reports from this expedition were the first from this area of New Guinea . His second book , " The Land of the New Guinea Pygmies " was released on his return to England in 1913 . As recognition for his services he was thanked by the Dutch government , prompted to Major in the British Army and four years later would be presented with the Patron ' s Gold Medal of the Royal Geographic Society . First World War . At the outbreak of the First World War , he was attached to the newly raised and recruited forces of Kitchener ' s Army , putting several plans for further exploration on hold . He was thus not deployed to France until Spring 1915 , when he was placed in command of the 6th ( service ) battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry as a Lieutenant Colonel . His unit fought in the latter stages of the Second Battle of Ypres and spent the winter in the trenches around the besieged Belgian city . With the massive build up of troops in the approach to the battle of the Somme he took command of the 62nd Brigade in the 21st Infantry Division , and retained this post throughout the battle . During the battles along the Somme he was engaged at Fricourt , Mametz Wood and Gueudecourt , in the battles of Albert and Flers - Courcelette . All of his unit ' s objectives were eventually captured but only at the cost of high casualties . He was subsequently promoted to Brigadier - General and awarded the CMG in recognition of his service . Death . He remained in charge for the ensuing year , leading the brigade into the battle of Passchendaele in October 1917 . He was awarded with the Distinguished Service Order during the first few days of the battle for his effective leadership . It was at Passchendaele after three weeks of heavy fighting , whilst chatting to friends outside the brigade headquarters in Hooge Crater , that Brigadier - General Cecil Rawling was killed by German shellfire on the 28 October 1917 . His commanding officer said of him ' He had shown himself devoid of fear , and was always risking his life in exposed positions ' . His remains were removed from the battlefield and buried in The Huts Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in Dickebusch , near what is now Dikkebus in Belgium . His grave is surmounted with a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone . A white memorial plaque to his memory can be found at St . Mary Magdelene Church in Taunton , Somerset , where he lived prior to joining the army . In life he had been a friend of the novelist John Buchan , who included Rawling in his short unpublished piece " These for Remembrance " printed in 1919 , which remembered personal friends of his who had fallen in the war .