WWI REMEMBERED Pride of the city, an outstanding leader of men in war and peace

FRANK Staniford Thackeray, an officer soldier from Cardiff, had a slightly unusual start to life and a unique military career. Born in February 1880 in Cardiff to father Alexander Thackeray and his wife, Agnes, Frank had two sisters and a brother.

He was christened at St John the Baptist Church in the city on March 24, 1880.

At that time the family lived in the centre of Cardiff at 4, Richmond Terrace, which is now called Museum Place.

By the time of the 1891 census they were at 10, Cathedral Road – a very impressive building that is now a hotel and trendy wine bar.

Coming from a “monied family”, it is no surprise that he was sent to Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey, as a boarder between 1894 and 1898, and won a place at Oriel College, Oxford.

The 1901 census describes him as an undergraduate student, visiting friends who lived in New Road, Porthcawl.

He clearly took an interest in all things military, joining the Officers’ Training Corps and gaining a commission at the end of 1901, in the Second Highland Light Infantry.

At home, his family had moved to Glan Ely House, near St Fagans, a property that later became a sanatorium, and has long since been demolished.

So began his military education as a young officer at a time when Britain still seemed to rule more than half of the world – even though the recently ended Boer War in South Africa should have sent out plenty of warning signs about British military shortcomings.

Frank was a keen golfer and got to play quite a bit while serving in Guernsey and Jersey in 1903, taking part in an army competition at Sunningdale in 1905 (he was a member of Porthcawl Golf Club) and later in the year being a member of a regimental dinner party at Balmoral with King Edward VII.

He was promoted to lieutenant in 1908 and enjoyed another meal with the king the same year.

Apart from golf, Frank was a keen cricketer, probably getting a few matches in during the battalion’s stay in Ireland in 1910.

A captain by 1912, married to Leila May Warner in Hampshire in 1913, his life was going along very well in privileged circumstances, but 1914 would soon change all that.

With the outbreak of war, Frank and his regiment left for France on August 13, 1914, arriving in Boulogne the following day.

France and Belgium would be his “home” for the next four years – but it was to be a momentous time for him and millions of others.

At a time of crisis, Frank proved to be a very capable leader of men – at an ideal age – mid-thirties – and he was to be in the thick of it from start to finish.

His life was certainly never dull: wounded in early 1915, receiving his first mention in despatches in February soon after, followed by another mention in June, as well as being awarded the Military Cross. In July he was seconded for service as Brigade machine-gun officer.

As the fighting intensified, he found himself promoted as temporary major, before being attached to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers as lieutenant colonel in March 1916 for some 18 months.

By the end of 1916 he was officially promoted to the rank of major and a Distinguished Service Order came in the New Year Honours List of 1917.

For good measure, another mention came his way in February.

With so many officers being killed or wounded, Frank was loaned once again in November 1917, this time to the Seventh West Riding Regiment as lieutenant colonel.

He did manage two weeks’ leave to the UK in February-March 1918, before returning to the fray and yet another mention in May.

Another spell in England came in June as part of a group of training staff. His collection of regiments continued as he was attached to the 20th Bn Durham Light Infantry for two months – July and August 1918, before returning to the West Riding Regiment.

He was a brigadier commander by the time the war ended, with a fifth mention in December.

His next regiment was to be the King’s Own Scottish Borderers (six and 15 Battalions), to whom he was attached between April and August 1919.

His next appointment saw him as chief instructor at Junior Commanders School at Strensall from August to December 1919.

Another “headline” appointment came in April 1920, when he was appointed brigadier major, London District, a post he held until October of 1921, helping to organise the Territorial Force.

He became a colonel in 1923 and even had the chance to go to India with his wife in 1926, before taking up his next role: lieutenant colonel with the Lincolnshire Regiment in June 1927.

This he clearly enjoyed as there are many references to him in the Lincolnshire newspapers, organising and appearing at various social events – once again, the privileged life of a peacetime army officer.

In November 1931 he was selected