Chandos Hoskyns (British Army officer)
Chandos Benedict Arden Hoskyns (25 September 1895 – 18 June 1940) was a professional soldier with the British Army, serving as part of the Rifle Brigade. He served on the Western Front and Salonika in the First World War. Between the wars, he was posted to India and was a military secretary in Malta. During the Second World War, he commanded a battalion in the siege of Calais, where he was mortally wounded. Early life. Chandos was born on 25 September 1895, the only son of the Venerable Archdeacon Benedict Hoskyns MA and Dora Katharine Hoskyns . Between 1909 and 1912 he studied at Winchester College in 'A' house before going on to Royal Military College, Sandhurst. First World War and inter-war years. First World War. After completing his studies at Sandhurst, Chandos was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade on 15 August 1914 just after the outbreak of the First World War. He trained as a subaltern on the Isle of Sheppey and then sailed to France with the 2nd Battalion. He became a machine gun officer and saw action in 1915, being wounded in the Battle of Loos. In 1917, he was promoted to captain , seeing further service on the Western Front and in Salonika. In Salonika, he served with the Machine Gun Corps in its 77th company. In the same year, Chandos was mentioned in dispatches and promoted to the temporary rank of major. Inter-war years. After completing his wartime service, Chandos was made adjutant to the 8th Battalion (Territorial Army) of the London Regiment. It was in this period he also saw service in India. Between 1927 and 1931, Chandos served as Assistant Military Secretary to the Governor of Malta. He was a gifted actor and was known for the high standard  of his amateur dramatic productions while on Malta: Besides acting, he was also an enthusiastic polo player. In 1935, he was promoted to major before rising to lieutenant-colonel and was placed in command of the 1st Battalion of the Rifle Brigade in 1938. Second World War. May 1940 saw the German invasion of Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Chandos and his men were at Needham Market in Suffolk when they received their orders to make for Southampton on 21 May. Embarking at Southampton aboard SS "Archangel", the battalion arrived at Calais on 23 May. They were there to defend  the port. Panzer units under General Heinz Guderian were driving for the coast. This thrust would result in the French northern armies and the British Expeditionary Force being cut off from the southern armies and their lines of communication. For his part, Hoskyns was resistant to his orders, but due to a radio outage could not communicate his intention to command. The battle raged for four days, and on the afternoon of 25 May, Hoskyns was mortally wounded. A shell exploded nearby and a splinter struck him in the side. Evacuated via a small yacht, he died of his wounds  in Winchester on 18 June 1940. His funeral was at Winchester Cathedral on 22 June before he was buried at Chilworth churchyard in Southampton. At Calais, "[h]is ability was well known, and his death symbolized the sacrifice" of military talent and personnel among the 204 riflemen who died there. Personal life. Chandos was married on 26 July 1920 to Joyce Austin Taylor and they had two sons and a daughter. One son, John Hoskyns, also went to Winchester and served in the Rifle Brigade before becoming a successful businessman, founding the Hoskyns Group and then leading Margaret Thatcher's Number  10 Policy Unit.